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A comment from a reddit thread states: The gist behind this case is that the Judge's son owns patent law firm in East Texas where they often represent both side

A comment from a reddit thread states: The gist behind this case is that the Judge's son owns patent law firm in East Texas where they often represent both sides. This guy doesn't live in East Texas. However, the dad lets these stupid cases into the town to bring business to his son. Really shady. I agree with clavelle's comment. It's not so much the laws, but the system that allows this to occur. Link here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/4n08jj/developer_is_being_sued_for_using_the_google_play/d405cbn https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/4n08jj/developer_i...

InvisibleCities 10y ago
> The gist behind this case is that the Judge's son owns patent law firm in East Texas where they often represent both sides. Isn't this a blatant conflict of interest? If this isn't grounds for disbarment, what is?
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- mfoy_ 10y ago
  Maybe the firm doesn't represent both sides simultaneously. Maybe they usually represent the patent troll, but if someone needs a patent troll defense lawyer they'll do that too. Basically, as long as patent litigation is in town, business is good.
  - mikeash 10y ago
    That helps, but the judge working cases his son's law firm also works is pretty bad too.
    - mfoy_ 10y ago
      Oh absolutely. The judge is entertaining all those patent cases simply because it's good for his son's law practice. Unacceptable.
      - blueblob 10y ago
        IANAL but according to Wikipedia, being related to the judge is grounds for the judge to recuse him/herself from a case https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judicial_disqualification#Applicable_to_most_countries https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judicial_disqualification#Appl...
    - zuminator 10y ago
      To be clear, Meyer does not allege anything of that sort in the clip. He says, "Bo Davis is a lawyer in the Eastern District of Texas that represents patent trolls and their victims. Bo Davis is Judge Leonard Davis's son working a law practice in the very same district in which his father is a judge. So, if Judge Leonard Davis can encourage more patent trolls to bring more lawsuits into the Eastern District of Texas, his son is one of the people that's gonna rack up the billable hours." So there's no allegation that Judge Davis (now retired) actually presided over any of his son's cases, merely that his son stood to benefit from the overall patent-troll friendly climate of the Eastern District court. Not really a clear-cut recusal situation. If anything, the fact that his son's firm represents trolls and victims alike meant there was less reason for a specific bias on behalf of the judge.
      - hospes 10y ago
        >>Not really a clear-cut recusal situation. One of those 3 letter federal agencies, that government spends $billions on, needs to look at this "not really clear cut situation".
        mobilefriendly 10y ago
        This corruption is a government feature, not a bug. Washington needs trial lawyer money and has had trouble figuring out how to fleece Silicon Valley directly, so trial lawyer patent abuse is a win-win for Congress and the Obama Administration. Remember-- the entire basis of this nonsense is the patent office issuing vague patents, everything is running exactly to plan.
        deleted 10y ago
        [deleted]
      - mikeash 10y ago
        Good points, thanks for clearing that up. The bit about "specific bias" is interesting. I wouldn't assume that the judge is biased for or against patent trolls, but his position gives him reason to be biased for patent trolling, which isn't quite the same. It would be to the advantage of his son to make a big deal out of cases which don't deserve it. Accepting cases about ridiculous patents would do that, as would encouraging trials for patent cases which are obviously legitimate. Whether that's happening or not I have no idea, but he clearly has an incentive to keep things stirred up in this area.
  - davemel37 10y ago
    Just to add to this. I am sure the legal community in East Texas is close knit. There may never be blatant impropriety, but no one wants to be on the wrong side of a judge in town. (i.e the Judges Son tries a case with a different Judge in town, but that Judge is buddies with the other Judges.)
phaed 10y ago
Did you even watch the video? He says it right on there.
- dang 10y ago
  That's true, but please edit did-you-even-read challenges out of your posts to HN. That's in the site guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html. It's enough to just point out what the article/video says, like your second sentence does.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
joe_the_user 10y ago
It's worse than that. The situation is that with patent suits able to be brought anywhere and brought in East Texas by preference, a significant amount of that areas economy is now based on this racket and so the culture of the area is very oriented towards enable patent trolls, especially given a general contempt of outsiders characteristic of a small town. In the pre-Internet era, one needed to take an unlucky to get murdered or shaken down by the corrupt culture of Smokey And The Bandit style US small towns. The ambiguity of the law and the convenience of entrenched interests now means that It's been going on for a long time. Recent article: http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/How-east-Texas-became-the-epicenter-for-patent-6211845.php http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/How-east-Tex... 2006 article: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/24/business/24ward.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1& http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/24/business/24ward.html?pagew... Choice quote: "'During the TiVo-EchoStar trial, 90 percent of my revenue for one month came from one of the law firms in the case,' said Phillip W. Gurganus, manager of the local 68-room Hampton Inn, where rates run $77 a night." Guess what he'd chose if got on a jury? Certainly a decision that kept business in East Texas.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
Zelmor 10y ago
It's in the US and I find it hard to believe that noone has so far shot these kind of scammers. Aim right, citizen! For the greater good!
- julianwachholz 10y ago
  Harry Brown lives in the U.K. unfortunately.
- SZJX 10y ago
  I think that's the typical US for you.
jhayward 10y ago
According to the wikipedia page for the Eastern District of Texas both of the judges he names are retired from the court, one in 2011 and one in 2015. How does he claim in 2016 that these judges are presiding on his case and cases like it?
- angry-hacker 10y ago
  Well, he did say it has been going on for many many years.
- int_19h 10y ago
  He got sued in 2012, and it's still going.
- MaysonL 10y ago
  Perhaps they are on senior status: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senior_status https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senior_status
  - jhayward 10y ago
    No, they both show as retired from the court. They're both in private practice now.
kazinator 10y ago
It is more than shady; it looks like glaringly unethical behavior. The nepotism and conflict of interest are completely clear.
notyourwork 10y ago
> This guy doesn't live in East Texas. However, the dad lets these stupid cases into the town to bring business to his son. Really shady. How is this not legally considered a conflict of interest in cases where the judge had relation to one side of the case? I don't know much about the law system but I would assume their are provisions in place to prevent these types of conflicts.

InvisibleCities 10y ago

> The gist behind this case is that the Judge's son owns patent law firm in East Texas where they often represent both sides. Isn't this a blatant conflict of interest? If this isn't grounds for disbarment, what is?

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
mfoy_ 10y ago
Maybe the firm doesn't represent both sides simultaneously. Maybe they usually represent the patent troll, but if someone needs a patent troll defense lawyer they'll do that too. Basically, as long as patent litigation is in town, business is good.
- mikeash 10y ago
  That helps, but the judge working cases his son's law firm also works is pretty bad too.
  - mfoy_ 10y ago
    Oh absolutely. The judge is entertaining all those patent cases simply because it's good for his son's law practice. Unacceptable.
    - blueblob 10y ago
      IANAL but according to Wikipedia, being related to the judge is grounds for the judge to recuse him/herself from a case https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judicial_disqualification#Applicable_to_most_countries https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judicial_disqualification#Appl...
  - zuminator 10y ago
    To be clear, Meyer does not allege anything of that sort in the clip. He says, "Bo Davis is a lawyer in the Eastern District of Texas that represents patent trolls and their victims. Bo Davis is Judge Leonard Davis's son working a law practice in the very same district in which his father is a judge. So, if Judge Leonard Davis can encourage more patent trolls to bring more lawsuits into the Eastern District of Texas, his son is one of the people that's gonna rack up the billable hours." So there's no allegation that Judge Davis (now retired) actually presided over any of his son's cases, merely that his son stood to benefit from the overall patent-troll friendly climate of the Eastern District court. Not really a clear-cut recusal situation. If anything, the fact that his son's firm represents trolls and victims alike meant there was less reason for a specific bias on behalf of the judge.
    - hospes 10y ago
      >>Not really a clear-cut recusal situation. One of those 3 letter federal agencies, that government spends $billions on, needs to look at this "not really clear cut situation".
      - mobilefriendly 10y ago
        This corruption is a government feature, not a bug. Washington needs trial lawyer money and has had trouble figuring out how to fleece Silicon Valley directly, so trial lawyer patent abuse is a win-win for Congress and the Obama Administration. Remember-- the entire basis of this nonsense is the patent office issuing vague patents, everything is running exactly to plan.
        deleted 10y ago
        [deleted]
    - mikeash 10y ago
      Good points, thanks for clearing that up. The bit about "specific bias" is interesting. I wouldn't assume that the judge is biased for or against patent trolls, but his position gives him reason to be biased for patent trolling, which isn't quite the same. It would be to the advantage of his son to make a big deal out of cases which don't deserve it. Accepting cases about ridiculous patents would do that, as would encouraging trials for patent cases which are obviously legitimate. Whether that's happening or not I have no idea, but he clearly has an incentive to keep things stirred up in this area.
- davemel37 10y ago
  Just to add to this. I am sure the legal community in East Texas is close knit. There may never be blatant impropriety, but no one wants to be on the wrong side of a judge in town. (i.e the Judges Son tries a case with a different Judge in town, but that Judge is buddies with the other Judges.)

phaed 10y ago

Did you even watch the video? He says it right on there.

dang 10y ago
That's true, but please edit did-you-even-read challenges out of your posts to HN. That's in the site guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html. It's enough to just point out what the article/video says, like your second sentence does.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]

joe_the_user 10y ago

It's worse than that. The situation is that with patent suits able to be brought anywhere and brought in East Texas by preference, a significant amount of that areas economy is now based on this racket and so the culture of the area is very oriented towards enable patent trolls, especially given a general contempt of outsiders characteristic of a small town. In the pre-Internet era, one needed to take an unlucky to get murdered or shaken down by the corrupt culture of Smokey And The Bandit style US small towns. The ambiguity of the law and the convenience of entrenched interests now means that It's been going on for a long time. Recent article: http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/How-east-Texas-became-the-epicenter-for-patent-6211845.php http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/How-east-Tex... 2006 article: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/24/business/24ward.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1& http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/24/business/24ward.html?pagew... Choice quote: "'During the TiVo-EchoStar trial, 90 percent of my revenue for one month came from one of the law firms in the case,' said Phillip W. Gurganus, manager of the local 68-room Hampton Inn, where rates run $77 a night." Guess what he'd chose if got on a jury? Certainly a decision that kept business in East Texas.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

Zelmor 10y ago

It's in the US and I find it hard to believe that noone has so far shot these kind of scammers. Aim right, citizen! For the greater good!

julianwachholz 10y ago
Harry Brown lives in the U.K. unfortunately.
SZJX 10y ago
I think that's the typical US for you.

jhayward 10y ago

According to the wikipedia page for the Eastern District of Texas both of the judges he names are retired from the court, one in 2011 and one in 2015. How does he claim in 2016 that these judges are presiding on his case and cases like it?

angry-hacker 10y ago
Well, he did say it has been going on for many many years.
int_19h 10y ago
He got sued in 2012, and it's still going.
MaysonL 10y ago
Perhaps they are on senior status: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senior_status https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senior_status
- jhayward 10y ago
  No, they both show as retired from the court. They're both in private practice now.

kazinator 10y ago

It is more than shady; it looks like glaringly unethical behavior. The nepotism and conflict of interest are completely clear.

notyourwork 10y ago

> This guy doesn't live in East Texas. However, the dad lets these stupid cases into the town to bring business to his son. Really shady. How is this not legally considered a conflict of interest in cases where the judge had relation to one side of the case? I don't know much about the law system but I would assume their are provisions in place to prevent these types of conflicts.