…and this is a 
In August, Stuart Pivar once again threatened to resolve a scientific dispute by waving a team of lawyers at it, when he tried to sue a scientist, Robert Hazen, for daring to insist that Pivar stop using his name to promote Pivar's pseudo-science of balloon animals. I just heard from Peter Irons that he had received notification from some of the lawyers involved in that case.
Good morning Peter,
We are pleased to report that Pivar's counsel called and offered to dismiss the action with prejudice. We recently filed the executed Stipulation of Voluntary Discontinuance. The action is officially dismissed with prejudice (though it may be a few days before the Clerk changes the case status to inactive). Thank you,
Monique E. Liburd
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
This is becoming a tradition.
Politics
Comments
Posted by: Sgt. Obvious
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October 27, 2009 12:23 PM
How long before he demands a camera?
Posted by: Another Martyr for TRVTH | October 27, 2009 12:27 PM
Yes, Stuart Pivar, this is how they work.
You file a simple lawsuit to be able to defend your right to publish something that someone said something that if it were just interpreted in the proper way would support your brilliant ideas -- and then they get to the judges and the courts, saying that the law says that you cannot do what you want to do.
They make sure that the law says that people actually have rights to their own words and how they appear. Or at least, they do when it would hurt you.
It is so terribly unfair, but that is how they work.
Baron Oscar Zalman-O'Hare
Posted by: Glen Davidson
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October 27, 2009 12:29 PM
I guess he wants the world to know that he's a loser, so he publicizes it by failing to follow through on his pathetic suits.
With prejudice--all the better.
Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/mxaa3p
Posted by: Owlmirror | October 27, 2009 12:34 PM
Do we know if there is any news about Gell-Mann's similarly misappropriated quote?
Posted by: Gra | October 27, 2009 12:36 PM
How, or why, does a plaintiff dismiss with prejudice? Isn't that what the judge would do?
Posted by: The Mighty Atheist | October 27, 2009 12:37 PM
Pivar, give up the ghost. You are NOT getting that godd@mn camera.
Posted by: W. Kevin Vicklund | October 27, 2009 1:03 PM
If all parties stipulate to dismiss with prejudice in a civil suit, then normally the judge will do so. Plaintiffs normally request to dismiss with prejudice if they realize they don't have a realistic shot in winning and want to save on court costs - "with prejudice" assures the defendant that the issue can't be brought up in future litigation, and as such can be a carrot in the settlement offer.
Posted by: peter irons | October 27, 2009 1:04 PM
For Owlmirror: even though Gell-Mann has repudiated the phony quote Pivar has used to promote his book, the book's distributer, North Atlantic Books, has refused to remove the quote from the Amazon site. Anyone who wants to comment on this fraudulent use of Gell-Mann's name can contact the president of North Atlantic Books, Richard Grossinger, at "chard@northatlanticbooks.com"
For Gra: plaintiffs can dismiss a suit with prejudice (which means it can't be re-filed) before it reaches a judge; this usually means a plaintiff (or his/her lawyer)knows the suit is a loser and would promptly be dismissed by a judge.
Posted by: Knut Holt | October 27, 2009 1:07 PM
Puvar's theories are perhaps nonsense taken literarily. They may however have a value by promoting new thought processes by scientists.
Posted by: Celtic_Evolution
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October 27, 2009 1:15 PM
No... they really don't.
Posted by: Blake Stacey | October 27, 2009 1:23 PM
Celtic_Evolution (#10) is right. We've examined Pivar's ramblings with more attention than they deserve, and there's just not enough substance.
Posted by: Mrs Tilton | October 27, 2009 1:25 PM
Morgan Lewis? Not a bad firm. Was Pivar using Mikey the Boy Lawyer this time as well?
PZ had Peter Irons in his corner, Hazen had a major US BIGLAW... I mean, don't get me wrong, Pivar's suits are ludicrous on the merits. The defendants didn't really need stars, any half-competent litigator should have been able to get the suits dismissed with one hand behind her back and a bad hangover. But Pivar has a habit of bringing a knife to a gun-fight (a plastic toy knife, and it's broken).
Posted by: Naked Bunny with a Whip
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October 27, 2009 2:00 PM
I keep expecting to hear that Pivar has retained the services of Orly Taitz for one of these suits.
Posted by: Dr.P | October 27, 2009 2:53 PM
@13,
Oh, the money I would pay to see those proceedings.Posted by: Paul | October 27, 2009 8:25 PM
Was the $20K fine enough? Maybe when Taitz becomes a real lawyer she will appreciate what just happened. I wonder if she is a mail order bride, just like her law degree? She is perfect reporter material for “Fake News”, where unfounded rumors and innuendo reign supreme , unlike a our US courts of law, where you need to present documented facts, not half baked lies (prepare for more failures).
When flies get too close to the lights they get burned, Taitz just got burned, thing is, like a fly she will continue, no end in sight. Poor little Birthers they are haters not debaters.
A lawyer, dentist, realtor and black belt, wow I must say a JACK of all trades master of none.
Posted by: ChicagoMolly | October 27, 2009 10:11 PM
I just went back a couple links to check out what Mr Pivar is about, and -- well, he's basically a crank, isn't he? He's one of those people who, 60 years ago, would send a 25 page single-spaced typescript to Albert Einstein explaining just what the old boy got wrong about Life, the Universe, and Everything.
Posted by: DLC
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October 28, 2009 8:24 AM
Is this Pivar guy rich or something that he can afford to file these lawsuits, have books published and otherwise basically not work for a living ?
Posted by: John Phillips, FCD | October 28, 2009 7:09 PM
DLC #17, yes.