For the fourth time in a row, a law firm has dropped its representation of Paul Ceglia in his claim to own half of Facebook. This morning, Edelson McGuire withdrew from the case.
Some describe Edelman as a plaintiffs’ class action firm, which seems like an odd choice for representing Ceglia.
Although Edelson hadn’t formally submitted any legal paperwork for Ceglia nor appeared in court on his behalf, Edelson had been involved in the court-ordered review of the document and electronic evidence over the past few weeks, according to an anonymous source.
Edelson’s exit comes just one month after DLA Piper withdrew from the case, following in the footsteps of prior counsel Dennis Vaco and, before that, Terrence Connors. The latter had quit on the eve of a hearing that Facebook had sought in order to gain access to the purported contract and Ceglia’s computers and electronic files.
San Diego-based Jeffrey A. Lake, A.P.C. had begun representing Ceglia upon DLA Piper’s departure, and continues to represent his claim against Facebook — a paralegal confirmed this for us over the phone.
Lake continues to maintain a website related to the case, including copies of the legal documents filed with the court. The last one, dated July 25, sought to get Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg to expedite disclosure of subpoenaed evidence apace with Ceglia’s having to do the same.
Okay, so we’ve noticed a pattern in the four law firms’ withdrawals: They balk upon the approach of a court-related deadline that involves close review of the evidence. Lawyers tend to choose cases they believe they will win, and drop the losers.
Like Liz Gannes of AllThingsD put it, “Facebook has called Ceglia’s case a fraud and a scam, having deployed a private investigator, forensics firm and linguistic analysts, among others, to try to discredit him.”
Readers, what do you think about the state of Ceglia’s case against Facebook?
Source: All Facebook