A lawyer representing ticketholders suing Madonna for late concerts in Brooklyn and Washington D.C. stepped over the borderline when he prematurely announced a settlement in the legal battle last week, a judge ruled Monday.
The federal judge struck down the settlement notice at an afternoon hearing after a lawyer representing Madonna and Live Nation argued it was filed in bad faith. The defense attorney, Jeff Warshafsky, confirmed the sides met for settlement talks during an 80-minute video call on May 29, but he was adamant he told plaintiffs’ lawyer Marcus Wolf Corwin that Madonna and Live Nation hadn’t agreed to anything yet. “At least 60 of those minutes were him making threats to file additional actions against our clients,” Warshafsky told the court, referring to the call.
“I actually said to him that I wasn’t sure our clients were going to [send written terms] and make an offer because of the threats he made on the call. I remember that because he took issue with me accusing him of making those threats.” In a letter to the court filed Monday, Warshafsky said there was “no agreed-upon settlement” when Corwin filed the “false” notice of settlement with the court Friday evening.
“To be clear, defendants are not necessarily opposed to settlement if certain terms can be reached. But defendants will not be harassed into settlement and cannot abide false statements made to the court. The false notice is part and parcel of the harassment campaign that p.
