Last week, we covered the comedy of errors that played out in the Florida courtroom of Judge Mary Scriven, where it became clear that there were no attorneys willing to put their reputations at risk by associating themselves with the porn trolling firm Prenda Law. A local Florida attorney told Judge Scriven that he had been brought into the case by Prenda, but now wanted out of the case. Prenda itself denied any involvement in the case.

John Steele, an Illinois lawyer with longstanding ties to Prenda, happened to be in the audience at the hearing. But he also told Judge Scriven he had nothing to do with the case. An exasperated Judge Scriven threw out the case and threatened to sanction Prenda for its "lack of candor."

Now the same sketchy law firm is facing fresh charges of misconduct, this time in Minnesota. The federal courts in Minnesota are currently hearing a copyright infringement lawsuit brought by a firm called AF Holdings. A Minnesota man named Alan Cooper says that AF Holdings is really a shell company set up by Prenda. And Cooper says they've been listing him as the firm's CEO without his knowledge or consent.

Smoke and mirrors

"AF Holdings" filed a lawsuit in Minnesota federal court on October 19, charging a "John Doe" Internet user with distributing the pornographic film "Popular Demand" on BitTorrent. The firm says it is a "limited liability company organized and existing under the laws of the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis."

Paul Godfread, an attorney for Alan Cooper, sent a letter to the judge overseeing the case on November 29. In it, he explains that Cooper acts as a caretaker for property Steele owns in Minnesota. According to Cooper, Steele has "on numerous occasions bragged to [Cooper] about a plan involving massive copyright litigation." Steele told Cooper to call him if anyone asked Cooper about corporations involved in the litigation. Cooper says he became suspicious and confronted Steele about this strange request, but Steele said not to worry about it.

Cooper became even more alarmed when he learned about copyright lawsuits being filed by a company called AF Holdings that happened to have a CEO named Alan Cooper. Fearing he might get in legal trouble, Cooper retained Godfread, who approached AF Holdings to be sure that it wasn't just a coincidence that AF Holdings happened to have a CEO with Cooper's name.

He wasn't able to reach AF Holdings, but Godfread's calls did trigger a reaction from Steele. Within an hour, he called Cooper and demanded to know if Cooper had been talking to attorneys in Minnesota. And that's just one of the many reasons, detailed in Godfread's letter, to believe that Steele, Prenda Law, and AF Holdings are closely connected. Godfread uncovered another Steele-affiliated Nevis-based shell company, called Ingenuity 13, that also happens to have a CEO named Alan Cooper.

Godfread eventually received a response from Paul Duffy, a Prenda Law attorney, indicating that AF Holdings wasn't planning to answer his questions about the identity of their CEO. So Godfread had little choice but to intervene in the lawsuit. "My client would like certainty that his identity is not being used without his knowledge and against his will as the would be CEO of AF Holdings, LLC or as a manager of Ingenuity 13, LLC," Godfread wrote to the court.

Michael Dugas, an attorney for AF Holdings, replied to Godfread's letter on Monday. "Godfread accuses AF Holdings LLC of being a sham corporation and fraudulently holding his client out as its CEO," Dugas wrote. "Both of these accusations are categorically false."

Yet strangely, Dugas did not take the obvious step of explaining who is the CEO of AF Holdings. If AF Holdings really does have a different Alan Cooper as its CEO, that should be easy enough to prove. But Dugas produced no evidence that Cooper's fears are unfounded.

The court has not yet responded to Godfread's letter. But we predict it'll be great fun when it does.