 Since 1993, the Press has become notorious for suing its critics in defense of its own and its authors' reputations.Some have claimed that it has thereby further damaged its reputation, in a classic example of the Streisand Effect.The press's litigiousness dates from 1993, when Robert West, a disgruntled former employee of Mellen Press, contacted "Lingua Franca", a magazine defunct since 2001 but at that time widely read and respected in academic circles, describing Richardson as a "rogue professor" and Mellen as a "vanity press"; West urged the magazine to publish an exposé.