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Within days of the first reporting on the fascinating John Doe, Jim Doe versus Jane Roe case in Halifax, lawyer Mike Scott was fielding calls from a half-dozen nervous men in a similar situation.

Actually, it’s not a case – yet. It’s a threatened case.

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Scott represents John Doe, one of two Halifax area businessmen who earlier this month went to Nova Scotia Supreme Court, seeking confidentiality orders that would have protected their identities if the lawsuits threatened by Roe materialize.

Basically, Scott said in a telephone interview Wednesday, the potential new cases “appear to be attempted extortions”, just as he and Jim Doe’s lawyer, Aileen Furey, told the judge was the situation with the Does – instances where, for instance, a woman let go from her job then warns the man that if he doesn’t pay up, she will either sue him for sexual harassment or make the matter public.

“It’s blackmail dressed up in the trappings of legal action,” Scott said, pointing out that all it costs to file a civil action, which is immediately then public information, is a couple of hundred bucks.