By Donald V. Watkins
©Copyrighted and Published on March 24, 2018
On March 22, 2018, Matrix, LLC, a Montgomery, Alabama-based “dirty tricks” firm, and Joe Perkins, its chief executive, filed a bizarre court pleading that begged a Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court to sanction me because they have not been successful in serving me with a copy of the Summons and Complaint in their highly-publicized November 13, 2017 defamation case against my law firm and me. Matrix and Perkins attached a copy of my March 20, 2018 article titled, “Matrix Defamation Lawsuit Stalls”, and corporate registration records for my law firm (i.e., Donald V. Watkins, P.C.) to their court filing.
Once again, Matrix and Perkins begged the Court to give them permission to serve me by publication in the local press. Their latest request is unusual because Matrix and Perkins know my corporate and personal address in Birmingham. Yet, they have repeatedly failed and refused to contact my office for the purpose of scheduling an appointment to serve the Summons and Complaint on me.
On March 2, 2018, the Court denied the original Motion for Service by Publication filed by Matrix and Perkins. Since then, they have filed additional pleadings begging the Court to reconsider its March 2nd ruling.
In their latest pleading, Matrix and Perkins asked the Court to sanction me even though I prevailed in opposing their original Motion for Service by Publication. They want the Court to impose a monetary fine upon me because I allegedly changed my corporate address after the February 26, 2018 court hearing on their Motion for Service by Publication in order to make it more difficult for them to serve me. A review of the corporate records Matrix and Perkins attached to their Motion for Sanctions fails to show any change in my corporate address after the February 26, 2018 hearing date. The only change reflected in the records occurred between the 2016 and 2017 annual corporate filings, and this change simply updated my corporate address.
Remarkably, Matrix and Perkins have cited no case law or statute to support the relief they are requesting from the Court. Instead, they have resorted to begging as the basis for judicial relief. I have never seen anything like this situation in my 45-year legal career.
Matrix seems to think its status as a “dirty tricks” operator, coupled with Joe Perkins' Number 15 ranking by Yellowhammer News as a “power and influence” player in Alabama, has lifted both of them above the law. They apparently believe the rules governing service of process for litigants in Alabama courts do not apply to them.
We shall see.
PHOTO: Matrix is run by Joe Perkins, who was ranked by Yellowhammer News as the Number 15 person of power and influence in Alabama.
