<story><title>More Unfunny Junk</title><url>http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/06/funnyjunks-lawyer-personally-sues-the-oatmeal-creator/</url><text></text></story><parent_chain><item><author>bradleyland</author><text>Watching this situation unfold is especially poignant for me. I&apos;m also being sued personally -- despite my acting within the confines of a corporation -- by a lawyer working on contingency. Suing someone personally is one of the least scrupulous things that these litigious assholes (lawyers like Carreon) do. They do it because it&apos;s unnerving. Everything you have, plus anything you do in the future is put on the table, and clawing it back off of the table is expensive and difficult. It&apos;s a shake down, plain and simple.&lt;p&gt;Reading all the comments on HN is such an emotional roller coaster for me. Prior to my current legal situation, I held many of the same view points that I read here; e.g., &quot;A judge is going to throw this out of court! This is absurd!&quot; I&apos;ve heard this same sentiment over, and over, and over from friends and lawyers with regard to my case, but guess what? We&apos;re about 2.5 years in to litigation, and only a handful of allegations have been dismissed. Several personal allegations are still in the complaint (a complaint is a legal filing in civil cases), so I still face losing everything, depending on the outcome of a jury trial.&lt;p&gt;The reality is that judges frequently cannot &quot;throw this out of court&quot; because it&apos;s not within their power. Judges can only rule on the letter of the law, and civil law is written to give plaintiffs their day in court without much consideration for the accused (yes, I&apos;m a bit biased here). It&apos;s disgusting to watch all this play out with other people involved, but it&apos;s gut wrenching when it&apos;s your $100k+ hard earned cash that has been spent fending off this type of bullshit.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>buro9</author><text>Also being sued at the moment. I&apos;m in the UK.&lt;p&gt;It&apos;s only pre-action at the moment, so there&apos;s a chance to still avoid full on action.&lt;p&gt;I&apos;m well aware of how real and serious this is though. That it could bankrupt me if only the slightest thing goes wrong (for me).&lt;p&gt;This is when being a bootstrapped sole founder is no fun... there is no safety net, nothing to catch you. I can&apos;t even afford representation, so I&apos;m representing myself (nightmare!). I&apos;m spending more time reading and researching rather than coding.&lt;p&gt;What I&apos;ve learned most of all, is that right and wrong don&apos;t really matter.&lt;p&gt;If it&apos;s going to go to court, if it involves a jury (the action I&apos;m involved in definitely would)... then all bets are off.&lt;p&gt;And all the while life goes on hold and projects are put on pause.&lt;p&gt;From the outside everyone has their views and express them frequently. This is all detached and partisan though, the reality is that it really can bankrupt you, or takeaway your future, or drain your current assets and reserves. It demands being treated with respect even if you believe your position is sound and the case unfounded.&lt;p&gt;The hardest bit, as you rightly say, is the gut wrenching fear and stress. The way it affects your sleep. The way it&apos;s hard to work or relax because your thoughts are always on the legal action. It affects everything.</text></comment>
<story><title>More Unfunny Junk</title><url>http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/06/funnyjunks-lawyer-personally-sues-the-oatmeal-creator/</url><text></text></story><parent_chain><item><author>bradleyland</author><text>Watching this situation unfold is especially poignant for me. I&apos;m also being sued personally -- despite my acting within the confines of a corporation -- by a lawyer working on contingency. Suing someone personally is one of the least scrupulous things that these litigious assholes (lawyers like Carreon) do. They do it because it&apos;s unnerving. Everything you have, plus anything you do in the future is put on the table, and clawing it back off of the table is expensive and difficult. It&apos;s a shake down, plain and simple.&lt;p&gt;Reading all the comments on HN is such an emotional roller coaster for me. Prior to my current legal situation, I held many of the same view points that I read here; e.g., &quot;A judge is going to throw this out of court! This is absurd!&quot; I&apos;ve heard this same sentiment over, and over, and over from friends and lawyers with regard to my case, but guess what? We&apos;re about 2.5 years in to litigation, and only a handful of allegations have been dismissed. Several personal allegations are still in the complaint (a complaint is a legal filing in civil cases), so I still face losing everything, depending on the outcome of a jury trial.&lt;p&gt;The reality is that judges frequently cannot &quot;throw this out of court&quot; because it&apos;s not within their power. Judges can only rule on the letter of the law, and civil law is written to give plaintiffs their day in court without much consideration for the accused (yes, I&apos;m a bit biased here). It&apos;s disgusting to watch all this play out with other people involved, but it&apos;s gut wrenching when it&apos;s your $100k+ hard earned cash that has been spent fending off this type of bullshit.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>citricsquid</author><text>I&apos;ve seen a lot of comments online talk about how in the US people are very litigation-happy and the law enables it. Does your situation exist because you&apos;re located in the US or is your situation something that would happen anywhere in the world?</text></comment>