The Pietz Law Firm is pleased to report that the Illinois Court of Appeal, in an Order issued May 20, 2014 (2014 IL App (5th) 130091) (No. 5-13-0091) , recently sided with John Doe defendants, some of whom were represented by Morgan Pietz.
For background on this case, which was a strange chapter in the Prenda Saga, involving efforts to use state court mechanisms for pre-complaint discovery, check out this page from 2013, which explains how this case began.
After the St. Clair County court initially allowed discovery against 300 John Does from all over the state of Illinois to proceed, and a motion for a stay pending reconsideration was denied, The Pietz Law Firm prepared an emergency motion to the court of appeal which was granted. Getting emergency motions granted by courts of appeals is a rare thing, and The Pietz Law Firm and other co-counsel really had to scrambe to protect the identities of our clients in this instance.
Now, months later, the briefs have been considered (at least, briefs by the Does; Prenda failed to file a brief, requested extension to file one late, then never did so), and the case has been decided on the merits.
The result is a sweeping win for John Does in cases like these.
Special congratulations and thanks to Erin Russell, Tom Leverso, and Laura Beasley, who were all instrumental in this result.
