"Soring v. Hammel" Ends in Quick and Complete Victory for Hammel

Jens Söring's law firm, Beutler Grulert Brandt, withdraws its own lawsuit

I just finished attending a hearing before the Frankfurt Regional Court in the defamation lawsuit Jens Söring brought against me for this blog post. Two of Söring’s lawyers from the firm Beutler Grulert Brandt in Hamburg showed up — including Stephan Grulert, who has threatened to sue me himself.

Jens Söring was conspicuous by his absence.

The BGB lawyers argued all sort of reasons I had violated Söring’s personality rights and privacy in the blog post. My lawyer argued that my comments were all opinions or value judgments protected by Art. 5 of the German Basic Law (which protects free speech).

Thanks to thorough and excellent briefing by my lawyer David Ziegelmayer, the Court already had a firm grasp of the issues in the case. They directed most of their questions to Söring’s lawyers, and many of those questions were skeptical. German judges often give parties an indication of what they’re thinking during trials and hearings, so that parties can adjust their strategy accordingly.

Eventually Söring’s lawyers asked for a break. After about 10 minutes, they returned to the courtroom and announced they were withdrawing their lawsuit. Lawyers often do this to avoid creating a bad precedent: i.e., they didn’t want the court to enter a formal written judicial finding that my blog post was protected free expression.

This is a total victory. Under German law, the loser pays, so Söring will have to pay my lawyers’ fees for this proceeding, and of course also his own. Stephan Grulert has also sent me a cease-and-desist letter in his own name over these two blog posts. I never doubted for a second that my post about Söring was protected by Article 5 of the German Basic Law, and I have no doubt that the two posts Grulert dislikes are also protected as legitimate commentary and clearly-marked satire.

Thus, of course I didn’t sign Grulert’s cease-and-desist letter. If Grulert decides to actually file a lawsuit (a motion for a temporary injunction), he will again confront the lawyer who beat his firm in court today. If he loses, Grulert will have to pay my lawyer personally.

One day, perhaps Jens Söring and Stephan Grulert will realize that filing complaints and lawsuits not only gets them nowhere, it provokes backlash. Until then, I will continue to write about the case, and to fight back against any and all lawsuit threats. After all, it’s not just my right to freedom of expression — it’s yours, too!