NRA v. Ackerman, Virginia
Ackerman’s Motion for a Preliminary Injunction
June 19, 2019
Filing Summary
This filing contains Ackerman McQueen’s request for a court order requiring the NRA to pay outstanding invoice amounts due (approximately $1.6 million) and to post a $3 million line of credit as Ackerman alleges is required under the contract. The crux of Ackerman’s argument is that various breaches of the parties’ agreement by the NRA have harmed Ackerman financially and pose an immediate threat to the ability for Ackerman to continue its business operations.
Key Points
- The Ackerman filing contains a number of facts about the NRA – Ackerman relationship. For instance, Ackerman estimates 50% of its employees work on projects and services for the NRA and “approximately 25% of these employees are essentially virtual employees of the NRA. (p.2). This is because “for years, and up through the present time, the NRA has outsourced its media and public relations work” to Ackerman. (p.3).
- “NRA executives were actively involved in, and in many cases, dictated the contract negotiations between specific individuals” and Ackerman. “In the case of large, multi-year contracts for NRA media representatives such as Lt. Colonel Oliver North or Dana Loesch, the NRA’s Executive Vice President, Wayne LaPierre, and the NRA’s Treasurer negotiated the arrangement either directly with that individual or used [Ackerman] as an intermediary with specific direction to enter into a contract with that individual according to the NRA’s expectations.” (p.3)
- On May 29, 2019, Ackerman gave notice of its intent to terminate the Service Agreement between the parties. (p.5)
- Ackerman estimates, in 2018, 41% of Ackerman’s gross revenue was derived from its work with the NRA. (p.8)