Order stems from a failed domain brokerage transaction.
A King County Superior Court judge has issued an order of default against former Epik CEO Rob Monster.
The order stems from a failed escrow transaction at the domain name registrar that Monster used to run.
In a previous lawsuit, Epik customer Matthew Adkisson alleged that he agreed to buy nourish .com in a transaction facilitated by Epik. He paid $327,000 to Epik, covering $300,000 due to the domain seller and a $27,000 commission. The seller failed to deliver the domain, and Adkisson did not get his money back.
Adkisson sued to recover his money ahead of a proposed deal to sell Epik’s assets.
Based on documents Monster filed to oppose the order of default in King County, Adkisson was paid $427,000 out of the proceeds of Epik being sold. His settlement also included a promissory note from Monster to pay $100,000 within one year.
Last year, Adkisson filed in King County to collect the $100,000, which he has not been paid. According to a confession of judgment, Monster now owes Adkisson $310,000 because of the tardy payment.
In his opposition to the order of default, Monster alleged that Adkisson’s former attorney at Perkins Coie “extorted” the extra $100,000 from him while he was not represented by counsel.
In an email to Adkisson’s new counsel at Schweet Linde & Rosenblum, PLLC, Monster wrote:
In short, what I am seeing here is an ongoing pattern of bad faith, resembling “lawfare”. This was the pattern of Perkins Coie, LLP, whose reputation for lawfare is now undeniable, including [Adkisson’s former lawyer] David Perez who overplayed his hand and is apparently no longer representing Mr. Adkisson. Your own bad faith complaint, followed since by a bad faith motion for default, continues the pattern and invites ethical review.
In a separate declaration filed with the court, Monster wrote:
The subsequent announcement on March 6, 2025 by the Whitehouse that Perkins Coie, based in Seattle, played a central role in the “Steele Dossier”, also known as “Russiagate”, dating back to 2016 and continuing role of a Political Law division, made the selection of David Perez, who played a central role in defending the Seattle BLM/CHOP/CHAZ operation, an unusual choice for legal representation.
Monster also said a number of other parties have a “vested interest” in impairing Monster’s reputation:
In the event that this case does go to trial, defendants will seek reasonable discovery from Mr. Adkisson and his previous counsel, Perkins Coie LLP, as well as other parties who may have a vested interest in the impairment of Epik Holdings Inc, or the professional reputation of Robert W. Monster, including Guidepost Solutions, Marc Elias/Elias Law Group, General Michael Hayden, Fusion GPS, Psy-group, Wikistrat, Black Cube, Whiteknight, Project Rome, Archimedes Group, Project Sentinel, Cambridge Analytica, NSO Group, Protexer, Salix Services AG, the Central Intelligence Agency, Chase Bank, Allied Defense LLC, Burr Forman LLP, Willoughby & Hoefer P.A, Joel Zamel and George Nader or any of their successors, proxies, representatives, or affiliates during the period of March 2022 and March 2025.
Also at issue was whether Monster had answered the King County lawsuit in a timely manner. Monster said he filed his answer in time; lawyers for Adkisson said Monster’s filing was a “meandering declaration” that did not answer the lawsuit.
The judge was unmoved by Monster’s arguments and entered the order of default.
Wow, I hope the man gets his money back. What a terrible blackeye for the domain industry.
Fortunately, he got his money back. This is extra that he got to settle his lawsuit.
Rob Monster =