Why Paul Jenkins Lost.

Paul Jenkins focused on his ego, not the law.

There are a lot of reasons why Paul Jenkins lost the lawsuit brought against him for breach of contract by Alec Peters and Axanar Productions. Even without the claims for filing a fraudulent copyright and defamation, both of which Alec’s lawyer dropped to focus on the one claim that was most likely to result in damages, the case against Paul Jenkins was compelling and rock solid.

Paul Jenkins didn’t care about the facts.  He wanted retribution for being fired.

The story has been told many times by Alec since firing Paul in June 2020.  After Paul sent a bombastic and profanity-laced email in May of 2020, frustrated because Alec was refusing to turn Axanar over to Paul’s vaporware production company, META Studios, Alec fired Paul when his behavior became intolerable.  The over-exaggeration of his supposed film directing skills, the gas lighting and narcissistic tendencies, the inappropriate behavior towards women, it all became too much for the team and Alec fired Paul.

But Alec also wanted an amicable parting and offered Paul a separation agreement that granted Paul a co-writing and a co-directing credit, and a mutual non-disparagement clause.  But Paul’s bruised ego wouldn’t tolerate Alec firing him.  Instead Paul wanted retribution.  He claimed Axanar couldn’t use the footage he shot at the disastrous 2019 shoot he directed, and when Alec’s attorney told Paul that he had no right to claim such a veto, Paul filed a fraudulent copyright.  Alec had no choice but to sue Paul.

Why Paul Jenkins Lost the lawsuit for Breach of Contract

Throughout the five years that the case took (due to Paul’s constant motions and requests for delays) Paul Jenkins showed an inability to see past his own bruised ego. Not only does Paul believe that everyone loves him, but he believes that he knows better than everyone else about everything. And that extended to this lawsuit, where he was constantly telling his attorneys that winning this case was about destroying Alec Peters.

Through three different lawyers one thing was consistent, they all wanted to drag Alec through the mud. That clearly was direction from Paul to satisfy his narcissistic need for retribution. And each of these three lawyers was weak enough to listen to him rather than telling Paul that he needed to settle as Alec has a solid case and Paul had none. Both of Paul’s first two lawyers quit after each running up $300,000 in legal bills. They were perfectly happy to indulge Paul in his senseless quest for retribution when they thought they might actually get paid. But then they realized Paul was just a grifter and each of his first two lawyers eventually dropped him when their outstanding bills approached $300,000. Now his first attorney, Andrew Crane, is suing him for the $300,000 owed and the other one is weighing his options now that he will be at best third in line for any restitution.

This article focuses on what Paul and his attorney did wrong that resulted in their losing the case. The next article will be about what Alec’s attorney did to win the case and how solid that case was.

10 Reasons Paul Jenkins lost his case to Alec Peters.

1. Paul and his lawyer had no theory of the Case other than to assassinate Alec’s character. This is not a legal strategy.
   • Paul’s attorney rambled on for seven days, talking about everything but the elements of Alec’s claim of breach of contract.
   • Paul’s attorney called 4 witnesses, none of whom testified to anything related to either Alec’s claims, or Paul’s counter claims.
   • Paul’s attorney was thrown by Alec withdrawing his defamation claim, as their whole strategy was to attack Alec’s character and rebutting defamation gave them the best chance to bring in meaningless testimony they hoped would paint Alec as a “bad man”.

2. The jury did not believe Paul.
   • Paul spent two days telling the jury how great he was, and assassinating Alec’s character. After the trial, the jury told David Messer, Alec’s attorney, they didn’t believe Paul.
   • Paul twice told the jury “I am very manipulative”. An incredible admission, which Alec’s attorney, Dave Messer, highlighted at the end of his closing argument.

3. The camera in the courtroom eliminated any chance of Paul winning once the jury found out it was there so Paul could make a for-profit documentary. Jury members specifically noted the camera was a major concern for them in discussions with Dave Messer after the trial concluded.
   • Paul’s credibility and the credibility of his witnesses who were producing the documentary went out the window.
   • Paul and his lawyer were wasting the jury’s time for personal profit.

4. Paul’s attorney never once addressed the facts in Alec’s breach of contract claim, hoping the jury would instead be swayed by Paul’s self-serving character assassination of Alec.

5. The evidence clearly didn’t support any of Paul’s counter claims.
   • Paul’s counter claim for appropriation of his image was absurd and contradicted by Alec’s more-credible testimony and simple logic.
   • Paul’s claim of fraud was absurd on its face since not only were the Star Trek Fan Film Guidelines out for two years before Paul joined Axanar, and the CBS/Paramount settlement agreement was more lenient than the guidelines, but Paul claimed he had significant experience handling Hollywood IP. His claim that he didn’t know about the Star Trek Fan Film Guidelines was ludicrous.

6. Paul’s attorney never introduced any evidence of damages, an essential element in both of Paul’s counter claims.

7. During cross examination, Paul’s Attorney would let Alec talk at length after answering his question. Alec was able to bring up Paul’s involvement in the physical assault on Alec by Shawn O’Halloran (and subsequent stalking conviction) which Paul helped plan, Paul’s fraudulent failure to sign the documents every crew member signs, Paul’s unauthorized use of Alec’s videos (which negated Paul’s claim that Alec used his image without permission), Paul losing footage of three characters, and even the fact that Alec runs an animal rescue. Alec was also able to testify that he never wanted to sue Paul, that he just wanted him to go away, and that he had offered Paul a no-cost walk away settlement six times. This made it very clear the lawsuit only happened because Paul wanted it for his documentary.

8. By bringing up non-relevant issues when being cross examined, Alec was able to force Paul’s lawyer to focus on issues that had nothing to do with Alec’s claim, or Paul’s counter claims. Paul’s lawyer spent inordinate amounts of time asking witnesses about these issues and general film making and production, none of which was relevant to the core complaint and counterclaims.

9. Paul’s Attorney was an inexperienced litigator who didn’t understand civil procedure, the rules of evidence, and proper process in a court. He was ill-prepared for trial, argued with the judge, whined about Alec dropping his defamation claim, had no clue what an “offer of proof” was, and focused on issues that had nothing to do with the core elements of the case.

10. Paul and his attorney did not strike the one juror who was an attorney during jury selection. Dave and Alec were sure that Paul’s attorney didn’t want someone who could see through the nonsense. Having an attorney on the jury means you have someone who understands the law and can see through any BS an attorney or witness tries to get away with. While the lawyer was not elected jury foreman, he clearly had an impact on the other jurors who spoke with Dave Messer after the trial and noted that Paul was clearly engaged in character assassination.
    In our next article we examine how Dave Messer, Alec’s attorney, won the case against Paul Jenkins and got not only a $60,000 judgement against Jenkins, but was awarded $180,000 in attorney’s fees.