Kramer Levin and Co-Counsel Secure Important Win for Stephen Richer as Kari Lake and Other Defendants Concede Liability in Defamation Lawsuit

Category: Defining Matters
Date: March 29, 2024
Title: Kramer Levin and Co-Counsel Secure Important Win for Stephen Richer as Kari Lake and Other Defendants Concede Liability in Defamation Lawsuit

Kramer Levin secured a finding of liability in a defamation lawsuit brought by our client Stephen Richer, the elected Recorder of Maricopa County, Arizona, against Kari Lake, the Lake for Governor Campaign and Ms. Lake’s fundraising organization. After Ms. Lake lost the 2022 election for Arizona governor, the defendants falsely accused Mr. Richer of tampering with the election by sabotaging printers and injecting hundreds of thousands of illegal ballots into the vote count.

Earlier this month, Kramer Levin and co-counsel defeated the defendants’ attempts to have the lawsuit dismissed, including a motion under Arizona’s new anti-strategic lawsuit against public participation (anti-SLAPP) statute and appeals to the Arizona Court of Appeals and the Arizona Supreme Court. Those litigation wins cleared the way for this positive outcome. Instead of defending her actions on the merits, Ms. Lake and the other defendants chose to default, effectively conceding that they acted with “actual malice” when they spread lies about Mr. Richer.

In a March 27, 2024, order, the Arizona Superior Court confirmed that the defendants had waived all rights to litigate the merits of those defamation claims. The case will now proceed to discovery and a hearing on the amount of damages owed to Mr. Richer. “As we have said again and again, there is no First Amendment right to knowingly or recklessly spread false information about someone,” said Jennifer Windom, litigation partner. “Defendants baselessly defamed Mr. Richer for their own gain, and they have tacitly admitted that they have no legal defense for their actions.”