As expected, last night, Conor McGregor was sued in Kings County Supreme Court by Michael Chiesa. After Conor entered a guilty plea in his criminal case arising from the incident at UFC 223 back in April, the civil lawsuits were bound to come. As previously discussed, because Conor entered a guilty plea in his criminal case, he will really not be able to assert a defense in his civil case (because the standard of proof in a criminal case is much higher than in a civil case, so the guilty plea is admissible in the civil case).
So, Chiesa did what any American would do and filed suit. Interestingly, Chiesa’s lawyers named not only McGregor, but also McGregor Sports and Entertainment, BSE Global and Barclays Center. Usually, this is done by lawyers to secure as many possible sources of recovery in case any one defendant becomes judgment-proof. In this case, obviously, that risk is non-existent, but his lawyers still played it safe, and rightfully so. Interestingly, the UFC was not sued. There was likely something worked out in advance (or Chiesa just didn’t want to sue his boss).
Chiesa’s lawsuit included causes of actions for negligence, numerous emotional distress-related claims and some intentional tort allegations, such as assault and battery. Negligent hiring was also alleged. Typically, a case like this would be valued at the low six figure mark. Simply, Chiesa suffered some significant injuries, but nothing that he wasn’t able to recover from (stitches typically increase the value of a case, but not exponentially).
Chiesa would also have to claim that he lost money due to this incident. While he possibly lost some sponsorship money (to the extent that’s even allowed in the UFC), he was likely paid his show money for UFC 223 and did fight a few months thereafter. So, if his lawyers are looking for big money here, they may have to rely on the fact that McGregor is a high-profile figure and would simply want this to go away, paying whatever is necessary, within reason.
Now, what are the next steps? Chiesa’s lawyers now have 120 days to serve all of the defendants. Once they do so, all defendants will have several weeks to respond and then the litigation process will really begin to take shape.
But McGregor’s future plans include a lucrative fight and potential big money next month. He has to keep his focus. His lawyers will likely look to settle quickly and move on. And they should.
