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Author Topic: The Growing Operation of Higbee & Associates (Mathew Higbee)  (Read 19156 times)

Matthew Chan

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The Growing Operation of Higbee & Associates (Mathew Higbee)
« on: August 08, 2016, 06:46:50 PM »
It has been a while since I have announced a new player in the extortion letter arena. I have seen a number of smaller one-off claims but rarely a recurrence of newer players. Generally, it is the same players I see such as "Masterfail", Getty Images, LCS, BWP Media, Sanders, etc.

A couple months ago, someone commented to me during an ELI Support Call they did not see much written about Higbee & Associates run by lawyer Mathew Higbee (whose first name is the same as mine but is strangely and intentionally misspelled with one "t").

Over a year ago, I thought Higbee & Associates were going to be another extortion letter entity that would come and go. However, they have entered my radar much more frequently now. In fact, I have checked into their operation and Higbee has gotten quite serious about the business.

Higbee & Associates appear to be overrun with estrogen-based lawyers: http://www.higbeeassociates.com/about/attorneys/. For Higbee, there seem to be a lot of female "associate attorneys" in subservient positions to "big dog" Mathew.

In any case, there are many clues I have gleaned.  First, Higbee refers to themselves as a "national law firm" despite the fact they are based in Santa Ana, California. There is a Google map with many digital thumbtacks throughout the U.S. but nothing else I could find that backs up those Google thumbtacks being shown.

Second, there is an internship program: http://www.higbeeassociates.com/interns/.  It would not surprise me that they place one of these wannabe-lawyers in the clerical end of the copyright extortion business as Getty, Masterfile, LCS, and other larger operations do.

Third, Higbee is investing in a lot of technology in their servicing:  https://client.higbeeassociates.com/login. My guess is that their clients can monitor the status of their cases which would include any copyright money collection efforts.

Fourth, there is a hidden, unpublicized Infringements link just for their targets to use:  http://www.higbeeassociates.com/infringements

This is what is very significant. Through a victim's link that was submitted to me for review, I've had the opportunity to look over the Highbee copyright collection system from a target's perspective.  Higbee's system is professional and sophisticated. It reminds me a lot of the system LCS and Getty Images uses. It is possible Higbee has licensed the system Getty & LCS uses. This is NOT a casual, cheap web application being used for onesies or twosies. It is a serious, full-blown technology-based copyright money collection operation.

Although I get a somewhat steady stream of news and information nuggets over the course of time, it was only about a month ago that I was able to make the connection that Higbee & Associates is a new, serious player in relation to the other operations we report on.

As of right now, I cannot identify any copyright lawsuit that Higbee has filed against anyone on behalf of their clients. It doesn't mean they haven't, it just means no one has reported it to me yet. As far as I can tell, the client's Higbee represents are not overly litigious yet.  But as Higbee expands and matures, we might see more of that.  It all depends on how much of a stomach and public exposure any of Higbee's clients want by filing on smaller parties.

Higbee & Associates is too new for me to determine how litigious they will be. I think they will be selective if they do pursue it because it makes little financial sense in many situations because many would be uncollectible as Masterfile likely learned several years ago.

Because the statute of limitations for copyright infringement matters is 3-years and most of the cases I have seen are within the last year, we may not know until 2017 & 2018 when many of their cases reaches the end of statute of limitations.

The ELI team will definitely be keeping a watchful eye on Mathew Higbee's Higbee & Associates operation in the months to come. If you are a Higbee target, the ELI Forums is the best place for updates and news.
I'm a non-lawyer but not legally ignorant either. Under the 1st Amendment, I have the right to post facts & opinions using rhetorical hyperbole, colloquialisms, metaphors, parody, snark, or epithets. Under Section 230 of CDA, I'm only responsible for posts I write, not what others write.

Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)

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Re: The Growing Operation of Higbee & Associates (Mathew Higbee)
« Reply #1 on: August 08, 2016, 07:19:37 PM »
I knew I knew that name, one of our regular users has been targeted by them...not sure of the status of his "case" though

http://www.extortionletterinfo.com/forum/getty-images-letter-forum/sample-replies-best-course-of-action-to-take/
Most questions have already been addressed in the forums, get yourself educated before making decisions.

Any advice is strictly that, and anything I may state is based on my opinions, and observations.
Robert Krausankas

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Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)

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Re: The Growing Operation of Higbee & Associates (Mathew Higbee)
« Reply #2 on: August 08, 2016, 07:31:34 PM »
I'm calling this asshole Mathew Higbee out, right now, right here!..a simple search of one of those google map markers, does indeed have results....for another attorney...nope, not Mathew Higbee at all...

address: 1001 Texas Ave. Suite 500 Houston TX 77002

http://www.jamesandstagg.com/contact-us/

This firm doesn't even do copyright, but rather they offer an array of law areas, ambulance chasers in my opinion. I might have to research all of those markers, just to make "Attorney" Mathew Higbee really look like a douchbag.
« Last Edit: August 08, 2016, 07:39:31 PM by Matthew Chan »
Most questions have already been addressed in the forums, get yourself educated before making decisions.

Any advice is strictly that, and anything I may state is based on my opinions, and observations.
Robert Krausankas

I have a few friends around here..

The-Gobbler

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Re: The Growing Operation of Higbee & Associates (Mathew Higbee)
« Reply #3 on: August 08, 2016, 09:13:29 PM »
Yep. The smugness of that photo of M.Higbee is really galling, just screams "douche".  Anyway, we did indeed have a run-in with these guys, they were our first of two experiences with extortionists.  We wound up paying mainly because I didn't really know any better, though it was considerably less than they initially tried to extort and far more sane than our other incident with Masterfail - who I content is still the king of extortion on a per-piece basis.

Robert Krausankas (BuddhaPi)

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Re: The Growing Operation of Higbee & Associates (Mathew Higbee)
« Reply #4 on: August 11, 2016, 07:46:46 PM »
I'm not so sure the word "growing" is the right one, they might be sending out more letters, but some early research reveals that Higbee & Associates is no "National" Law firm, while they boast locations through-out the US, the vast majority of those locations are all "virtual offices", in other words an address they can  use, and have accss to a meeting room in an office building. I will be making a separate post showing all of this and unfortunately there will be other businesses and attorneys now associated with asshat Mathew Higbee... I willalso be revealing that Higbee does not seciliz in IP law, but rather it seems their niche market is immigrtion law and "record expungement" services..more to come soon!
Most questions have already been addressed in the forums, get yourself educated before making decisions.

Any advice is strictly that, and anything I may state is based on my opinions, and observations.
Robert Krausankas

I have a few friends around here..

Matthew Chan

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Re: The Growing Operation of Higbee & Associates (Mathew Higbee)
« Reply #5 on: August 23, 2016, 10:41:13 PM »
Robert gets the credit for exposing Mathew Higbee and Higbee & Associates for trying to inflate their presence by using virtual offices.

I was suspicious the minute I saw he was promoting themselves as a "national law firm". Most law firms don't do that. They convey their size in different ways but not the way Higbee & Associates does.

They may fool their clients but Robert went to work and outed them so we all know better!
I'm a non-lawyer but not legally ignorant either. Under the 1st Amendment, I have the right to post facts & opinions using rhetorical hyperbole, colloquialisms, metaphors, parody, snark, or epithets. Under Section 230 of CDA, I'm only responsible for posts I write, not what others write.

 

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