A north-east solicitor has instructed libel lawyers Carter-Ruck to bring a claim for damages against the owner of a website that blacklists solicitors and law firms.

Scott Eason, principal at Eason Law, is pursuing a claim for damages of between £50,000 and £100,000 and seeking a High Court injunction against Rick Kordowski, who runs solicitorsfromhell.co.uk. Kordowski has said he will fight the claim.

Kordowski said this week: ‘At the end of the day it makes no difference. I have no money or assets. Eason is just wasting thousands of pounds in terms of representation with Carter-Ruck, who I believe are not the cheapest lawyers.’

Kordowski said that he will make reference to freedom of expression rights contained in the European Convention on Human Rights when preparing his defence, and will appear in the High Court if the case progresses that far.

The particulars of claim dated 26 February and seen by the Gazette claims that two postings on solicitorsfromhell.co.uk had ‘seriously injured [Eason] in his personal and professional reputations’.

The claim document refers to a Gazette article earlier this year where Kordowski explained his administration and monitoring procedure, whereby solicitors and firms listed on the site can pay between £99 and £299 to have postings removed (see [2010] Gazette, 28 January, 1).

According to the claim, Eason emailed Kordowski on 30 November 2009 stating that the words in the postings were false, but received no response. The particulars of claim also states that Carter-Ruck sent a letter of claim to Kordowski on 6 January 2010, to which Kordowski replied saying that he would not remove the postings unless monies were paid under the administration and monitoring procedure. Carter-Ruck in turn replied saying that this was ‘akin to extortion’, but Kordowski maintained his position.

The particulars of claim says: ‘It can be inferred from the admissions he made to the Law Society Gazette and his refusal to respond to Carter-Ruck’s letter of claim unless paid, [that Kordowski was] acting with the guilty knowledge that the chances of economic advantage for him in obtaining a payment of between £99 and £299 from the claimant outweighed the chances of economic penalty by being sued for libel by the claimant.’

In a letter dated 24 March, Kordowski asked Carter-Ruck to settle the matter on the basis of a written apology to Eason, and the fact that the postings have been removed and will not be reinstated.

The comments regarding Eason appeared to have been removed from solicitorsfromhell.co.uk as the Gazette went to press.