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The fact that we ask this question leads us to asking, “Who is the best person to answer the question of whether it’s a good idea to file the documents yourself
by a4isms 5y ago
The fact that we ask this question leads us to asking, “Who is the best person to answer the question of whether it’s a good idea to file the documents yourself, and if so, how things are likely to go over the next ___ years of litigation?”
And the answer is... A LAWYER EXPERIENCED IN COPYRIGHT AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LITIGATION.
That answers your question for me. In cases roughly similar to this, I have begun with a lawyer. Yes, there are two times I recall where they said, “Do it yourself, but watch out for X or Y, and call me back if Z.” That alone justified what I was paying for the first proper, clock is ticking, consultation.
What happens after the first consultation would depend upon the case.
INAL, YMMV, &c.
- tehwebguy 5y agoIMO it’s also very important to be incredibly hands-on, to manage your attorney after getting them to explain the case to you. When hiring one of the best attorneys to defend the type of action brought I had to be very clear about what they were to do in between our calls (ask the third party to agree to drop it if we get plaintiff to drop it, ask plaintiff these questions, if they don’t do X we will do Y, offer them Z). It was also important to stop them from taking pointless actions that would have cost tons of hours: do not read the discovery (hundreds of pages of details that wouldn’t change things), do not read the third party’s ToS looking for a loophole (another ~50 pages) as the company likely had already spent hundreds of thousands writing it and millions testing it in court. We would have done those things if necessary but they didn’t need to be done simultaneously and the settlement attempts paid off immediately. It was not an IP case and I don’t think it had merit, but it would have likely cost at least a little more (or possibly much, much more) just to find out and I wasn’t interested in finding out. It was not a scenario where some floodgates could be opened if we settled.
- paulryanrogers 5y ago> IMO it’s also very important to be incredibly hands-on, to manage your attorney after getting them to explain the case to you. Wow. So now you almost certainly have to have a lawyer because of byzantine 'tested' language and you have to nanny them to avoid getting soaked for billable hours!? It feels like such a racket.
- Negitivefrags 5y agoThis is true of basically all professional services that you hire.
- a4isms 5y agoA velvet glove around what you just said is that it’s like you are a product owner, and the lawyer is a pure engineer. They are the expert in implementing the business outcomes you want, but you and only you know all the context required to take the tradeoffs your lawyer articulates, and decide which tradeoffs to make.