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Great response to the noise, I'm glad Tesla is getting out in front of this. This part struck me as important: "The trial lawyer who filed this lawsuit has a

Great response to the noise, I'm glad Tesla is getting out in front of this. This part struck me as important: "The trial lawyer who filed this lawsuit has a long track record of extorting money for meritless claims and using the threat of media attacks and expensive trial costs to get companies to settle. At Tesla, we would rather pay ten times the settlement demand in legal fees and fight to the ends of the Earth than give in to extortion and allow this abuse of the legal system" There are bad actors out there who will fan the flames of the outrage machine for their own selfish ends. Jumping to conclusions based on hearsay and accusations is what they want, not what is reasonable.

lovich 9y ago
It's just one sides statement. Another view of their desire to "...pay ten times the settlement demand in legal fees..." is that they will use their corporate coffers to bury the plaintiff in paperwork. Less loved companies like BP or Walmart would certainly get accused of doing so, even if they said they were preventing an "...abuse of the legal system"
- thephyber 9y ago
  Agree with this. It's important to realize that this is Tesla's PR team is fighting in the court of public opinion against this attorney that is gathering a lawsuit against them and anyone else that is using this event to spin some anti-Tesla news. If a company can get some great mileage out of creating a better narrative, they have a shot at much better leverage before/during any potential trial. I'm not making any judgement about Tesla (certainly better than post-Deepwater BP) or the lawyer, just saying it's a matter of perspective and incentives.
b3lvedere 9y ago
A big part of me is very happy that they would "fight to the ends of the Earth", but then again i'm also very sad that the only ones that can actually do that are the ones with a huge amount of money at their disposal.
- Cthulhu_ 9y ago
  You mean the only ones that can; for every party that is able to fight, there's ten if not a hundred that simply can't fight back and are forced to settle. See also the RIAA / MPAA lawsuits over the odd downloaded mp3, and the patent trolls which Newegg fights against in courts.
  - b3lvedere 9y ago
    Yes. My apologies for any misunderstanding on my side. What i meant is that i'm very happy Tesla has a policy to rather fight than ever give in. I'm sad that option is usually only available with lots and lots money.
- grkvlt 9y ago
  What's interesting is that they are basically saying 'we are big enough and rich enough that trying to sue us is pointless if you are poor, because we can always outspend you ten to one' while still making it seem like a good thing, when other large corporations do the same, is perceived as a bad thing! In this case however, they seem to be doing the right thing, which is good, obviously.
  - b3lvedere 9y ago
    I agree completely. It's a real shame modern justice is still pretty connected to status and wallet.
watwut 9y ago
That would describe just about any trial lawyer. Expensive trial cost is kind of build in property of the system, there is no trial layer able to make it cheap.
gist 9y ago
> The trial lawyer who filed this lawsuit has a long track record of extorting money for meritless claims Not independently verified I would imagine. > At Tesla, we would rather pay ten times the settlement demand in legal fees and fight to the ends of the Earth than give in to extortion and allow this abuse of the legal system Sounds high minded but actually just a practical strategy to fend off future lawsuits. Has nothing to do with fighting the good fight or defending liberty justice and all.

lovich 9y ago

It's just one sides statement. Another view of their desire to "...pay ten times the settlement demand in legal fees..." is that they will use their corporate coffers to bury the plaintiff in paperwork. Less loved companies like BP or Walmart would certainly get accused of doing so, even if they said they were preventing an "...abuse of the legal system"

thephyber 9y ago
Agree with this. It's important to realize that this is Tesla's PR team is fighting in the court of public opinion against this attorney that is gathering a lawsuit against them and anyone else that is using this event to spin some anti-Tesla news. If a company can get some great mileage out of creating a better narrative, they have a shot at much better leverage before/during any potential trial. I'm not making any judgement about Tesla (certainly better than post-Deepwater BP) or the lawyer, just saying it's a matter of perspective and incentives.

b3lvedere 9y ago

A big part of me is very happy that they would "fight to the ends of the Earth", but then again i'm also very sad that the only ones that can actually do that are the ones with a huge amount of money at their disposal.

Cthulhu_ 9y ago
You mean the only ones that can; for every party that is able to fight, there's ten if not a hundred that simply can't fight back and are forced to settle. See also the RIAA / MPAA lawsuits over the odd downloaded mp3, and the patent trolls which Newegg fights against in courts.
- b3lvedere 9y ago
  Yes. My apologies for any misunderstanding on my side. What i meant is that i'm very happy Tesla has a policy to rather fight than ever give in. I'm sad that option is usually only available with lots and lots money.
grkvlt 9y ago
What's interesting is that they are basically saying 'we are big enough and rich enough that trying to sue us is pointless if you are poor, because we can always outspend you ten to one' while still making it seem like a good thing, when other large corporations do the same, is perceived as a bad thing! In this case however, they seem to be doing the right thing, which is good, obviously.
- b3lvedere 9y ago
  I agree completely. It's a real shame modern justice is still pretty connected to status and wallet.

watwut 9y ago

That would describe just about any trial lawyer. Expensive trial cost is kind of build in property of the system, there is no trial layer able to make it cheap.

gist 9y ago

> The trial lawyer who filed this lawsuit has a long track record of extorting money for meritless claims Not independently verified I would imagine. > At Tesla, we would rather pay ten times the settlement demand in legal fees and fight to the ends of the Earth than give in to extortion and allow this abuse of the legal system Sounds high minded but actually just a practical strategy to fend off future lawsuits. Has nothing to do with fighting the good fight or defending liberty justice and all.