EDITORIAL: Arons Retracts Statements On Friedman

Jack Arons, a Florida man sued for libel and slander last week by Dallas attorney Larry Friedman, announced today that he is retracting statements he made about Friedman on the Internet.

“As far as Larry Friedman and his Law Firm is concerned I retract all statements made against them,” Arons said. He posted the retraction in online forums covering the AdSurfDaily case.

“Although I can not change what course of actions that have taken place concerning my statements I will no longer post anything derogatory concerning him or his firm,” Arons said.

Today we are renewing our call for Friedman to drop his lawsuit against Arons. At the same time, we call on Friedman to exercise judicious restraint and not to bulldoze Arons in any settlement negotiations.

Meanwhile, we call on Friedman to fire the ASD Members Business Association (ASDMBA) Trust as a client. The de facto head of the Trust is severely damaging Friedman’s law brand. Friedman should fire the Trust and get his shingle out of harm’s way. Let the Trust litigate against Friedman if it so chooses. The Trust has no credibility. Members who funded the Trust say it also has no money and is operating in the red.

Arons does not have a lawyer. He lives in the type of manufactured home that is common throughout Florida. He is not wealthy. Over the weekend, he worked on self-written, pro se drafts to fight Friedman’s lawsuit, asking for input from nonexpert forum posters.

On Monday, he was served with papers designed to force him to travel from Tallahassee to Dallas at his expense to sit for a Friedman deposition on Thursday. Arons is at a monumental disadvantage. He has had no time to think and is ripe to be bulldozed.

Larry Friedman should not bulldoze Jack Arons. To do so would be shameful, and yet a bulldozing is something some of his colleagues actually might applaud because this bulldozing would be a particularly wicked one. The pity-there-was-an-unoccupied-seat-on-the-sunken-lawyer-bus  joke is not a joke about a bus; it is a joke about bulldozers driven by attorneys.

Friedman claims Arons is a menace because of Internet postings, while his de facto client openly is engaging in menacing behavior, complete with references to stalking and chasing people.

Jack Arons is not the menace in this case; he was the convenient target because people were complaining to the Texas Bar about matters pertaining to the Trust, and Friedman blames Arons for stirring the pot.

Friedman brought a Howitzer against a Web critic and sympathetic figure armed with a small peashooter. It was maximum overkill: Friedman sued in Dallas March 5. Arons was served in Florida March 7. On March 9, Arons was notified to appear in Dallas March 12 to provide a deposition to Friedman.

In between, a person purporting to be “Bob Guenther,” the de facto head of the Trust, appears to have adopted the role of Friedman’s goon. In previous mentions of the purported Guenther, we described him as appearing to act as a bouncer. We’re using “goon” today because the purported Guenther now has referenced Arons’ 6-year-old daughter in a menacing forum post.

That is the act of a goon, not a bouncer. We believe Friedman is appalled and perhaps even frightened by the behavior of his de facto client. It is our expectation that Friedman will fire his client. Not to do so is to turn a blind eye to the damage his brand is suffering at the hands of his client — something he was unwilling to do when it came to Jack Arons, a mere flea met by a Howitzer that could shoot from Texas to Florida.

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4 Responses to “EDITORIAL: Arons Retracts Statements On Friedman”

  1. This is Jack Arons’ full statement:

    March 10, 2009

    After consulting with many different people both for and against this problem that I am now faced with and to insure the safety and well being of my family I have decided to (as Bob would say) throw in the towel. I love a good fight and had my family not been dragged into a fight that was not of their making I would have done everything humanly possible to achieve the goal that resulted in a Bully called Bob Guenther from scamming people out of their hard earned money and getting away with it.

    As far as Larry Friedman and his Law Firm is concerned I retract all statements made against them. Although I can not change what course of actions that have taken place concerning my statements I will no longer post anything derogatory concerning him or his firm.

    Each member of the ASDMBA (which I am not) must make their own decisions of what they will do or have done and if they feel that they erred in filing anything against F&F that I might have said to take the appropriate actions to correct that which has been done.

    I do not control the internet although at times like this I wish I did.

    Jack Arons
    10088 Blue Waters Road
    Tallahassee, Florida 32305
    850.421.5791

  2. “Victim” and “suffering” are hardly words that spring to mind when thinking of Larry Friedman. Rather one thinks of the victimizing and suffering he can cause and has alrady caused by instigating this highly unprofessional action against Jack Arons.

    If Mr. Friedman is a serious professional, he will not only withdraw all legal action against Jack Arons, but he will also publish a public apology for the allegations he and his client have made about Mr. Arons and his family and for any harm he may have caused them.

    It is also time Mr. Friedman places the responsibility for any damage done to his reputation through acting as the attorney for ASDMBA where it lies – with the “trustee” of ASDMBA who has broadcast his views far and wide, who has insulted and abused and frequently involved the names of both Mr. Friedman and his firm in this process.

    It is simply not credible that Mr. Friedman was not aware of the actions of his “trustee” client and friend with regard to the ASDMBA during the past 6 months. Though he may have made an error of judgement and underestimated the importance of the reach of his clients action and the almost inevitable consequences

    By all means “sack” the client, but leave alone some one who was simply looking for a little JUSTICE for ASDMBA members, which is what the law is supposed to uphold.

    And understand – you cant sue the whole internet

  3. Jacks actions are completely understandable.

    It is my opinion that, although Friedman’s name was on the court order, it was submitted with Cowardly Bob’s full knowledge and cooperation. I believe that this was a planned operation, and the veiled threat was meant to make Jack back down.

    I think it was very convenient that Bob went on “holiday” to Mexico, and just shortly after the veiled threat was made. I will not be surprised if, in a few days, Bob will “return” from “holiday” and will be “shocked” to see that someone has been using his account at asd-biz to make these threats. I will not be surprised if he then claims that “someone” has hacked into his account (those pesky Russian hackers, they get everywhere), or he will blame one of the mods on that forum. He has already sown the seeds of doubt by posting in one message claiming to be “Maria”.

    The next time Bob meets with his ex-marine buddies, I wonder if he’ll tell them about how he forced someone out of a court case by threatening a child?

    Judging from the dirty tricks used in the Yahoo case, I believe Friedman has the client he deserves.

  4. It seems that Mr. Friedman has chose not to respond to my emails or anything concerning the retraction. So I will be going ahead with my Motions and we will just have to wait and see what happens.