Facebook Suing DLA Piper, Other Lawyers

Lawyers who represented Paul Ceglia, whose claims that he made an early agreement with Facebook CEO and principal founder, Mark Zuckerberg, were dismissed as fraudulent by a federal judge, are now the focus of a lawsuit. In a filing with New York’s Supreme Court, Facebook claims that DLA Piper, among other lawyers representing Ceglia, knew his evidence was fabricated but proceeded with the lawsuit anyway in hopes of reaching a substantial settlement. Facebook’s filing claims that Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman, one of the firms also representing Ceglia, discovered his documents were fabricated, notified other law firms and planned to tell the court, until another law firm urged silence. “We said from the beginning that Paul Ceglia’s claim was a fraud and that we would seek to hold those responsible accountable,” Facebook general counsel Colin Stretch said in a statement. Peter Pantaleo, DLA Piper’s general counsel, in a statement said Facebook sued “to intimidate lawyers” to refrain from suing. “We will defend this meritless litigation aggressively and we will prevail,” he said.