How Gawker Just Sidestepped Peter Thiel’s Vendetta

By David Rovella, Bloomberg News

As far as legal strategies go, Gawker Media LLC’s move on Friday to evade a deep-pocketed enemy by filing for bankruptcy is hardly the sort of brash, risky gambit for which the publisher is known. It’s a tried-and-true legal maneuver.

Companies that lose big at trial often run across the street to bankruptcy court looking for protection from their newest, and usually biggest, creditor. In the case of Nick Denton and his web-publishing empire, the decision to seek court protection had the added benefit of buying time.

A judge in Florida declined to overturn the $140 ...