Mike Lindell gives a thumbs up as he passes by a rally for supporters of former President Donald Trump, Tuesday, April 4, 2023, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
A team of lawyers that has defended MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell in Dominion Voting Systems’ billion-dollar defamation lawsuit has moved to withdraw from the case because the “Defendants are millions of dollars in arrears.”
Several attorneys for Lindell and MyPillow from the law firm of Parker Daniels Kibort LLC, plus attorney Nathan Lewin of Lewin & Lewin, LLP, have collectively notified U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, that they want to withdraw from the case. These attorneys have also represented Lindell in Smartmatic’s defamation lawsuit and the defamation case that former Dominion Voting Systems employee Eric Coomer filed in Colorado.
At root, each lawsuit alleges that claims about a massive plot by the voting technology companies to the steal the 2020 presidential election from Donald Trump were completely baseless and defamatory.
The lawyers revealed Thursday that in September they warned their clients Lindell and MyPillow “that if they did not pay the outstanding invoices and continue to pay new invoices as they came due, PDK would have to withdraw its representation of Defendants.”
That warning was renewed on Oct. 2, but the lawyers were “informed by Defendants that they are not able to get caught up with or make any payment on the large amount they owe in arrears nor pay for anywhere near the estimated expense of continuing to defend against the lawsuits going forward, including either the legal fees or litigation costs,” their filing said.
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The lawyers pleaded with Judge Nichols, a Trump appointee, not to force them to continue to represent Lindell or else that might plunge the firm into “serious financial risk” and “threaten the very existence of the firm”:
At this time, Defendants are in arrears by millions of dollars to PDK. PDK is a small litigation and trial firm in Minneapolis, MN and cannot afford to finance Defendants’ defense in the Litigations. If forced to continue its representation, PDK would be required to fund all personnel and payroll costs, as well as the costs and fees associated with dispositive and nondispositive motions; anticipated depositions noticed by both the Plaintiffs and Defendants; document review of millions of documents, including the hosting of those documents on litigation management software; and the preparation and submission of expert reports as well as additional expert discovery, such as depositions. These future fees and costs will amount to millions of dollars in addition to the millions of dollars already owed.
The lawyers said that their clients “have been made fully aware of this filing,” and noted that Lindell was advised about how to go about representing himself, should it come to that and should he decide to go that route.
“Defendants have been advised to obtain other counsel and, to the undersigned’s knowledge and belief, Defendants are in the process of obtaining new counsel,” the motion said. “Defendant Michael J. Lindell has been advised that if he intends to proceed pro se he should notify the Clerk of Court within seven days. Defendants have indicated that they understand PDK’s position, do not object, and are in the process of finding new counsel.”
Read the memorandum in support of the attorneys’ motion to withdraw here.
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