Blake Lively’s lawyers have successfully blocked attorney Bryan Freedman from taking her deposition in a sexual harassment lawsuit against Justin Baldoni. The request came hours after the couple, along with their lawyer Ryan Reynolds, filed notice to dismiss Baldoni’s $400 million defamation and extortion suit.
Freedman had previously made “extrajudicial statements” in the media about Lively for his client, Baldoni. Lively’s lawyers wanted him disciplined by the courts due to these statements. The couple also requested a protective order against Freedman due to his “extrajudicial statements”.
Baldoni’s team now wants this issue addressed at an upcoming hearing on Monday. They claim that parties in litigation do not have the right to choose which attorney takes their deposition.
Freedman had made several public attacks on Lively, including claims that she was only left with one defense option when faced with evidence presented by him and other lawyers. He also claimed that Lively’s team was revoltingly false in their allegations against Baldoni.
The situation has been marked by a series of media battles between the two sides. This includes defamation lawsuits, private correspondence, and even a letter sent to Disney CEO Bob Iger and Marvel chief Kevin Feige. Whether Freedman will create a website containing communications from It Ends With Us production is unclear.
A pretrial conference for the case is scheduled for February 3 in New York City before federal Judge Lewis J. Liman.
Source: https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/blake-lively-lawyers-won-t-062156957.html