The Queensryche Lawsuit

The members of Queensryche were involved in a very public and intense two-year legal dispute over the firing of vocalist Geoff Tate in 2012 and the ownership rights to the band name. This site's old discussion forum (now closed and deleted) helped the public gain a better understanding of the issues being disputed by being the first outlet to purchase and release all of the publicly-available documents from King County Superior Court, and explaining the complex legal jargon.

While this site only focuses on the original lineup of the band, because the legal drama referenced key events in Queensryche's history -- particularly events and situations during the original lineup's tenure together -- I've chosen to include the vast collection of court filings here on AnybodyListening.net for reference purposes. The lawsuit was settled in 2014, leaving Eddie Jackson, Scott Rockenfield and Michael Wilton with the Queensryche name, with Geoff Tate getting an undisclosed sum and rights to perform Operation: Mindcrime in its entirety (although Queensryche may perform songs from it, just not in sequential order).

Please note that I won't be further adding to this collection. The lawsuit is settled and additional terms of that settlement (other than the name going to the band and Tate getting some performance rights and an undisclosed monetary amount) are private. Admittedly, there are some filings that I once had stored in the cloud that I now can't find and as a result, haven't posted. Any documents or files that are not posted here can be retrieved at the King County Superior Court in Washington state.

2012

IMPORTANT NOTE: For all documents, right-click on the link, and choose the "save link as" or an appropriate similar command. Some of these docs are quite large, and as a result, if you try to just click and view them online, they might appear to be blank at times due to lag. So I advise you to download them before reading. Thank you.

Original Complaint
Original Response
Motion of Plaintiffs to Strike
Certification
Motion to Shorten Time

Plaintiff's Statements

Declaration of Geoff Tate
Declaration of Susan Tate
Declaration of Kelly Gray
Declaration of Karen Ahmed
Declaration of Paul Gargano
Declaration of Jason Slater
Declaration of Benjamin Stone (Tates' attorney)

Defendants' Statements

Declaration of Michael Wilton
Declaration of Scott Rockenfield
Declaration of Eddie Jackson
Declaration of Parker Lundgren
Declaration of Misty Rockenfield
Declaration of Scott "Fozzy" O'Hare
Declaration of Alan Miller
Declaration of Paul Geary
Declaration of Anthony "Kenny" Bender
Declaration of Eugene "Geno" Bishop
Declaration of Thomas Oskinski Jr. (Jackson/Rockenfield/Wilton attorney)

Additional Statements & Filings

Declaration of Brian Fleming
Declaration of Catherine Reeves
Declaration of Geoff Tate #2
Declaration of Lars Sorensen
Declaraion of Lisa Angell
Declaration of Mark Reeves
Declaration of Maureen Fischer
Declaration of Mike Elko
Declaration of Randall "Random Damage" Gane
Declaration of Susan Tate
Declaration of Toffer Christensen

Reply Memorandum

Posted on July 16, 2012:

Defendants' Response to Plaintiff's Motion to Strike
Declaration of Declaration of Thomas Oskinski Jr. (re: Plaintiff's Motion to Strike)
Clerk's Minutes (re: Injunction Hearing)

Posted on July 22, 2012:

Order Denying Preliminary Injunction

Plaintiff's Motion to Disqualify Counsel
Motion to Disqualify Counsel: Declaration of Ben Stone
Motion to Disqualify Counsel: Declaration of Geoff Tate
Motion for Default

Posted on July 26, 2012:

Defendants' Response to Motion to Disqualify
Declaration of Thomas Osinski (re: Motion to Disqualify)

Posted on July 27, 2012: Reply in Further Support of Motion to Disqualify
Second Reply in Further Support of Motion to Disqualify
Defendant's Answer and Counterclaim

Posted on Aug. 2, 2012:

Order Disqualifying Osinski (corporate defendants)
Order Denying Plaintiff's Motion for Default

Posted on Aug. 15, 2012:

Plaintiff's Answer to Defendant Counterclaims

Posted on Aug. 28, 2012:

Audio of the Preliminary Injunction Hearing Pt. 1 (right-click, save as)

Audio of the Preliminary Injunction Hearing Pt. 2 (right-click, save as)

Posted on Sept. 25, 2012:

Defendants Motion for Partial Summary Judgment
Osinski Declaration (re: summary judgment)
Scott Rockenfield Declaration (re: summary judgment)

Posted on Oct. 9, 2012:

Plaintiff's Response to Motion for Partial Summary Judgment
Geoff Tate Declaration (re: summary judgment)
Jason Ames Declaration (re: summary judgment)
Alex Rafael Declaration (re: summary judgment)
Jeff Albright Declaration (re: summary judgment)
Josh Brower Declaration (re: summary judgment)
Maureen Fisher Declaration (re: summary judgment)
Michael Beyer Declaration (re: summary judgment)

Posted on Oct. 18, 2012

Defendants' Reply to Plaintiff's Response to Motion for Partial Summary Judgment
Thomas Osinski Jr. Declaration
Scott Rockenfield Declaration
Orlando "Fozzy" O'Hare Declaration

Posted on Oct. 23, 2012

Order Denying Partial Summary Judgment
Partial Summary Judgment Hearing Minutes
Osinski Declaration (longer one with exhibits)

2013

Posted on Aug. 20, 2013:

Plaintiff's Motion for Continuance
Defense Opposition to Continuance
Plaintiff's Reply in Support of Continuance
Geoff Tate Declaration in Support of Continuance
Scott Rockenfield in Opposition of Declaration
Joshua Brower (Tate Atty) Declaration #1
Joshua Brower (Tate Atty) Declaration #2
Thomas Oskinski Declaration

What this is: Tate is requesting a delay of 180 days for the trial. The band is opposed and says it is ready to move forward with the trial immediately. The attorneys go back and forth, and a hearing was held today, Aug. 20, for the judge to review. A decision on the continuance will likely be made shortly.

Posted on Aug. 24, 2013:

Order Amending Case Schedule
Order Allowing Continuance Until Jan. 27, 2014

What this is: Tate was granted a continuance until Jan. 27, 2014, delaying the trial by approximately 70 days (he had requested 180).

Posted on Oct. 22, 2013:

Certificate of E-Service

What this is: This document was filed with the court and the parties to notify them that they have filed a Motion for Summary Judgment to end the case. In speaking with a friend, this is a doomsday motion by Tate. Unless a lot has changed with discovery since the continuance of trial, the MSJ will fail. In order to prevail Tate must demonstrate there is no triable issue of fact AND that as a matter of law he is entitled to judgment. Both are a pretty big reach given the available information.

Posted on Nov. 1, 2013:

Plaintiff's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment
Geoff Tate Declaration in Support of Motion for Partial Summary Judgment
Joshua Brower Declaration in Support of Motion for Partial Summary Judgment

What this is: Tate is taking one last try to get pieces of the suit thrown out for a violation of contract.

Posted on Nov. 8, 2013:

Order for Joint Pre-trial Report

Posted Nov. 22, 2013

Defendant Response
Declaration of Thomas Osinski
Declaration of Michael Wilton
Declaration of Eddie Jackson
Declaration of Scott Rockenfield

Posted on Dec. 5, 2013:

Plaintiffs' reply in support of their motion for partial summary judgment and response to defendant cross-motion
Tate Declaration in opposition to cross-motion for summary judgment

Posted on Dec. 14, 2013

Geoff Tate Declaration in Support of Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment
Plaintiff's Reply to Defendant's Cross Motion for Summary Judgment
Plaintiff's Reply in Support of Their Motion for Summary Judgment
Defendant's Reply to Tate Regarding Defendant Cross Motion for Summary Judgment
Order Denying Both Motions for Partial Summary Judgment
Note Showing Additional Counsel on Defendant's Team
Pre-Trial Report Confirmation

Note: I tried to put these in somewhat of an order so that it makes sense to read one after the other.

2014

Posted on Jan. 21, 2014:

Plaintiff's Exhibit List for Trial

Note: This is a listing of all the documentation that will be used as evidence by the plaintiffs (the Tates) at trial.

Editor's Note: I didn't re-post all the notices that indicated how many times the trial was pushed back. Suffice it to say, the trial was continued at least three times while the parties tried to hammer out a settlement deal. As you likely know, the parties reached a settlement agreement in June/July 2014.