Google the name “Gene Phillips” and “Basic Capital Management.” Here, we’ll do it for you. Do you like what you see? Gene Phillips doesn’t. So on Monday, the man whom the WSJ once called “one of the most controversial figures in publicly traded real estate” filed suit against Google. The suit is styled as a tortious interference and libel action, wherein Phillips claims Google has repeatedly published false, misleading, and defamatory statements about him, including the republication of newspaper and magazine articles about him. Phillips is especially displeased with a Dallas Business Journal article that can be found through Google, in which he says he’s accused of engaging in fraud, conspiracy, and racketeering. Phillips’ attorney in the case is Lawrence Friedman, whose name many in the legal community will recognize.
And because this office has received in the past certain communications from Friedman on behalf of Phillips, that’s all I’ll say about that.
