by Teri Buhl – certified SLAPP-back queen
Barry C. Honig — yes, that Barry, the penny stock playboy with a SEC rap sheet longer than a 10-K—sued me in 2021 for reporting on his alleged hijinks in the pink sheet circus. My offense? Daring to write the truth about his shady dealings in Majesco Entertainment ($COOL) and his cozy relationship with convicted stock promoter Jeff Auerbach.
Fast forward to May 2, 2025: I won. And not just “walked away unharmed” won—this was a spike the football, hit publish, and send the bill to the plaintiff kind of win. Thanks to New York’s anti-SLAPP laws, Barry now has to pay my legal fees for the pleasure of dragging me into court over facts he didn’t like.
The intimidation in this recent case was extreme. On May 28, 2021, I was emailed a letter from Daniel Shapiro of Jaspan Schlesinger LLP informing me I had to be in court in a few days because a judge was going to hear an argument on the issue of a temporary restraining order in an attempt to stop future speech and force me to take down existing reporting. I was in shock and out of state on a short vacation. I had to figure out what was needed to even get into a courthouse during that time and quickly find a pro bono lawyer to show up for me on short notice. I had also had to get advice on if I could be held in competent and put in jail if it came down to being ordered to take down reporting and refused.
The actions by Honig’s attorney Shapiro had forced me to cut short my vacation plans and spend the following days trying to reach every media lawyer I knew who could take a pro bono case. It also meant I needed to use the Reporter’s Committee for Freedom of the Press hotline to find a legal expert to help me understand what the smart next steps are and why this was happening. Honig had sued me in the past (which he dropped with prejudice) for accurately reporting he was under SEC investigation a year before he was charged by the government and had already made a plea deal with the SEC to the charges. His plea deal banned him from investing in penny stocks but allowed him to maintain his holdings in the company I was reporting on. And the promoter Jeff Auerbach had already been sentenced to jail time.
A staff member of the RCFP told me the whole situation read like pure intimidation through the litigation of an investigative journalist and to hang in they were going to try and find help but for a moment I would have to show up in court to rep myself.
When I got to the courthouse on June 1, 2021, Daniel Shapiro was nowhere to be found. I had been misled that a hearing was happening then. But he didn’t stop there; before we eventually got a real hearing date, Shapiro had communicated to me that the Judge assigned in the case had already issued a temporary injunction. This meant I had to decide if I was going to take down accurate and important reporting that warned investors in $COOL. After that David Bralow stepped in, General Counsel of First Look Media and The Intercept, and Sarah Matthews, of the RCFP, to pull together resources to file an amicus brief supported by tons of other major news organizations to stop any form of judicial order for prior restraint of a journalist speech.
Additionally, an amazing independent lawyer, Wesley Paul, stepped in to take on the case. Given I had already been to jail to protect sources on another story in 2016 and, on advice of counsel, I did take down the reporting for a short time. It was a heartbreaking decision for a veteran investigative journalist like me.
When we got to court the following month I had another huge surprise. The preliminary injunction hearing was held virtually and attended by attorneys supporting my case like Robert Balin. We made our oral arguments and Judge Tisch ruled later that Honig could NOT get a preliminary injunction against me. There was no legal reason I ever needed to take any reporting down and I immediately put my stories back up.
With the injunction hearings out of the way I still had to litigate Honig’s other absurd libel claims. One of the claims was he didn’t think he looked flattering in a photo I had obtained showing him at the company sight of one of the alleged pump and dump stocks. Eventually attorney Shapiro quit Honig or Honig quit him and other lawyers were assigned to rep Honig in court. In 2022, we argued our final motion to dismiss. I also filed my own anti-SLAAP counterclaim to attempt to force Honig to pay for meritless litigation.
Judge Tisch took more than two years to decide on my motion to dismiss and counterclaim but this past Friday I finally won. Judge Tisch’s opinion was direct and unambiguous, and spoke about the lack of legal justification Honig had to bring the suit. Honig’s case was tossed and the judge ordered a special referee to come up with a final number Honig will have to pay me for my attorney’s fees and costs.
This was not my first anti-SLAAP lawsuit win. Around six months ago I also won another judgment against Honig’s deal attorney Harvey Kesner. Kesner settled the case with me after judgment and he had to pay up! The Kesner case was precedent setting because we used a win in NY federal court to recover fees under anti-SLAAP laws in NY state court- it was a huge impact for all NY journalists and even more so for freelance journalists.
I also need to deeply thank the work of my attorney Wesley Paul and the help of the RCPF. I won because of their excellent work. Judge Tisch decision can be read here.
Editor’s Note: This article is based on my direct experience. My reporting stands. My sources remain protected. If you’re thinking about suing — fair warning: I don’t scare, I don’t settle, and you will likely have to pay my legal fees.
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