A Florida judge was too lazy to write his own order; his clerk couldn’t read the docket, while lawyers made foolish decisions.
The result was more POLAMOP, protraction of litigation and multiplication of proceedings, which favored YouTuber Jeremy Hales.
After nearly a year of covering the unethical tactics of Jeremy Hales, his strategy is clear: create so much litigation that there is content forever.
Part of that strategy involves two Florida state cases I haven’t given much attention to.
The two- case no. 382024CA000153CAAXMX and case no. 382025CA000052CAAXMX in state court in Levy County, Florida- involve an aborted lawsuit for misusing Michelle Preston’s image and likeness without her permission and an aborted invasion of privacy suit.
Preston is Hales sometimes neighbor, who is involved in numerous lawsuits with Hales. She has since filed for bankruptcy to stop the madness.
Last year, Preston sued Therese and Brett Granger, husband and wife, for invasion of privacy because they were part of a crew who showed up at her property with sheriffs looking for things and filming to be used for content by Jeremy Hales.
The Grangers, conveniently, found the allegedly defamatory signs falsely accusing Hales of rape and other bad things. Those signs are the centerpiece of his original lawsuit in his evolving storyline.
Scott Stark, a Florida based attorney, filed this lawsuit on her behalf, but he fell gravely ill and died earlier this year.
As such, the lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed without prejudice, meaning it could be filed again.
Hales, along with Kentucky lawyer and YouTuber Larry Forman, used Preston’s image for thumbnails, and Stark filed a separate lawsuit for misusing her image without her permission. That lawsuit was also dismissed voluntarily and without prejudice.
Randall Shochet, Hales’ equally unethical attorney, has one job, to create legal action which Hales and his cohorts can turn into YouTube content.
He filed a lawsuit for malicious prosecution and a motion for sanctions in the two cases, arguing that since each action was dismissed, they were brought frivolously.
That set off more YouTube content which should have come to an end when Michelle Preston filed for bankruptcy.
Only her bankruptcy attorney missed a deadline and in September 2025, Judge Robert Groeb, who is currently presiding over both cases, held a status conference.
Michelle’s attorney explained that he had filed the appropriate documents, but Judge Groeb said that as long as the bankruptcy wasn’t reinstated, the matter could proceed.
That ruling allowed Shochet to create more POLAMOP. He quickly filed to depose Michelle Preston.
A prior deposition in a separate protective order turned into a content bonanza- unethical content creator Megan Fox once did yoga while laughing at Preston as she watched the deposition- and Hales has angled to get another deposition.
This set off a bunch of filings back and forth, with Michelle asking to stop the deposition, Shochet arguing against that, and so on.
More content was created for a deposition which would never happen.
The bankruptcy was quickly reinstated, but not before, Judge Groeb asked Shochet to write an order.
Candace Thomas, the judicial assistant to Judge Groeb wrote the following email.
Dear Counsel,
Judge Groeb, has requested that a proposed order denying the Motion for Protective Order be submitted for review.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Judge Groeb was too lazy to write a basic order, so he asked an unethical lawyer to write one. Though Shochet was only supposed to deny the protective order- Michelle’s method of arguing against going to the deposition- he wrote an order giving his side sanctions.
Judge Groeb likely didn’t read the draft order before he signed it, but now, Michelle Preston is sanctioned for failing to appear for a deposition which is stayed because the bankruptcy has been reinstated.
In the other action, Michelle, now acting pro se, failed to respond to a motion in time.
Michelle responded right after the deadline, but the clerk still filed an entry for default.
Bruce Matzkin previously represented Michelle in a lawsuit Hales brought against her. He has since been sued by Hales in a separate lawsuit.
He fired off a series of emails to Thomas, who did not respond to my email for comment, pointing out that the default needed to be reversed.
Thomas did not respond to four email Matzkin sent, but she did file them on the docket.
This led to a plethora of new actions- including a new lawsuit, a grievance against Matzkin in his home state, and more- and all of that was combined with new content.
Though the email Matzkin sent was foolish in my opinion, it’s reprehensible that Shochet- who also did not respond to an email for comment- would file anything based on these emails.
Almost nothing he files is meritorious. It’s why he sued the Levy County prosecutors because they wouldn’t charge Michelle Preston with crimes, something that falls under prosecutorial discretion.
It’s why he filed a lawsuit against eleven people for saying mean things about Jeremy Hales.
It’s why he files for sanctions and malicious prosecution because lawsuits are dismissed without prejudice.
It’s all done to help Jeremy Hales create YouTube content. In this case, he’s helped by the foolishness of judges, clerks, and lawyers.
