What started as a seemingly routine civil suit involving Mike Missanelli and JAKIB Media’s Joe Krause continues into its ninth month.

This week, the judge presiding over the case denied, for the third time, a Krause motion to dismiss. At the same time, Missanelli’s lawyer is looking to depose Krause following a failed motion for sanctions after the judge censured Krause for using Google and artificial intelligence in his legal research.

Missanelli is suing for more than $50,000 in unpaid compensation for the work he did on JAKIB’s Philadelphia Eagles broadcasts.

Here’s the CliffsNotes explaining where we’re at right now:

  1. Mike filed the suit in August.
  2. The judge denied Krause’s motion requesting that Missanelli stop discussing the case publicly.
  3. There was a verbal altercation between the two following a November hearing, resulting in a filing with Montgomery County authorities.
  4. Both sides claim they turned down a settlement offer, which Krause identified as $40,000.
  5. Krause twice asked for the case to be dismissed in December, both of which were denied.
  6. Missanelli made revisions to his initial filing after Krause argued that a contract page was missing, and the contract itself unsigned.
  7. In a winter hearing, the judge suggested Krause hire a lawyer but denied a motion for sanctions based on a technicality in how Missanelli’s lawyer filed.

There was a slew of court filings this week, as Mike’s lawyer tries to schedule a deposition of Krause at the Montgomery County Bar Association in Norristown. Krause filed a protective order asking to reschedule, saying he had a conflict due to “work-related business commitments and the possibility of travel.” Mike’s lawyer is trying to do the deposition later this month, which is similar to putting a witness on the stand, only this takes place out of court. The case is technically still in “discovery” phase, and the deposition serves to gather information and evidence, so that a lawyer can then examine the facts ahead of trial or settlement.


Krause has been arguing from the start that Missanelli did not fulfill all of the obligations in his contract, and never signed it in the first place. Going through the new exhibits in recent filings, there are copies of emails sent back and forth between Krause and Mike’s agent, Steve Mountain. In the correspondence, they talk about tweaks to Mike’s contract and there exists a signed copy of the deal, which looks to have been forwarded to Krause from another employee at the talent agency. Most of the filings in the system amount to lengthy arguments as to whether or not the existing evidence qualifies as both sides entering into business. Mike’s lawyer is obviously arguing yes, while Krause says no.