When Groomzillas Attack: Todd Remis is Back!

Remember Todd Remis? How couldn't you? He's the disgruntled groom with a Biglaw daddy whose ridiculous lawsuit against his wedding photographer made national news when it hit the New York Times. But now, more than two months after the story first broke, Remis has emerged from hiding to combat the New York Times version of his lawsuit. Remis wants to tell his side of the story, and he's got a website to prove it....

Remember Todd Remis? How couldn’t you? He’s the disgruntled groom with a Biglaw daddy whose ridiculous lawsuit against his wedding photographer made national news when it hit the New York Times. Why so ridiculous? Because he decided to sue six years after the wedding and one year prior to his divorce being finalized (and he continued to prosecute the suit even after the divorce).

At first glance, Remis’s suit seemed like a simple contract dispute. But thanks to Above the Law, he acquired the title of “groomzilla,” due to deposition testimony where he stated:

“I need to have the wedding recreated exactly as it was so that the remaining 15 percent of the wedding that was not shot can be shot.”

Many publications took our “groomzilla” title and ran with it, leaving Remis as the butt of many jokes. But now, more than two months after the story first broke, Remis has emerged from hiding to combat the New York Times version of his lawsuit. Remis wants to tell his side of the story, and he’s got a website to prove it….

Remis has set up an entire website in the hopes of contradicting the NYT version of his wedding-related litigation. On that site, he’s posted his initial, 2009 demand letter to H & H Photographers, as well as a statement, dated January 11, 2012, addressing the alleged “media campaign” that the photographers launched against his contract dispute.

First, we’ll address the demand letter, if only because it is so painfully obvious that Remis’s father, Goodwin Procter partner Shepard Remis, was involved in in his son’s litigious crusade from the get-go. The letter, available on Todd Remis’s website, states in closing:

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To this date, several years after our wedding and despite our numerous attempts, H&H Photographers has still failed to provide us with our video and wedding pictures, despite its many assurances. Therefore, we demand the return of the full amount of our deposit plus interest totaling $5,748.68, plus the photographs/proofs/negatives and video no later than September 1, 2009. If you fail to comply with this request by the stated date, we will have no choice but to seek legal action as a result of H&H Photographer’s breach of contract.

Yes, Todd Remis — a graduate of Bowdoin College, and a former research analyst at several Wall Street firms — might be an intelligent man, but that letter was most assuredly penned by daddy.

Note how Remis continuously dropped the pronoun “we” throughout the letter. Was that “we” supposed to refer to Remis and his then soon-to-be ex-wife, Milena Grzibovska? Doubtful. Grzibovska’s whereabouts are currently unknown, and she’s not named as a plaintiff in Remis’s suit. She probably could not have cared less about her wedding pictures — she was about to get her divorce finalized.

This was all Remis’s doing. Talk about an “extreme case of nuptial nostalgia.”

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And speaking of nuptial nostalgia, in his statement (available here), Remis tells a tale of marital bliss, and a relationship that ended amicably after “life intervened.” Remis notes that “[t]here are two sides to every story,” and goes on to detail all of the “stubborn facts” that went unreported in the NYT account of his complaint against his wedding photographers. And those stubborn facts? While sad, they just make Remis seem like an even bigger crybaby.

We get it — your wedding pictures were allegedly ruined. H & H Photographers allegedly made promises that they never kept. But why wait to do something about it until six years later? Why wait until you’ve separated from your (admittedly hot) wife to take legal action? Why make yourself out to be a desperate man living in the past and clinging to remnants of a failed marriage? It just doesn’t make any sense. Remis leaves us with this at the conclusion of his statement:

[U]nless and until a reasonable settlement can be accomplished, he will have no choice but to pursue his case against H&H in a court of law where it will finally be resolved by a jury of his peers, who are neutral and not interested in, or part of, a media campaign.

That’s nice, but if you’re hoping for jurors who aren’t interested in a “media campaign,” then why are you trying to create one yourself? You’re a bit late to the game on this one, buddy.

Remis is presumably furious at the New York Times, which broke the news of his lawsuit. It will be interesting to see whether he pursues legal action against the newspaper. But we’re not holding our breath waiting for Remis to file his complaint. He might wait a year… or six.

Todd Remis Addresses New York Times Version of Contract Dispute [Todd Remis]
Todd Remis, Divorced Man, Suing Over Wedding Pics [Huffington Post]

Earlier: ‘Groomzilla’ Todd Remis: What Was He Thinking?
Got an Absurd Wedding Lawsuit? Don’t Worry, Daddy’s a Biglaw Partner