Downey: Dragon 8 suit a meritless smear

Maureen Downey has reacted robustly to the dropping of the lawsuit against her, citing it as proof that the claims by the founder of auction house Dragon 8 were a smear that “lacked merit”.

Hong Kong auction house Dragon 8’s founder, Gil Lempert-Schwarz, had filed a lawsuit against fine wine authentication expert Downey (pictured) last year (though she was never actually served) but then withdrew the suit only 24 hours after Downey and her lawyers motioned for it to be heard in a federal court.

Giving his reasons for dropping the suit in a statement to the drinks business Lempert-Schwarz claimed: “When proceeding with a serious defamation case of this nature, one has to weigh the costs of the process, the considerable time involved, and the potential award for the damages caused.

“Upon our investigation, we find it likely that zero funds are available to the defendant to pay for any judgment against her. We have therefore chosen not to pursue this matter any further at this point in time.”

However, in her own statement to db, Downey said that she and her legal team motioned to have the suit heard in a federal court in Las Vegas where the suit was filed, as it was a “more appropriate” place to hear the complaint as she is based in California.

The suit was dropped less than 24 hours later.

She declared Lempert-Schwarz’s stated reasons for dropping the suit were “as specious as the claims in the lawsuit themselves” (which alleged Downey made “false, defamatory, disparaging and highly damaging” statements about Lempert-Schwarz and his business).

Her full statement to db read: “Chai Consulting and Maureen Downey are pleased with the early dismissal of the defamation lawsuit filed by Gil Lempert-Schwartz and the Wine Institute of Las Vegas.

“The suit made numerous meritless allegations, and Chai Consulting vigorously defended against the suit by removing it to federal court in Las Vegas and intended to file motions to dismiss and transfer.

“[The] Plaintiffs dropped the suit less than twenty-four hours after its removal to federal court. The reasons given by Plaintiffs for dismissing their lawsuit so suddenly are as specious as the claims in the lawsuit themselves.

“Given that the plaintiffs capitulated immediately upon Chai Consulting’s mounting its defense, it is clear that plaintiffs dropped the suit to avoid having to litigate claims they know lack merit.

“Chai Consulting therefore views the suit, which was never actually served on Chai Consulting or Ms. Downey, as nothing more than a publicity stunt, and an effort to smear the sterling reputation of Ms. Downey and her firm. Should they ever refile the action, Chai Consulting and Ms. Downey are prepared to aggressively defend against the frivolous claims made by Mr. Schwartz and his company.”

The lawsuit and its attendant claims were brought filed against Downey in the wake of Dragon 8’s first auction last November. The auction featured wines purportedly sourced from the cellar of a “Swedish nobleman”, however serious suspicions regarding the story were raised by Don Cornwell on the forum Wine Berzerkers before the sale took place.

Several further lots were withdrawn from the sale at the last minute due to additional questions surrounding their authenticity. Gil Lempert-Schwarz defended both the provenance and authenticity of all the wines in the sale.