Presumably Mark Lewis thought it was a good idea to approach people like me with messages on Twitter threatening us with court action.
He was wrong. But I bet he makes the same mistake again.
On the evening of February 20, I got home from a hospital trip with Mrs Mike and her mum to be greeted with the following messages:
@MidWalesMike I have been instructed by Tracy Ann Oberman and Rachel Riley to take legal action against you. Would you or such solicitor that you nominate please contact [email protected] If you do not provide contact details by 4pm on 28 February 2019 then it will be
— Mark Lewis (@MLewisLawyer) February 20, 2019
Deleting tweets without preserving Twitter Analytics is a very serious matter.
I do not intend to debate with you on Twitter.
— Mark Lewis (@MLewisLawyer) February 20, 2019
That last comment was a good idea because I had no intention of responding at all.
What kind of lawyer contacts his intended victims on Twitter?
The wrong kind, apparently. I took a bit of legal advice, which may be summed up in this short Twitter (again) thread by Shaun Lawson:
Some people are asking who he is. Look at his timeline here. He's sending out this nonsense to a whole bunch of people. https://t.co/0EFsyLfsFH
— Shaun Lawson (@shaunjlawson) February 20, 2019
The article is almost solely based on Oberman and Riley's own tweets, in which they incriminated themselves. There is nothing libellous in it whatsoever. Oberman and Riley both know this – so they and their lawyer are trying to provoke you. Don't give them the satisfaction.
— Shaun Lawson (@shaunjlawson) February 20, 2019
One other thing. What Lewis is doing is what disreputable lawyers do when they're fishing. They're trying to lure you into a trap. Don't fall for it; do NOT respond and absolutely do NOT email him.
— Shaun Lawson (@shaunjlawson) February 20, 2019
So there were no grounds for legal action in the original behaviour of the people being contacted (I had written my own article, followed with a piece about the kind of people who support Ms Riley and Ms Oberman – based on their own tweets, so it’s still not actionable) – and Mr Lewis was apparently trying to trap us and provoke us into something actionable.
No thanks!
I noticed activity on my Twitter feed had picked up and checked it out. Some of it was from the usual stormtroopers* of the anti-Semitism witch-hunt, but it very quickly became clear that these were being ignored.
Instead, other Twitter users were responding to the threat against me by reporting Mr Lewis to both Twitter itself and the Solicitors Regulation Authority, which had already fined him £2,500 for a previous transgression:
https://twitter.com/j43kfr05t/status/1098319656027328517
Interesting that Tracy Ann Oberman and Rachel Riley are trying desperately to shut down anyone revealing how they bullied a teenager online.
Also interesting that issuing legal threats online is against the SRA solicitors code of conduct. https://t.co/42Y5yU1JJ9— Tom Pride (@ThomasPride) February 21, 2019
You really want to do this here? Shame on you.
— 🕷 mac jordan 🍿🥤 🛋 #wearamask (@ramtops) February 21, 2019
Erm. Isn't it against the SRA solicitors code of conduct to issue legal threats online? Much less on a public forum.
— 𝓜𝓪𝓻𝓽𝔂𝓷 𝓓𝓪𝓿𝓮𝓷𝓹𝓸𝓻𝓽 (@MartynDav33) February 21, 2019
Some pointed out that Mr Lewis was apparently trying to bully minors:
https://twitter.com/LabLeftVoice/status/1098344677563133953
After a while, the ridicule took on a festive tone. People were really enjoying taking down this alleged expert:
https://twitter.com/JOShUAkANE013/status/1098347604059045888
@LawPatron must be hugely impressed by their new *recruit* who has brought all the class and style of ambulance chasers to @Twitter
— Ian Halstead (@TheIanHalstead) February 21, 2019
From ambulance chasers to Twitter chasers pic.twitter.com/IH65CNglG8
— Afro_Socialist✊🏿 (@Tmujzim) February 21, 2019
https://twitter.com/rdudley55/status/1098647231505276931
@MLewisLawyer I have a Palestinian friend who has been harassed and libelled as a terrorist for standing up for innocent people who have been killed by Israeli soldiers. Can you confirm whether you are able to help with this case ?
— Adam Vickers (@adamfvickers) February 20, 2019
Holy shit do you even know how creepy you are? ewwww
— 🌹 Robert 🌹 (@buddha8888888) February 21, 2019
What fresh pish is this?
— clint (@Clintonscott10) February 21, 2019
How much an hour are you on Mark? I was involved in a car accident that wasn’t my fault within the last 3 years, no really I was so you seem like just the fellow to help me? 😜
— Andy (@andyjh1965) February 21, 2019
Tell Tracy Ann Oberman and Rachel Riley I don't believe their BS, and I think they're playing with fire, you creepy little weirdo. pic.twitter.com/3ZUoD1yh8T
— Daniel Blake (@Lovejoy999) February 20, 2019
Perhaps the most embarrassing part of this is that some in the mainstream media have taken all this seriously.
The Guardian reported: “The Countdown presenter Rachel Riley and former EastEnders actor Tracy Ann Oberman are preparing legal action against up to 70 individuals for tweets relating to their campaign against antisemitism in the Labour party, according to the pair’s lawyer.
“Mark Lewis, who made his name representing phone-hacking victims, said he is contacting people who have either posted allegedly libellous claims about his clients or repeatedly sent them large numbers of messages, which he says is tantamount to harassment.”
Wrong way round. If I recall correctly, they were doing the harassing.
“At the end of last year he and his partner moved to Israel, citing the level of antisemitism in Europe.”
https://twitter.com/saeed6ali/status/1098562045820186624
Perhaps this is a serious attempt at using the law to bully perfectly decent people, but it is clear that the people behind it cannot be taken seriously.
I’ll take it seriously when I see a reason to do so. Right now, I don’t.
*If anyone wants to claim anti-Semitism because mention of “stormtroopers” calls the Nazi variety to mind, be assured that no such comparison is possible. Nazi stormtroopers were successful in the horrible things they did – at least, during the first few years they were around.
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