It was a SLAPP suit (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation), it was intended to scare us, but not actually take us to trial. One of our group was an attorney who had filed the original lawsuit against he-who-shall-not-be-named. The countersuit claimed "Conspiracy to Defame" and listed the lawyer and a 14-man sample of people who had participated in the online discussions (including myself). Some of them were well-known, others were just average joes. It was intended to silence us. It didn't have the intended result.
I was dismissed over improper service. Law required an officer of the court to provide service, and dip****'s lawyer hired a private detective. There were 15 co-defendants. Several were served at Sun-N-Fun, and the word quickly got out to the rest. Service was attempted on a half-dozen of us, I think it was completed on only ~five or so. Not even attempted on most, and the word got out early. Those that WANTED to avoid service had plenty of opportunity to do so.
Not long after that, a threat on the President's life was made on an online forum. It had been done under the name of Tony, our attorney, but charged to dip****'s corporate credit card. Guys in suits got out of black Suburbans in front of Tony's house and came a'knocking. They were polite enough. Tony had just moved into this house, and invited them into his den where he was putting up his various collections and qualifications.
They were a bit concerned when they observed one aspect of Tony's collection... bayonets. Then Tony lifted a framed certificate and hung it on the wall. It was a certificate that showed that Tony was authorized to plead cases at the US Supreme Court. He said the atmosphere got a lot lighter after that.....
I *really* should write this all up, some day.
Ron Wanttaja