Tyrone A Blackburn, the lawyer representing producer Rodney ‘Lil Rod’ Jones in his explosive lawsuit against Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, is facing possible disciplinary action after a New York judge accused him of filing lawsuits that are written to “garner media attention” and “embarrass defendants”.
It follows a scathing filing last week by Universal Music in response to the Diddy litigation, which stated that the attorney had “misused” his licence to practice law for the purposes of “self-promotion”.
According to Billboard, judge Denise Cote, who is overseeing another lawsuit Blackburn is involved in, said this week that, “A reasonable inference from Blackburn’s pattern of behaviour is that he improperly files cases in federal court to garner media attention, embarrass defendants with salacious allegations, and pressure defendants to settle quickly”.
The Lil Rod lawsuit accuses Combs and his entourage of sexual harassment and assault, as well other unlawful conduct, based on the producer’s time working with the hip hop mogul on ‘The Love Album’.
Universal Music and its CEO Lucian Grainge were also named as defendants in that lawsuit. It alleged that the major had sponsored, and Grainge attended, parties at Combs home where sex workers and underage girls were present, and the drinks of female guests were routinely drugged.
In response, Universal and Grainge denied all the allegations made against them, and argued that Blackburn had failed to ensure that there was “evidentiary support” for those allegations, something he is obliged to do under Rule Eleven of the US Federal Rules Of Civil Procedure.
To that end, as well as calling for the case against Universal and its CEO to be dismissed, the music company also said it planned to file a Rule Eleven motion against Blackburn.
Cote made a similar criticism of the attorney this week, stating that “his actions in this and prior cases indicate a repeated failure to meet his Rule Eleven obligations”. The judge has referred the matter to the grievance committee for New York’s federal court district, which decides whether lawyers have violated any court rules.
When contacted by Billboard about this week’s events and the Diddy litigation, Blackburn noted that he had not actually been sanctioned by Cote, and that her complaints about his conduct have now been referred to the grievance committee, where he plans to appeal.
He also added, “I’m not sure how this is at all relevant to Rodney Jones’ case or any other case I have. This will not have any impact on my ability to proceed in Mr Jones’ case”.