Court Schedules Conference on Discovery in Lawsuit Over Facebook Ownership

NEW YORK, March 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Information relevant to lingering questions about Facebook's ownership will be sought by lawyers representing Paul Ceglia as part of a new phase of the legal discovery process.   In a lawsuit, Mr. Ceglia claims part ownership in Facebook based on a contract he entered into with Mr. Zuckerberg on April 28, 2003.  Attorneys for Mr. Ceglia will appear before United States Magistrate Judge Leslie Foschio on April 4th with a proposed discovery schedule.

In another  development, joining Dean Boland and Paul Argentieri in representing Paul Ceglia is Sanford Dumain, Chair of the Executive Committee of Milberg LLP in New York City.  "We look forward to litigating Mr. Ceglia's claims with one of the nation's premier plaintiffs' firms as our co-counsel," said Mr. Boland.

"We took a good hard look at all of the information available, including evidence in Mr. Ceglia's favor, and we believe he deserves to have his day in court," said Mr. Dumain. "We look forward to examining  records from computers that Mr. Zuckerberg used when he was a freshman at Harvard and other records that will help answer questions about the ownership of Facebook.  We hope that the court will rule that the time has come for that process to begin."

Judge Foschio granted Facebook's motion for expedited discovery on July 1, 2011, which means that the defendants have had access to the plaintiff's records, but not the other way around.  Now the court has required the parties to propose a plan for full discovery. On February 15th, Judge Foschio directed attorneys from both sides to return to court on March 28th to enter a case management order to start discovery. The date was subsequently changed to April 4th.

"Defense counsel previously told the court and media that Facebook would move to dismiss this case, so we are pleased that the judge has scheduled a conference to address the deadlines for the commencement and completion of discovery," Mr. Dumain continued. "It should be up to a jury to weigh the contradictory claims, including evidence that supports Mr. Ceglia's case, such as his e-mail correspondence with Mr. Zuckerberg and experts' testimony about the authenticity of the contract."

Mr. Ceglia hired Mr. Zuckerberg in 2003 to perform work relating to StreetFax.com, a website previously operated by Mr. Ceglia.  The complaint alleges that the contract also provided that Mr. Ceglia would pay Mr. Zuckerberg $1,000 for "the software, program and for the purchase and design of a suitable website for the project [Mr. Zuckerberg] has already initiated that is designed to offer the students of Harvard University access to a website similar to a functioning yearbook with the working title of 'The Face Book.'"   The contract further provided that in exchange, Mr. Ceglia "will own a half interest (50%) in the software, programming language and business interests derived from the expansion of that service to a larger audience," the complaint alleges.

The case is pending in the United States District Court for the Western District of New York.

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Milberg LLP is widely recognized as a leading class action and complex litigation firm, representing individual and institutional investors, unions, and consumers.  Founded in 1965, Milberg has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Tampa, and Detroit. The firm has litigated landmark cases, recovering billions. Please visit the Milberg website (www.milberg.com) for more information.

SOURCE Milberg LLP