• ChunkMcHorkle@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Mike Lindell’s lawyers ask a judge to let them quit

      Court documents say the MyPillow executive owes millions of dollars to PDK LLC involving libel lawsuits filed against Lindell by Smartmatic and Dominion.

      Author: Dana Thiede
      Published: 1:45 PM CDT October 5, 2023
      Updated: 2:13 PM CDT October 5, 2023

      MINNEAPOLIS — A legal firm that has been representing Mike Lindell and his company MyPillow in multi-million dollar libel lawsuits is asking to withdraw their services due to non-payment.

      Court documents detail the requests by Andrew Parker of the firm of Parker Daniels Kibort LLC (PDK), filed in U.S. District Court, who claims to have been representing Lindell and his business since Feb. 2022 when he was sued for defamation by election tech firms Dominion and Smartmatic over claims Lindell made following Donald Trump’s loss in the 2020 election.

      PDK’s Parker alleges in the request to withdraw that payments for services began to slow in 2023 to more than 60 days after billing, and the payments that were received were only partially what was owed. The firm claims that no payments have been made on invoices submitted for July and August of 2023.

      Documents say PDK has made efforts to work with Lindell and MyPillow in hopes that financing could be secured to continue legal services, but on Oct. 2 the firm was allegedly informed by Lindell that “they are not able to get caught up with or make any payment on the large amount they owe in arrears nor pay for anywhere near the estimated expense of continuing to defend against the lawsuits going forward, including either the legal fees or litigation costs.”

      PDK says in its motions to withdraw that Lindell and MyPillow owe millions of dollars, and as a small litigating firm cannot afford to finance the defendant’s (Lindell’s) defense. Being forced to continue the litigation process would reportedly place PDK in serious financial risk and could “threaten the very existence” of the firm, according to the motion.

      Dominion sued Lindell and MyPillow in February of 2021 after he allegedly spread malicious and false claims about the company’s machines throwing the 2020 presidential election in favor of Joe Biden. On its website, Dominion says Lindell’s claims, which have been proven false, caused irreparable harm to the company’s reputation and threatened the safety of both employees and customers.

      Smartmatic, a multinational company that builds and implements electronic voting systems, sued Lindell for defamation in January of 2022 saying the Minnesota businessman falsely claimed that Smartmatic manipulated votes in states and jurisdictions across the United States. The company is asking a federal jury to determine damages caused by Lindell’s statements.