Is Elon Musk About To Get Quinn Emanuel Sanctioned? – Above the Law

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Elon Musk continues to rack up legal milestones. From waiving due diligence and belatedly learning that he could no longer dip out on buying Twitter to filing a thermonuclear lawsuit alleging aggravated fact talking, Musk navigates the legal world with all the reliability of the SpaceX Starship. But hes not managed to get a Biglaw firm sanctioned.

Yet!

In a new motion, attorneys for Benjamin Brody, the student that Musk publicly tied to a neo-Nazi fight suggesting that it was a probable false flag operation, filed a motion for sanctions against Quinn Emanuels Alex Spiro over his conduct in the case.

It starts off with a heater:

Spiro, a Madison Avenue celebrity lawyer, does not feel compelled to obey our rules. As shown below, he has seriously overstepped his bounds, and sanctions should issue.

Did not know there was an official antonym to the Im just a simple country lawyer trope, but weve found it.

The heart of the motion is Musks March 27th deposition which Musk and Spiro tried unsuccessfully to keep sealed where Musk managed to bumble his way into admitting most of the elements of the suit, shrugging off the whole making incorrect statements of fact with Theres some risk that what I say is incorrect, but one has to balance that against having a chilling effect on free speech in general, which would undermine the entire foundation of our democracy. No, in fact, you do not.

In any event, Spiro showed up to defend Musk in that deposition, notably without local counsel.

However, neither of these attorneys were present at Musks deposition. Instead, and unbeknownst to Plaintiff s counsel, out-of-state attorney Alex Spiro showed up to the deposition with no notice. Spiro is not licensed in Texas, nor is he admitted pro hac vice.

Perhaps if hed had local counsel present he mightve known that the bid to mark the deposition confidential after it concluded would run into a brick wall with the court. Texas requires protective orders be litigated out before the discovery takes place, while Musks lawyer only asked for the protection as he prepared to jump off the deposition.

Things veered into the wall faster than a Tesla on a bad day.

Q. Mr. Musk, Im referring to the fact that on June 24th, 2023, as described in the plaintiff Ben Brodys lawsuit, there was a brawl in Oregon between right wing extremists. Were you aware that that was the subject matter of the lawsuit? MR. SPIRO: I dont know that thats the subject matter of the lawsuit. I think the subject matter of the MR. BANKSTON: A subject matter of the lawsuit. And, Mr. Spiro, again, your objections to questions in an oral deposition under Rule 199.5 are limited to objection; leading and objection; form, or objection; nonresponsive. Those objections are waived if not stated as phrased. All other objections need not be made or recorded during the oral deposition to be raised to the court. You must not give any suggestive or argumentative or any explanations during the deposition. MR. SPIRO: Well, then dont say things that are misleading. MR. BANKSTON: No. Thats not thats why you should object to the form of the question. MR. SPIRO: No, no, its not MR. BANKSTON: Thats misleading. Mr. Spiro, you know Mr. Spiro MR. SPIRO: Listen, if you want to go back and forth with me and waste your time, you can. Go on to your next question. MR. BANKSTON: Oh, were going to get more time if you keep doing this. MR. SPIRO: No, youre not. No, youre not. Go to the judge MR. BANKSTON: Youre violating Rule 199, youre not even pro hac admitted. MR. SPIRO: Okay. Okay. Youre just giving speeches that nobodys listening to but you. Youre just doing them for yourself. MR. BANKSTON: Oh, theyre for the record, Mr. Spiro, theyre for the court to listen to. MR. SPIRO: Okay. So keep MR. BANKSTON: And I would appreciate it Im going to give you an instruction. I would appreciate it if you would abide by Rule 199.5 of the Texas Rules. MR. SPIRO: I heard you the first three times. MR. BANKSTON: Mr. Spiro, please do not interrupt me. MR. SPIRO: I heard you the first three times. MR. BANKSTON: Mr. Spiro, please do not interrupt me. Im asking you on the record to obey Rule 199.5. If you continue to violate Rule 199.5, I will move for sanctions against you. So I please ask you to obey the rules in the remainder of this deposition.

Pushing the envelope on speaking objections is a time-honored practice, but most lawyers at least play it off with mock contrition and a did I do that? The flipside would be

MR. SPIRO: I am going to interrupt again, and I dont really care that rule you keep reading because it has nothing to do with MR. BANKSTON: I know you dont. MR. SPIRO: Good.

There will be another several references to Rule 199.5 throughout the deposition despite ample breaks that mightve afforded anyone an opportunity to look it up. But the sanctions request goes beyond the form of objections:

MR. SPIRO: This isnt like a real case. This is just some stupid MR. BANKSTON: Mr. Spiro. MR. SPIRO: Yeah, so MR. BANKSTON: Lawyers do not It is not in accordance with the Lawyers Creed to just start making random statements about the alleged frivolity of a case to a lawyer in a deposition. You know thats not proper. You know that. MR. SPIRO: Do you give these lectures in all of your depositions?

Hopefully not? Because most depositions dont involve lawyers insulting the case on the record. Or the other attorneys:

It remains to be seen whether or not any judge will say these are improper questions, but given the Musk teams track record with the confidentiality requests, Im not sanguine about their chances.

Look, Texas isnt exactly known for genteel depositions

But even that fight was a product of trying to keep objections in check, so Spiro shouldve known the states attorneys get testy with objections that they dont think conform to local rules.

The motion lodges more arguments for sanctions based on disagreements over relevance and the scope of the deposition that present contestable disputes for the judge to resolve. But using a deposition to denigrate the plaintiffs case and the attorneys involved is a breach of professional decorum regardless of the specific Texas rules. Musk may want hardcore lawyers, but this behavior is less hardcore than petulant. Call the case meritless and call the questions wildly improper in a brief, but keep the This isnt like a real case. This is just some stupid remarks off the record. Especially a video record!

And then theres this footnote

Another troubling issue should be noted for context. During his deposition, Musk was asked about a Twitter account called @ermnmusk that he was rumored to use. (Id. at 44:11-12; see also Ex. 2, @ermnmusk account). Musk testified that he used the account during the summer of 2023, which means he viewed and interacted with tweets on this account around the time when Brody was defamed. (Id. at 45:17). Thus, information Musk interacted with on this account near the time of the defamation could be relevant to Brodys claims. However, when Plaintiff s counsel checked the account after the deposition, they discovered it had been deleted. According to @BigTechAlert, an automated bot that tracks Twitter activity, it appears the @ermnmusk account was deleted on or about February 21, 2024.

This deletion is alarming because February 21, 2024 is the date of the Courts discovery order. In other words, after almost a year of inactivity on the account and with no recent public discussion about it, it appears Musk chose to delete the account on the day the Court ordered discovery to go forward, which is either intentional spoliation or an extraordinary longshot coincidence.

Um. Thats not good.

Earlier: Elon Musk Will Beat Twitter! WSJ Says Its Obvious Assuming You Change Every Single Fact And Law. Elon Musks Thermonuclear Lawsuit Is Here And Its Positively Tepid. Elon Musk Takes Time Out From Failing To Buy Twitter To Fail To Build His Own Law Firm

Joe Patriceis a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free toemail any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him onTwitterif youre interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

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Is Elon Musk About To Get Quinn Emanuel Sanctioned? - Above the Law