Bishop Michael Bird v. David Jenkins lawsuit. The final chapter

As many of you will be aware, in February 2013 Bishop Michael Bird sued me for defamation of character. I was served on February 19th, five years to the day that my church, St. Hilda’s was served with papers to take possession of the church building and freeze our bank account.

The lawsuit has now been settled; hence the post beneath this one.

I thought it might be instructive to catalogue much of what has occurred between February last year and today.

In brief, the claim sought:

  • $400,000 in damages plus court costs and their legal costs.
  • An interim and permanent injunction to shut down Anglican Samizdat.
  • An interim and permanent injunction prohibiting me from publishing further comments about Michael Bird.

Here is a summary of what has happened:

2013
March
An initial attempt on my part to achieve an early settlement was rebuffed since I was unwilling to “put some money on the table.”

April
I filed my statement of defence.
I received the initial Discovery Plan from Bird’s lawyer and the Pleadings were closed.

May
The Hamilton Spectator published an article on the lawsuit.
The Anglican Journal published an article on the lawsuit.
The Church of England Newspaper, and various bloggers including VOL posted articles.

Following this publicity, I received a formal Offer to Settle which included:

  • I pay $50,000 damages plus Bird’s legal costs.
  • I remove the complained of posts.
  • I remove any other things I may have said that refer to Bird anywhere else on the Internet.
  • I cooperate in removing anything said about Bird by third parties anywhere on the Internet.

I responded with an offer to settle that included:

  • I remove the complained of posts.
  • We each pay our own legal fees.
  • I donate $5000 to World Vision in Michael Bird’s name.

There was no response to my offer.

October
After numerous delays, the Examination for Discovery took place.

Directly after Discovery, Bird’s lawyer made a new offer to settle:

  • I pay Michel Bird’s legal expense but no damages.
  • I publish an apology.
  • I remove the complained of posts.
  • I agree not to publish any similar posts about Michael Bird in the future.

Michael Bird’s legal expenses amounted to $24,000. I made a counter-offer of $12,000 in addition to the other items.

2014
January
Michael Bird’s lawyer made another offer of $18,000 for legal expenses in addition to the other items.

February
I decided that further financial haggling was infra dig, so I agreed to the terms.

I would like to thank everyone for their prayers and support during this interesting episode.

6 thoughts on “Bishop Michael Bird v. David Jenkins lawsuit. The final chapter

  1. Suffering though unpleasant has a strange impact on Christian’s who are walking in the Spirit. We are drawn closer to the Father. If your actions did indeed cause the Bishop to suffer you may have done him a great favour. If he is not walking in the Spirit and he found your criticism stinging and hurtful he may not recognize it now but you still did him a favour. May His Peace be with both of you and your families.

  2. David, I personally am impressed by your steadfast trust in the Lord through this past year. I believe He has protected you and your family and will continue to do so.

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  4. Speaking as a US citizen, I can say this with impunity: You, David are in the right!
    edited – sorry. I hope the money stuffs up his throat (or he gives it to a decent charity).
    Happy Holy Week and Easter!
    James Morgan
    olympia, WA

  5. I’ve said it before: never get between an Anglican cleric and a bucket of money.

    You’re liable to lose a limb in the whirlwind rushing past.

  6. Pingback: Bishop settles lawsuit with blogger | AEC Blog

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