Under Wild Skies

Uncategorized

Ticking Time Bombs For The NRA

April 8, 2025 by 2 Comments

When Bill Brewer and his crew resigned from legal representation of the NRA they left behind some ticking time bombs that could have a severe financial impact. I will take them in order and you can make your own judgment as to the financial impact upon the NRA. As it is, I cannot for the life of me see why an attempt to settle some or all has not been attempted.

First, we have the case of Under Wild Skies v. National Rifle Association. This is a Virginia state court case in which a jury awarded Under Wild Skies approximately $550,000 for breach of contract. Both sides appealed the award and verdict to the Virginia Court of Appeals. Under Wild Skies argued that the circuit court had erred by rejecting a proposed jury instruction regarding anticipatory breach of contract. In other words, they are arguing the NRA had an obligation to pay for all the contracted episodes regardless of whether they had yet been produced or not. Meanwhile, the NRA argued the court should have set aside the verdict in favor of Under Wild Skies given its affirmative defense of fraudulent billing and should have allowed the NRA to recoup its losses. The Court of Appeals rejected both sides arguments and affirmed the circuit court’s verdict.

Here is where it now gets interesting. Both sides again appeal and the Virginia Supreme Court decided that they will take the case. The case is on the docket for the court’s April session and arguments will be heard on April 15th. Brewer along with the Virginia firm of Briglia Hundley had handled the NRA’s side up through the Court of Appeals. Brewer is gone and Robert Cox of Whiteford, Taylor, and Preston is the new co-counsel. One reason the court may have taken the appeal is to rule on the doctrine of reasonable assurances which no Virginia court has done. The granted appeal summary seems to indicate the court may be favoring Under Wild Skies’ arguments. If Under Wild Skies wins on appeal, the cost to the NRA could range upwards of $17 million.

The second case is Dell’Aquila v. NRA which recently was allowed to go forward and for which Dell’Aquila can begin discovery. As noted in the earlier post, while Brewer attorneys had produced all the motions filed on behalf of the NRA in this case which Judge Campbell denied, they have been replaced by a Nashville firm. That this case even reached discovery is somewhat remarkable when one considers that it was originally filed pro se and then David Dell’Aquila had to switch attorneys midstream. According to the Third Amended Complaint, damages are greater than $5 million which could be tripled if RICO fraud is proved. I really don’t think this case was taken that seriously for a long time and now suddenly it is. Imagine how much cheaper it would have been if Bill Brewer had said to Wayne, “Just give the guy his money back, pay his attorney’s fees, and be done with it.”

The third case was brought by the NRA against Ackerman McQueen and Mercury Group for breach of contract for disclosing the Confidential Settlement Agreement in which the NRA agreed to pay AckMac $12,250,000 to settle an earlier case. This case has been going on since September 2022. If memory serves, this agreement was kept from the NRA Board of Directors and they were not allowed to see it. However, the CSA is out in the public domain now and has been due to an inadvertent filing of it as an exhibit by attorneys from Brewer, Attorneys and Counselors. Attorneys from that firm withdrew effective February 27, 2025 and have been replaced by the Dallas firm of Foley and Lardner. The NRA is still attempting to keep the signatories to the agreement agreement under court seal even though it is now in the public domain. The question has to asked why the heck hasn’t the NRA moved to dismiss the case and why are they even bothering to bother to keep the signatories under seal. The signatures are out there and it seems that it is a waste of money to keep them under seal. Doug Hamlin, NRA General Counsel Michael Blaz, and the Legal Affairs Committee of the Board ought to cut our losses and move on.

CLARIFICATION: After I wrote this post, I had a long conversation with a reform director. He explained the rationale for keeping the CSA and other proceedings under seal even though it had been made public earlier was that it was always meant to be under seal, that the breach of confidentiality was in error, and that the NRA contends that Tony Makris and Under Wild Skies are inseparable. I do note the the judge in this case did approve an order on April 1st to keep it under seal. He went on to say that discussions were ongoing to resolve all three of the above cases. As he has always been upfront with me, I will take him at his word.

Finally, there is the anticipated lawsuit from Oliver North for malicious prosecution. To my knowledge it has not been filed yet but I do keep looking. However, the reputational damage along with the accusations of “greed”, “extortion”, and “blackmail” contained in Tom King’s ethics complaint when added to the whistleblower retaliation that the jury found in the AG’s case could induce Col. North to ask for millions.

All four of these pending or potential lawsuits could end up costing the NRA millions of dollars that it really doesn’t have to waste. An attorney who was working in the best interest of his client should have urged settlement in the early stages rather than to let the issues fester so that the billings could increase. These cases need to go away and the NRA’s leadership needs to take the necessary steps to conclude them.

Uncategorized

NRA’s Mystery Case Revealed

September 4, 2023 by 6 Comments

First, there was a post in The Trace referring to a sealed case involving the NRA and its longtime advertising firm Ackerman McQueen. It turns out all we knew is that the NRA has subpoenaed Tony Makris’ wife Elicia Warner Loughlin. She went to US District Court in South Carolina to quash the subpoena as being “burdensome”. It should be noted at this time that the NRA has settled with Ackerman McQueen for $12 million. Further, Makris’ Under Wild Skies won a judgement for $500,000 +/- in Virginia state courts against the NRA.

Next, the blog NRA In Danger reported on another move to squash a subpoena issued by the NRA. This time it was Makris who went to US District Court in Virginia to squash it. That subpoena had been issued to his CPA firm of Fitzwater and Dean. On August 18th, Magistrate Judge John Anderson ruled in favor of quashing the subpoena. He said it was overbroad, would impose an undue burden, not timely, and that the information could be obtained elsewhere. He also refused to transfer the case to the US District Court in Texas. Judge Anderson did allow the discovery order to remain sealed pending orders from the court in Texas.

Thanks to Judge A. Joe Fish of the US District Court for Northern Texas unsealing the majority of the case on August 25th, we finally have an answer.

The NRA sued Ackerman McQueen and the Mercury Group for breach of contract on September 1, 2022. The complaint which was filed under seal alleges Ack Mac and the Mercury Group violated the terms of the Confidential Settlement Agreement (CSA) because Makris and Under Wild Skies was suing the NRA in Virginia state court. They contend that UWS was an affiliate company and that suit violated the $12 million settlement which was “a broad, mutual general release of all claims (the “Release”) among the parties and their affiliates and/or related companies.”

The complaint goes on to argue that since Tony Makris was a senior executive of Ack Mac and President of Mercury Group, he and Under Wild Skies were precluded from suing the NRA in state court as they were “intertwined” and thus bound by the CSA. AckMac and the Mercury Group are included this suit because they failed to “cooperate in the dismissal of the UWS litigation.” The NRA does acknowledge later in the complaint that UWS is an entity that is solely owned by Tony Makris and is a Virginia corporation.

What is ironic here is the claim by the NRA (or should I say Brewer, Attorneys and Counselors) that they only sued AckMac, the Mercury Group, and Under Wild Skies initially so that they could do their due diligence and comply with concerns of New York regulators.

The NRA is asking for damages in excess of $75,000, attorneys’ fees in both this and the UWS cases, and reimbursement with interest of the damages awarded by the Virginia court.

In response to the NRA’s allegations, AckMac and the Mercury Group acknowledge the CSA, the litigation in Virginia by UWS, and that Tony Makris is an officer of both AckMac and Mercury. There is stops. They say that Under Wild Skies is not an affiliate or related entity of either company. They deny UWS was bound by the CSA. They also say the lawsuit is moot because the Virginia court found UWS was not bound by the CSA and that a jury awarded UWS $550,000 in damages. It is also contended that this lawsuit is “collaterally estopped” due to the rulings of the Virginia court which disposed of the NRA’s argument that the CSA included Under Wild Skies. Given that, this argument cannot be raised again.

Later filings added Tony Makris personally as a defendant in the case. His brief for summary judgement filed in May 2023 argues that he was never a named party to the CSA. Further, that he individually was not a party to the litigation in Virginia between Under Wild Skies and the NRA. It was the corporation that sued the NRA and not Makris personally. He also argues that he was a beneficiary of the CSA and cannot be sued as it granted release from any liability, damages, etc “from the beginning of the world until the date of this release.” Included in that release were all “Ackerman parties” which included any past, present, or future officer, director, shareholder, principal, etc. of Ackerman McQueen and Mercury Group. The NRA explicitly has said that Makris was an officer and executive and thus he personally would be covered by the CSA.

I don’t know how this case will be resolved. However, given there are 171 entries in the docket, attorneys have come and gone from Brewer, Attorneys and Counselors, and there is a lot of back and forth on what can be introduced as evidence or what can be sealed, I think the real winners in this case will be the attorneys.

For the life of me, I cannot see what financial benefit will accrue to the NRA given the legal bills involved in trying to claw back the $550,000 paid to Under Wild Skies and perhaps some of the $12 million in the CSA with AckMac and Mercury Group. I don’t know if the Special Litigation Committee was involved in approving this lawsuit or if the Board was even informed. Regardless, this lawsuit seems more akin to the lawsuit that cost $8 million in legal fees so the NRA could avoid paying Chris Cox the $2 million in severance due him. They lost that case by the way. It just seems a frivolous waste of members’ dues that could have gone to more important things. You know like actually defending the Second Amendment against the predations of the Biden Administration.

Uncategorized

Report: NRA Loses Under Wild Skies Lawsuit

September 22, 2022 by 2 Comments

The blog NRA In Danger is reporting this evening that Under Wild Skies has won its breach of contract lawsuit against the NRA. Under Wild Skies and its host Tony Makris produced African hunting shows that featured NRA advertising and sponsorship. While the show and the NRA had a 26 year relationship and Tony Makris was Wayne LaPierre’s BFF, once Ack Mac and the NRA went to court, the payments were frozen. Makris is or was an executive with Ackerman McQueen at the time.

From NRA In Danger:

We’re told all of NRA’s claims were shot down, and the jury awarded UWS $550,000. It may be worse than that, as the court only allowed damages for payments already past due (maybe just for those past due when the complaint was filed in 2019), not for future payments as they come due over the remaining years of the contract. That means that UWS can probably sue again for the remainder.

We’re told that the Brewer team for NRA was 10-11 attorneys; UWS had 1 or 2. The Brewer firm likely made a mint on the case. A weeklong trial, after three years of fighting, with a team of 10-11 attorneys billing at up to Brewer’s $1,400 per hour. The legal fees alone must have run into the millions, perhaps tens of millions.

Under Wild Skies was represented by the Fairfax, Virginia law firm of Dycio and Biggs. I have an email in to the firm asking for confirmation as well as a comment. If I hear more on this, I will post it.