[Meekro]

I'm as glad as anyone else to see Equifax getting what's due to them, but is anyone else bothered by the surreal quality to this story?

It sounds like the rules and procedures being applied were vastly different than what Equifax's highly paid lawyer expected. Is their $1000-an-hour lawyer just incompetent, or is the pro tem judge here allowed to make up the rules as she goes along?

[avinium]

> Is their $1000-an-hour lawyer just incompetent, or is the pro tem judge here allowed to make up the rules as she goes along?

Neither. It's just typical corporate lawyer arrogance in trying to bully and bluff someone into submission.

It really only works on complete amateurs. Given this guy is running a company whose sole purpose is to finance claims against Equifax, he knows how to deal with them.

All in all,I'd say this is a win for the US legal system. It shows you don't have to be a well-funded professional litigator to get access to justice.

[caf]

I think the attorney might well have been trying to bluff the judge, too.

[anarazel]

> It sounds like the rules and procedures being applied were vastly different than what Equifax's highly paid lawyer expected. Is their $1000-an-hour lawyer just incompetent, or is the pro tem judge here allowed to make up the rules as she goes along?

It might also just be an attempt at psychological warfare. For an amateur to be confronted with stuff like this got to be very stressful. Therefore reducing likelihood of the plaintiff making a good case.

But it might just end up pissing off the judge.

[plorkyeran]

Hiring a $1000/hour lawyer for your small claims case is like hiring an airplane mechanic to work on your car. There's a pretty good chance that this is the first time Equifax's lawyer had ever been involved in a small claims case.

[Meekro]

Any lawyer worth his salt would know that each court has its own particular rules of procedure. If your highly-paid lawyer comes into bankruptcy court and starts trying to invoke procedural rules from juvenile court, that would be pretty convincing evidence of incompetence.

So did this lawyer take on a small claims case without realizing that they should probably read up on small claims rules? Or maybe the judge didn't know the rules either, and just sided with the sympathetic plaintiff?

[onli]

Since the lawyer did not seem to be aware of basic procedures (wanting to have things stricken from the record despite there not being a record) you can assume he just did not read up on the rules.

[dawnerd]

And likely didn't even expect to win since they're paid hourly regardless. Probably was just trying to stretch it out as much as they could. Easy money

[gnicholas]

> And likely didn't even expect to win since they're paid hourly regardless. Probably was just trying to stretch it out as much as they could. Easy money

This loss is a huge embarrassment to the lawyer and his firm. The billings for this case are negligible compared to what Equifax pays to their outside law firm every year. But mostly, this is just embarrassing. He might lose the client, and he'll definitely be mocked by colleagues for years.

[jjeaff]

You would think so. But I have made plenty of corrections on documents supposedly prepared by our $800 an hour lawyer.

[greggarious]

>Hiring a $1000/hour lawyer for your small claims case is like hiring an airplane mechanic to work on your car. There's a pretty good chance that this is the first time Equifax's lawyer had ever been involved in a small claims case.

It's not about the money. It's about sending a message.

[cweagans]

Somebody didn't read the article ;)

[wl]

My experience is that big law lawyers tend to have very narrow areas of expertise. There's not much call for big law lawyers appealing an $8,000 small claims judgement, so you probably shouldn't expect much.

[charlesdm]

And overall a bit ridiculous, given this probably set them back $25k to handle this case.

[helipad]

Is it possible the pro-tem judge wouldn't have known the intricacies of small claims court?

Perhaps the attorney thought they could befuddle both the author and the judge.

[moonka]

>Equifax’s attorney made sure the judge pro tem knew that she wasn’t wanted there.

>“You’ll follow the rules and procedures, right?” he demanded, before signing the stipulation.

>The judge, a lady with all white hair, nodded mildly. “Yes, I follow all the rules of evidence.”

Yea, my guess is that the attorney figured he could bully through and scare either the author or the judge.

[paultopia]

Chances are that the King and Spaulding lawyer has never set foot in a small claims court (or an appeal from small claims court under same rule).

[manigandham]

It's definitely not incompetence. Lawyers at that level know what they're doing. This is just a strategy to rattle the opposition (and the judge). It usually works unless you're prepared or in higher courts with more formality and experience in the room.