A federal judge in Florida has dismissed Newsmax’s antitrust suit against Fox Corp. over the way it was drafted, but the upstart news outlet has vowed to refile.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon in South Florida dismissed the case without prejudice on Sept. 5, saying Newsmax’s complaint qualified as an impermissible “shotgun pleading” that lumped all prior allegations into each count. She noted that the 11th Circuit has repeatedly condemned this drafting tactic as confusing and unworkable.
In her order, Cannon dismissed the complaint without prejudice and set a Sept. 11 deadline for Newsmax to submit a revised filing that organizes its claims more clearly. Each count, she said, must identify its own legal basis and supporting facts without simply repeating every allegation in the complaint….