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Attorney Caught Red-Handed as Florida Judge Exposes a Batch Copyright Troll Cases | P2P News!

On February 16, the Northern District Court of Florida suspended 27 copyright troll lawsuits against more than 3,500 Doe defendants on suspicion that the copyright trolls’ lawyer, Tarik Hashmi of the Transnational Law Group, may not be properly allowed to practice law in the state of Florida. Some of the plaintiffs represented by Hashmi are Third Degree Films, Inc.; Patrick Collins, Inc.; and SBO Pictures, Inc (see pdf for full list with plaintiffs).

Three Doe defendants helped expose the aberration by calling the court’s attention to a Cease and Desist Affidavit that Hashmi submitted to the Florida State Bar in 2010. The affidavit asserted that Hashmi was not licensed to practice law in Florida and asked that all trials at issue be halted until he was licensed by the state.

Tarik Hashmi has until March 9 to respond to the complaints. Any person involved in the suits should note that they have been discontinued.

Over the course of Hashmi’s investigation by the court, all proceedings with future deadlines are suspended. District Judge Hinkle, the legal authority in charge of the audit, also forbade Hashmi and the companies he represents from taking any future action regarding the defendants, until the Hashmi proves his status as a qualified Florida attorney. If Hashmi fails to bring forth consistent proof of his qualifications, the Judge will likely bring all cases to a close.

This isn’t the first time that the obscure business model of copyright trolls is brought into question, as courts have appealed for increased awareness towards such speculative legal conduct multiple times in the past. Thankfully, the lawyers for Doe defendants managed to expose this attempt in time, thereby rescuing the defendants from filling the ranks of dozens of other copyright troll victims out there.

(via EFF)