PWInsider is reporting that the 15-page lawsuit Scott “Colt Cabana” Colton filed against Phil “CM Punk” Brooks, which alleged breach of contract and fraud over unpaid legal fees, was thrown out by Judge Daniel Kubasiak in the Cook County Circuit Court in Illinois.
The lawsuit, which was filed back in August by Cabana, focused on the legal fees accumulated after the two were found not guilty in a lawsuit brought by WWE physician Chris Amann after Amann claimed defamation over comments on a podcast.
As first revealed by The Chicago Sun Times, Punk promised to help out Cabana with any kind of legal fees that would add up in the lawsuit against Amann and WWE, saying he would be “100% covered.” The legal fees would amass to $513,736. Punk reportedly requested Cabana pay half of the fees, totaling $256,868.
An email written by Punk in April 2016 went public, with Punk requesting that Cabana pay his half of the legal fees despite his “100% covered” claim.
“To date I have spent $513,736 dollars on this Amman lawsuit. My outstanding bill is at least 300K. Half of all this is yours. Divide the 513,736 by 2 that is what you owe me and what I expect you to pay me. Starting now, I will no longer be paying your bills. You are on your own. Whatever my bill is currently, will be cut in half and half will be yours. If you choose to make this all ugly, that’s fine too. I hope you won’t, but I gave up on you doing what is right a long time ago.”
Punk’s attorneys responded to the Cabana lawsuit on October 26, writing:
“…first, that Defendant’s text messages to Plaintiff regarding the status of and potential response to a demand letter constituted an to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees in a protracted litigation for defamation; second, that as consideration, in return for Defendant “offering” to pay for hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees, Plaintiff’ would not remove his own podcast episode for which Plaintiff, and not the Defendant, makes money; and finally, that defendant’s conduct rose to the level of fraud based on the fact that he later stopped paying for Plaintiff’s legal fees.”
The court sided with Punk on November 26, ruling that Cabana’s original lawsuit “has failed to allege that Brooks provided an offer that was definite and certain enough to support an enforceable contract.” This means without some kind of written agreement in the form of a contract, Cabana’s lawsuit/argument did not meet the standards in Illinois.
Cabana has now filed a new 14-page lawsuit alleging he received a “demand letter” from attorneys representing Dr. Chris Amann that demanded he immediately remove the podcast from further distribution within 14 days of the letter being sent. Cabana stated when he informed Punk of the letter, he told Cabana his attorney would “handle it.”
The lawsuit further states that Cabana was “informed and believes” that Punk believed the demand letter was initiated at the “behest of WWE” in retaliation to “threats” Punk had made about WWE and its management during his career with the company. Cabana’s lawsuit also believes Punk knew specific statements he made on the podcast would lead to litigation, alleging Punk was fully aware WWE would come after him legally.
The new lawsuit also alleges that if Punk had no intention of ever paying Cabana’s legal fees (something Cabana provided proof of via text message), it would have jeopardized Punk’s own defense ahead of time, with the belief being that Cabana may have chosen to settle with Amann instead. As reported earlier, Cabana was forced to hire his own legal representation during the Amann trial after he split ties with Punk’s representation (Loeb & Loeb) in March 2017. Cabana’s new representation (Ashman & Stein) sought out a reimbursement of $200,000 after the court victory, but were told Punk and his team refused to comply after winning the defamation lawsuit. Punk and his legal team have until December 28 to respond to this latest lawsuit by Cabana.