Extortion Vs. Settlement Negotiations

The criminal complaint filed against Michael Avenatti is an interesting reminder that the line between extortion and settlement negotiations is a thin one. In a federal court complaint filed in the Southern District of New York, the government accuses Avenatti of extortion by threatening to publicly release, through a press conference and otherwise, damaging information about the misconduct of Nike employees unless Nike made multimillion dollar payments to Avenatti and a significant payment to his client. According to the complaint, he demanded that the monies be paid quickly, and announced a press conference on his Twitter feed at which time he would expose Nike. Among even more colorful and profane language, according to the complaint, Avenatti allegedly stated, "I'll go and I'll go take 10 billion dollars off your client's market cap... I'm not [bleeping] around." One of the alleged extortion methods was an unsolicited offer that Avenatti and an unnamed