*Information updated in 2024 as the Strike 3 Holdings lawsuits evolve.
Right now, you are known to the court only as John Doe. If you ignore the subpoena your internet service provider will release your name to Strike 3 Holdings LLC’s lawyers.
From here, things get a little murkier.
Once Strike 3 Holdings has your name, one of two things could happen.
1. They could dismiss the case without prejudice (meaning they could come back to the case in the future), and you will see your case as dismissed in the court docket.
2. They could amend the complaint name in the court documents from ‘John Doe’ to your name. You will then be served with a court summons.
In the recent past, when Strike 3 Holdings has filed an Amended Complaint with the defendant’s real name in it, the Court has allowed them to file it under seal and a public redacted version (with the real name blacked out) filed and available to see on Pacer. This means you may be able to keep your anonymity to the general public even after you’ve been served.
Not every judge readily agrees to do this, and it is possible the judge assigned to any particular case might decide against it, meaning your name would become public. Normally, the court rules say everything must be publicly accessible – unless there is a very good reason not to. If anonymity is critical to you, please contact us to discuss your case.
Under no circumstances should you ever ignore a court summons. This could lead to a default judgement against you.
We have not been able to detect a clear reason that some cases are dismissed while others are pursued, as we’ve seen people of all financial situations in both circumstances.
Many clients don’t mind losing their anonymity, but the downside to ignoring your Strike 3 Holdings subpoena and receiving a summons is that your timeframe for dealing with the case shrinks, options moving forward are limited, and you’ll lose some of your negotiating power- so if you decide to settle at this point, it may be much higher.
What we’ve recently seen is that the settlement demand per movie is increasing drastically if you get served with a summons.
Contact us to discuss your case; we will walk you through the pros and cons of ignoring Strike 3 Holdings and what to expect if you’re served with a summons based on your case’s particulars.
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