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In the US, I can sue you just for making this hacker news comment. Doesn't mean I'll make it past the first hearing.

by madgar 10y ago

anotherarray 10y ago
What if this comment hurt you and you had millions of dollars in a legal department?
ab5tract 10y ago
That lawsuit would be in a civil court, with civil lawyers and actual judges. Not a room full of round-robin corporate laywers. My comment was not about whether it would be successful. My question was whether it provided the means to initiate a lawsuit.
- jcranmer 10y ago
  So you'd rather the case be decided by a single lawyer^H^H^H^H^H^H judge than a panel of lawyers. Even in common law jurisdictions, most of these sorts of cases tend to focus on disputes over issues of law (hence tried by a judge), not issues of fact (which are the only issues which proceed to a jury trial). Judges are usually lawyers before becoming judges--that's not terribly surprising, considering that judges are expected to know a lot of legal theory, which is essentially the same training you undergo to become a lawyer. Fearing the provisions of ISDS would undermine the principles of justice means that you would rather trust the judgements of a single, likely overworked, lawyer who is expected to know the entire relevant body of law and case history for his or her jurisdiction over the judgements of a panel of lawyers who are likely to have somewhat specialized in the area of dispute being covered.
  - ab5tract 10y ago
    You have thrown up a false equivalency and are pursuing it in an odd manner. What I would prefer is that there is absolutely zero mechanisms for a corporation to sue a government over "potential lost profits". This is just not at all the same as discussing a potential lawsuit over defamation / libel / whatever "you" would be suing me over a comment for. And, yes, in that case I would still prefer to go through the normal court system with laws written by my legislature rather than a room full of mega corps and trade representatives.
BatFastard 10y ago
In the US, anyone can sue anyone for anything. And if its Federal Court, it can cost a ton of money before a judge ever even looks at it to throw it out.

In the US, I can sue you just for making this hacker news comment. Doesn't mean I'll make it past the first hearing.

by madgar 10y ago

In the US, I can sue you just for making this hacker news comment. Doesn't mean I'll make it past the first hearing.

anotherarray 10y ago

What if this comment hurt you and you had millions of dollars in a legal department?

ab5tract 10y ago

That lawsuit would be in a civil court, with civil lawyers and actual judges. Not a room full of round-robin corporate laywers. My comment was not about whether it would be successful. My question was whether it provided the means to initiate a lawsuit.

jcranmer 10y ago
So you'd rather the case be decided by a single lawyer^H^H^H^H^H^H judge than a panel of lawyers. Even in common law jurisdictions, most of these sorts of cases tend to focus on disputes over issues of law (hence tried by a judge), not issues of fact (which are the only issues which proceed to a jury trial). Judges are usually lawyers before becoming judges--that's not terribly surprising, considering that judges are expected to know a lot of legal theory, which is essentially the same training you undergo to become a lawyer. Fearing the provisions of ISDS would undermine the principles of justice means that you would rather trust the judgements of a single, likely overworked, lawyer who is expected to know the entire relevant body of law and case history for his or her jurisdiction over the judgements of a panel of lawyers who are likely to have somewhat specialized in the area of dispute being covered.
- ab5tract 10y ago
  You have thrown up a false equivalency and are pursuing it in an odd manner. What I would prefer is that there is absolutely zero mechanisms for a corporation to sue a government over "potential lost profits". This is just not at all the same as discussing a potential lawsuit over defamation / libel / whatever "you" would be suing me over a comment for. And, yes, in that case I would still prefer to go through the normal court system with laws written by my legislature rather than a room full of mega corps and trade representatives.

BatFastard 10y ago

In the US, anyone can sue anyone for anything. And if its Federal Court, it can cost a ton of money before a judge ever even looks at it to throw it out.