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> their lawyers started coming after me with a cease and desist for something I wasn't even going to do, costing me thousands of dollars to deal with (as their

by htrp 5y ago

> their lawyers started coming after me with a cease and desist for something I wasn't even going to do, costing me thousands of dollars to deal with (as their lawyer knew to directly contact my lawyer, making it harder for me to avoid any costs). Why would Snapchat's lawyers go directly to your lawyers on this one? And how would that cost you legal fees. Wouldn't your lawyers need your sign-off to bill on any projects that they are to undertake?

saurik 5y ago
Snapchat's lawyers actually knew my IP lawyers from a prior issue (which wasn't actually related to Snapchat). (And it isn't even that strange, btw: there is actually a quirk of legal ethics that if, as a lawyer, you know someone else is represented by a lawyer, you aren't supposed to directly contact that person without going through their lawyer.)
- tptacek 5y ago
  What kind of retainer arrangement do you have with your IP lawyers where someone can reach out to them directly and incur billable time? I've got a couple different kinds of lawyers, and there isn't one of them you could call up and get me billed for. You might have a reasonable complaint for your lawyers about this!
  - zo1 5y ago
    They're lawyers, so this kind of setup is probably in their agreement already, and thus nothing the person could do. I'd chalk it up as a paid-for lesson and keep an eye out for it in subsequent agreements. Some call me crazy, but I always read what I'm signing before I sign, even if it's something coming from my SO to "just quickly sign", or if it's random paperwork that a teller or person just gives me while saying "sign here and here and we're all done" as if it's the most normal of things and not some super-scary contract where I could be selling my kidneys to a company.
    - ascar 5y ago
      I do the same. Most people really don't expect it, that's how uncommon that is. When I signed a work contract at an university it was filled with legal text and obligations, mostly in regards to expected work ethics. Nothing actually insane I was opposed to, but it was about 20 pages of mostly dense legal text and excerpts from state law I wasn't sent in advance and it took me nearly 2 hours to work through. You would expect everyone to actually carefully read that! It's your work contract and literally law you have to follow! The HR lady didn't expect me to read it and apparently wasn't aware how long it takes to actually read everything, so she ended up waiting 30 minutes before she left the room and told me to tell her when I'm done xD. Later I asked her if it's uncommon and she told me I'm actually the first one to sit there and carefully read everything before signing.

by htrp 5y ago

saurik 5y ago

Snapchat's lawyers actually knew my IP lawyers from a prior issue (which wasn't actually related to Snapchat). (And it isn't even that strange, btw: there is actually a quirk of legal ethics that if, as a lawyer, you know someone else is represented by a lawyer, you aren't supposed to directly contact that person without going through their lawyer.)

tptacek 5y ago
What kind of retainer arrangement do you have with your IP lawyers where someone can reach out to them directly and incur billable time? I've got a couple different kinds of lawyers, and there isn't one of them you could call up and get me billed for. You might have a reasonable complaint for your lawyers about this!
- zo1 5y ago
  They're lawyers, so this kind of setup is probably in their agreement already, and thus nothing the person could do. I'd chalk it up as a paid-for lesson and keep an eye out for it in subsequent agreements. Some call me crazy, but I always read what I'm signing before I sign, even if it's something coming from my SO to "just quickly sign", or if it's random paperwork that a teller or person just gives me while saying "sign here and here and we're all done" as if it's the most normal of things and not some super-scary contract where I could be selling my kidneys to a company.
  - ascar 5y ago
    I do the same. Most people really don't expect it, that's how uncommon that is. When I signed a work contract at an university it was filled with legal text and obligations, mostly in regards to expected work ethics. Nothing actually insane I was opposed to, but it was about 20 pages of mostly dense legal text and excerpts from state law I wasn't sent in advance and it took me nearly 2 hours to work through. You would expect everyone to actually carefully read that! It's your work contract and literally law you have to follow! The HR lady didn't expect me to read it and apparently wasn't aware how long it takes to actually read everything, so she ended up waiting 30 minutes before she left the room and told me to tell her when I'm done xD. Later I asked her if it's uncommon and she told me I'm actually the first one to sit there and carefully read everything before signing.