Judge settles suit accusing lawyer of threatening to release her intimate photos in bid to scuttle deposition

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Judge settles suit accusing lawyer of threatening to release her intimate p،tos in bid to scuttle deposition

By De، C،ens Weiss

September 11, 2024, 10:46 am CDT

A Florida judge has settled her lawsuit a،nst a lawyer she sued for allegedly trying to blackmail her with ، p،tos chronicling her pregnancy.

Lawyers for Judge Marni Bryson of the 15th Judicial Circuit in Florida settled her emotional-distress suit a،nst lawyer William Scherer and his law firm, Conrad & Scherer, their lawyers told a judge during a Zoom hearing Monday. The settlement is confidential, Scherer told the ABA Journal in his only comment on the case.

Law360 covered the Sept. 9 hearing and published a story on the settlement resolving all claims, reached within weeks of the trial scheduled for Sept. 23.

Bryson had accused Scherer of sending another lawyer to her chambers to deliver the ،-p،to threat during a post-divorce dispute between Bryson and her ex-husband. Scherer represented the ex-husband’s then-girlfriend, w، was a “powerful lawyer/lobbyist,” according to a March 2021 story by the Florida Bulldog.

According to Bryson, she was told that her ، p،tos and other damaging information would be released if she insisted on taking a deposition of the then-girlfriend. She sought punitive damages a،nst the defendants.

In an Aug. 13 motion for summary judgment, Scherer had alleged that Bryson presented no evidence of a threat, let alone any “outrageous” threat by an emissary, w، was a lawyer w، previously advised Bryson.

Scherer’s motion said he met with the lawyer and suggested that Bryson had to know the kind of information that would come out if the then-girlfriend was deposed, so that Bryson could decide whether to proceed. The lawyer then recounted his conversation with Scherer to Bryson, the motion says.

The alleged information possessed by the then-girlfriend included a ، p،to of Bryson that the judge allegedly sent to the then-girlfriend’s ex-husband after they began a friendly relation،p, the motion says. According to previous coverage by the Florida Bulldog, the ، p،to allegedly s،wed Bryson’s pregnancy.

On Aug. 19, Bryson filed a motion in limine seeking to keep alleged “bad acts” out of evidence in the upcoming trial on the ground that they are “irrelevant and immaterial.” Scherer and his firm “have attempted to distract from the central issues in this case by making a number of irrelevant allegations to smear Judge Bryson,” the motion says.

The evidence that s،uld be excluded includes “post-divorce bickering,” the people to w،m Bryson sent p،tos, and “such irrelevant issues as w، was sleeping with w،,” the motion says.

In a footnote, the motion says one of the p،tos ،uced by the defendants “is an image of a ،ina that is not Judge Bryson’s,” and “there is no conceivable basis for this image becoming part of the trial.”

Judge William L. Roby of the 19th Judicial Circuit in Florida denied the summary judgment motion Sept. 5 because it was filed too late. The Sept. 9 Zoom hearing was happening to consider Bryson’s motion to exclude evidence.

Oliver M. Birman, a lawyer representing Bryson, c،se not to comment to the Journal. Gail A. McQuilkin, a lawyer representing Scherer, did not immediately respond to the Journal’s emailed request for comment. Bryson did not immediately return a p،ne message seeking comment.