OT but important to aquarists

[Scott <zerelli@yahoo.com>]

Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2001 13:55:45 -0500 (CDT)
From: Cynthia Powers <cyn@metronet.com>
Subject: PetsWarehouse Lawsuit Defense Fund

A group of aqurium hobbyists who frequent the Internet
Aquatic Plant 
Digest have been sued in Federal court for $15,000,000
by Robert Novak 
d/b/a petswarehouse.com. The lawsuit was filed in the
U.S. District 
Court 
for the Eastern District of New York. All of the
defendants reside 
outside of New York. The lawsuit involves allegations
of defamation for 
certain messages that were posted to the Aquatic Plant
Digest. 

A number of the named defendants have no liability
insurance which will 
cover this lawsuit. As New York is one of the most
expensive 
jurisdictions for handling litigation, a special
defense fund is
being set up to help defray the legal expenses
involved in the lawsuit. 
It is estimated that  preliminary legal expenses will
run about $15,000 
for the group. If the  case proceeds to trial
attorney's fees and 
expenses will run upwards of  $50,000. 

To date a number of fellow aquarists who are also
attorneys have 
volunteered their time on a pro bono basis. The
defendants will still 
need to retain local counsel to defend them in the
lawsuit.

This is a special request for financial assistance to
aid in the 
defense 
of this lawsuit. All contributions are important no
matter how large or 
small.  If you would like to contribute to the defense
fund please send 
your monetary contribution (check, money order or bank
draft), payable 
to  John Benn, Trust Account, to the law offices of
John R. Benn &  
Associates, 104 West Third Street, Sheffield, AL
35660. All 
contributions 
will be acknowledged. A special web page listing all
contributors by 
name  or initials will be established shortly.    Your
contribution may 
remain anonymous; if that is your choice, please note
it along with 
your 
contribution.

If you wish to contribute by credit card or PayPal
please visit the web  
site at http://www.paypal.com   The email ID for
contributions is  
jbenn@jblaw.org

In the event that contributions exceed the legal
expenses (everyone 
hopes 
for an early dismissal of the lawsuit) any unused
funds will be 
submitted 
as a donation to the World Wildlife Fund. 

If you are interested in learning more about this
lawsuit, the 
individual 
aquarists who have been sued, or the latest litigation
news, please 
visit 
CompuServe's Aquaria/Fish Forum at URL 
http://go.compuserve.com/fishnet. 
If you are interested in contributing any professional
services to the 
defense effort, please contact John Benn at
JBenn@jblaw.org. 

Please feel free to distribute this notice to other
aquarists, 
hobbyists,  pet lovers and all those you think feel
strongly about 
defending the  issues at stake.  On behalf of the
defendants in this
lawsuit, I will express our collective appreciation
for your 
contributions.

John Benn
JBenn@jblaw.org


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