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JD Sues Twitter and Her Alma Mater

By William Vogeler, Esq. on February 28, 2017 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Law graduate Tiffany Dehen may have trouble getting a job as a lawyer, but she is ahead of her class when it comes to creating a legal buzz on social media.

Dehen has sued Twitter, her law school, and an anonymous user for creating a false account in her name. She alleges the defendants defamed her with false posts about her support for Donald Trump and Adolph Hitler and with tweets such as her upcoming audition for:

BRAVO's The Real Housewives of NaziOccupied Russian Territory Formerly Known as America -- 'if he's not Aryan, we're not marryin'!'

Yeah, it's a joke but Dehen is serious. She has sued for $100,000,000.

I Taught I Taught a Law Student

What started as a sophomoric stunt -- most likely by a fellow student at the University of San Diego School of Law (also a defendant) -- has turned into a media bash. Mainstream and downstream media outlets have added insult to Dehen's claimed injuries in stories about her legal incompetence.

Joe Patrice, writing for Above the Law, is leading the charge against Dehen -- albeit trailing by two weeks after other reporters broke the story. Patrice, a litigator-turned-blogger, likens the attack on Dehens' Twitter account to skewering "low-hanging fruit" and faults her law school for not graduating "practice ready" students.

"The University of San Diego School of Law apparently failed to clear that threshold when it came to recent graduate Tiffany Dehen," he wrote.

Fact or Fiction or Funny?

Dehen's complaint is certainly susceptible to demurrer or a motion to strike. One throw-in allegation, for example, seems to say that the defendants are responsible for Dehen's car accident on the way to the courthouse. Ultimately, a judge will clear out the roughage.

In the meantime, the court of public opinion has been brutal. Techdirt, which first reported on the lawsuit, pointed out the flaws in Dehen's complaint and commenters dug deeper. The comments range from tongue-in-cheek to kick-in-the, well, here:

"She should be suing to get her tuition and fees back because they CLEARLY didn't teach her a thing!"

"Fresh out of school and ready to make her mark on the world ... with a splat."

"No child left behind"

Dehen, who apparently is seeking a lawyer, has set up a legal defense fund -- through her real Twitter account.

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