Not Only Is Michael Mann's Lawsuit Bullshit...

He's so damned dumb, the  filed the suit in a jurisdiction that makes it very difficult to win this kind of suit.

As I noted here, I’m skeptical of the suit. Here’s additional analysis from Ken at Popehat and Public Citizen’s Paul Alan Levy. 

An interesting twist in this case is the fact that Mann filed his suit in D.C. Superior Court, which means it is subject to the District’s anti-SLAPP suit law which makes it particularly difficult to maintain libel and defamation suits. Alison Frankel explains:

The law, in effect, shifts the way courts decide motions to dismiss, doing away with the assumption that the plaintiffs’ allegations are true. It also restricts discovery, so plaintiffs usually have to show they’re likely to prevail without the benefit of depositions and documents from the other side. . . .

Mann’s lawyers at Cozen filed his complaint against CEI, Simberg, the National Review and Steyn in Superior Court of the District of Columbia, not in federal court. Had they brought the suit in federal court, citing Mann’s Pennsylvania citizenship and the National Review’s New York headquarters, Mann might have been able to avoid Washington’s anti-SLAPP law, . . . But it’s hard to see how, otherwise, Mann’s case won’t be subject to dismissal under the anti-SLAPP statute, since the scientific backing for climate change evidence is certainly speech of public concern.