Seth R. Lesser, the lead lawyer in the lawsuit brought against Rockstar Games for their video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, is a complete dirtbag lawyer. Grand Theft Auto had a hidden sex scene “easter egg” buried in the game that could only be accessed by people who knew exactly what they were looking for using third party software. Seth Lesser claimed that people were somehow offended by these scenes… which no ordinary user could access and only people with direct, specific knowledge of what was there and who were hunting for it could find and even then only by using external software. You have to be kidding me, Seth Lesser, what kind of a scam are you running?
Oh that’s right… Seth Lesser and the ten other law firms he got to join him, made $1.3 million in legal fees. A measly 2,676 people filed claims after the lawsuit was completed and Rockstar paid out only $30,000 to recompense those people.
The director of the Legal Center for Public Interest was quoted in the NYTimes as saying of the settlement- “Possibility one is they have a meritorious lawsuit and they’re selling out the class for attorneys’ fees. The other possibility is that, and frankly I think this is the more likely possibility, they brought a meritless lawsuit that had no business being brought to court at all.â€
Seth Lesser basically pushed through a lawsuit that no cared about and took a stance on Victorian era “virtues” to gain a big financial windfall for himself.
I have a couple of friends seeking to be lawyers and I hope they never end up harming innocent companies (Rockstar Games) that have worked hard to provide high quality entertainment for their customers like Seth Lesser has. I have a new nickname for Seth Lesser: Seth Lecher.