Lawsuit of the Day: On Law and Order's Case
The long-running NBC TV show, Law and Order, promotes its shows with claims of "ripped from the headlines," but always includes a disclaimer within each episode that the story and characters are fictional. Questionable.
Well, one attorney is not happy about having his likeness ripped from the headlines of this New York Times story from 2003. And he's been given the go-ahead to proceed with his $15 million libel suit against the show. From the New York Law Journal:
Attorney Ravi Batra can proceed with a $15 million libel suit against the creators of "Law & Order" for airing an episode depicting a "bald Indian-American" lawyer who bribes a Brooklyn Supreme Court judge, a Manhattan court has ruled.The lawyer filed the defamation action in 2004 against 35 defendants, including producer Dick Wolf and NBC Universal, claiming that an episode was based on a corruption scandal involving Justice Gerald Garson, matrimonial lawyer Paul Siminovsky and Batra.
In what she deemed the first "libel-in-fiction" claim to survive a summary motion in nearly 25 years, Acting Supreme Court Justice Marilyn Shafer held that viewers "would identify" a fictional lawyer character dubbed "Ravi Patel" with Batra "because of the uniqueness of [Batra's] name, ethnicity and appearance."
Batra has probably never been so happy to be a bald man. It seems this shared feature with the "Law and Order" character is a big part of the case. And their both being Indian:
The episode, entitled "Floater," centered around the husband of a woman who turns up dead in the Hudson River. The husband's alibi leads police to uncover a corruption scandal involving a divorce lawyer and a judge at the courthouse where his wife worked.The episode portrayed a bald Indian-American matrimonial attorney called "Ravi Patel," played by India-born actor Erick Avari, bribing a female Brooklyn Supreme Court justice.
Batra was never charged with corruption or bribery, but his reputation was hurt by the bad press.
We've tracked down photos of Ravi Batra and the actor who played "Ravi Patel" (Erick Avari, better known as genetics doctor Chandra Suresh from NBC's straight-up awesome show Heroes). Judge the similarities for yourselves!
Update: More from from the NYT's City Room (which actually wrote up the case before the NYLJ):
Mr. Batra demonstrated that at the time the episode aired, he was one of only six lawyers in New York City with the given name Ravi and the only one of the six with the same age and physical description as the Patel character.
‘Law & Order’ Faces a Libel Case [City Room / New York Times]
Attorney's $15 Million Libel Lawsuit Against 'Law & Order' Creators, NBC Goes Forward [New York Law Journal on Law.com via The BLT]
FRIEND OF THE COURT: One Lawyer's Inside Track; Cozying Up to Judges, and Reaping Opportunity [The New York Times]
Comments
You have a MASSIVE boon for lawyers:
JP Morgan - Bear "merger" -- massive corporate deal (Wachtell/Cravath), and all the challenges being mounted (legal fees estimated at more than 10 times total deal value).
JP Morgan - Bear "merger" falls through -- more lawsuits, this time against JP Morgan.
Bear Bankruptcy -- if merger falls through and Bear hits bankruptcy -- think MASSIVE legal fees for everyone from Bankrputcy shops, derivative unwind shops, plaintiff/defense, etc.
This Bear fiasco is massive boon to NYC law industry.
Posted by: oh and FIRST | March 20, 2008 01:02 PM
1:02: A substantive comment? I think you are on the wrong board.. this is "Above the Law" not "talk about the law"
Posted by: Anonymous | March 20, 2008 01:05 PM
"his reputation was hurt"
Harmed, FTW!
Posted by: N. Flanders | March 20, 2008 01:10 PM
Off topic but how many Jews will take off for Good Friday?
Posted by: Query | March 20, 2008 01:11 PM
Hey 1:02, what's your analysis on how this will all affect tax work?
Posted by: tax hopeful | March 20, 2008 01:14 PM
"The long-running NBC TV show, Law and Order, promotes its shows with claims . . . ."
Uh, commas? Are you serious?
"Batra has probably never been so happy to be a bald man. It seems this shared feature with the "Law and Order" character is a big part of the case. And their both being Indian:"
Wtf? This is barely readable.
Posted by: Anonymous | March 20, 2008 01:14 PM
This is RIDICULOUS....the actor as a BEARD -- if hair is the crux of the legal argument. There are no identifying characteristics, like, headbands, feathers, tomahawks or teepees. How in the F- would you know if they were "american indian" or merely people from india?
Posted by: Anonymous | March 20, 2008 01:16 PM
They look like brothers. Maybe even twins. He has a good case.
Posted by: Anonymous | March 20, 2008 01:20 PM
Caught this news tid-bit while I was rolling around Long Island in my LR2, in between high-level complex transactional conference calls.
Posted by: Anonymous | March 20, 2008 01:21 PM
1:14 - You are my hero! Will you teach me some grammar? Do you do that on dates? I think it is totally cool if you do. I bet they love it as much as they love you. Wow. We are all so impressed with you. Please, please, please correct my grammar. It would make me feel so special.
Posted by: Anonymous | March 20, 2008 01:25 PM
Anyone watching college basketball at their law firm? Who are you billing it to?
Posted by: Anonymous | March 20, 2008 01:26 PM
1:26: barely got my brack picks in... filled out two:
1) cutest mascot of each matchup
2) likely outcome of fight between matchups.
not sure what a "tar heel is" but it is probably pretty tough, and not cute. Guess what my cutest mascot was??!?
Posted by: Anonymous | March 20, 2008 01:31 PM
NOT ONE POST ON BEAR STEARNS: 1) MERGER, 2) BANKRUPTCY, 3) FED, 4) CONGRESS... asleep at the wheel....
Posted by: Anonymous | March 20, 2008 01:34 PM
I'm just glad that Kash came in today. I <3 Kash.
Posted by: I have a crush | March 20, 2008 01:34 PM
Hope he wins this. I am tired of the American media's racist depictions of Indian-Americans. They wouldn't get away with this if he was black.
Posted by: Anonymous | March 20, 2008 01:35 PM
1:25,
While I don't have strong feelings one way or the other about grammar policing, I will correct your use of sarcasm. Part of the proper use of sarcasm is knowing when to stop. You made your point within the first three sentences -- you think the previous poster is a loser for correcting her grammar. We get it. By droning on about it, it makes you look like the loser.
Posted by: Anonymous | March 20, 2008 01:38 PM
Ravi Patel grew up on an indian reservation, with an alcholic father and a white mother named kicking bird. how cliche...
Posted by: Anonymous | March 20, 2008 01:38 PM
This is the worst news for Indian Americans since Dances with Wolves. Our treatment of Indian Americans is shameful and Indians were getting the shaft LONG before black people showed up with their "history of oppression." You have never even SEEN an Indian American presidential candidate!
Posted by: Anonymous | March 20, 2008 01:41 PM
I think the stanford tree thing is the best mascot... soooooo cute!
Posted by: Anonymous | March 20, 2008 01:43 PM
This case is a crock of shite.
Posted by: Anonymous | March 20, 2008 01:43 PM
Dead Indians use to float downstream from the Hudson when I lived in Jersey City. It happened all the time - it was no big deal.
Posted by: acpro | March 20, 2008 01:53 PM
Based on the old NYTimes article, this guy sounds like a creep.
Posted by: Anonymous | March 20, 2008 01:55 PM
Batra clearly has a case against NBC for discrimination against bald people.
Posted by: Larry David | March 20, 2008 01:59 PM
Indian Americans aren't even presidents of their own IT companies, they outsource that to somewhere in Asia...
Posted by: Anonymous | March 20, 2008 02:03 PM
Ravi is a very common Indian name.
Posted by: Anonymous | March 20, 2008 02:10 PM
1:11, probably more this year than most... it just so happens to coincide with the holiday of purim this year.
Posted by: Anonymous | March 20, 2008 02:20 PM
The TV artist is whiter than Batra. ;-)
Posted by: anirudh | March 20, 2008 02:28 PM
You know, because they all look alike.
Posted by: Anonymous | March 20, 2008 03:11 PM
I'm not surprised about this at all. In the past year I've caught re-runs of Law & Order that mimic the Duke Lacrosse rape case and Genie(?) Pirro's fiasco with her husband.
Posted by: Anonymous | March 20, 2008 04:18 PM
"I am tired of the American media's racist depictions of Indian-Americans."
Since when does the American media depict Indians period? Dumbass . . .
Posted by: Anonymous | March 21, 2008 02:04 PM