Chapter 63 - The Counter-Strike
|
Sarah Jenkins did not just handle the Cease and Desist order; she utterly annihilated it. My attorney was a fierce, brilliant litigator who despised bullies, and she had spent the last three years meticulously dismantling Daniel’s legal traps during our divorce and subsequent fraud trials.
I sat in Sarah's downtown office later that afternoon, sipping sparkling water while she drafted her official response to Arthur Pendelton.
"This is legally laughable, Rachel," Sarah scoffed, tossing the C&D onto her polished mahogany desk. "Defamation requires a false statement of fact. Every single financial crime, manipulation, and abusive tactic you detailed in your book is backed up by sworn affidavits, forensic accounting records, and the final rulings of three different federal judges."
"I know," I smiled, feeling completely relaxed. "I think Daniel just demanded his lawyer send it out of sheer desperation. He wants to see if I will flinch."
"You don't flinch anymore," Sarah noted with a proud, predatory grin. "And I am going to make sure Mr. Pendelton knows exactly who he is dealing with."
She turned her computer monitor so I could see the email she was drafting. It was a masterpiece of legal brutality.
Sarah's response explicitly outlined the legal doctrine of truth as an absolute defense against defamation. She attached digital copies of Daniel's previous fraud convictions and the court orders proving his financial abuse. But the final paragraph was the absolute kill shot.
If your client proceeds with filing this frivolous, baseless lawsuit, my client will immediately counter-sue for malicious prosecution and seek maximum punitive damages, as well as sanctions against your firm for wasting the court's time. We welcome the opportunity to drag your client’s extensive history of domestic financial abuse back into the public record in a highly publicized civil trial. Govern yourselves accordingly.
"Send it," I said, my voice ringing with finality.
Sarah hit the send button.
May you like
"Pendelton will drop Daniel as a client by the end of the week when he realizes he's not getting paid for this suicide mission," Sarah predicted.
She was absolutely right. I never heard a single word from Daniel or his lawyers regarding the book ever again. The silence that followed was the sweetest, most profound victory I had ever tasted. I had finally proven that a roaring lion does not lose sleep over the opinions of a cornered rat.
