[tannhauser23]

This shows that SimulaVR is run by a bunch of children. Every subpoena says this, but you work with the attorneys to figure out the time and manner that works best for the deposition. I routinely flew thousands of miles to do depositions in places that worked best for the deposed.

And complaining about how the subpoena's asking for tons of documents. Again, every subpoena does this; you have to negotiate with the attorneys on the other side to figure out what they actually want. If SimulaVR was suing Meta, then yeah, Meta will play hardball. But they're a third-party here - chances are, attorneys for Meta are looking for very specific things (namely, economics to support Meta's arguments about the VR market) and SimulaVR will be able to negotiate a way to provide that info without turning their company inside and out.

And if you are asking WHY SimulaVR should be required to provide ANY info at all... well, that's the American legal system. Courts and parties have broad power to obtain evidence from third parties.

Basically, SimulaVR needs to grow up and hire lawyers to handle this.

[nirvdrum]

I'm not typically one to point at the HN guidelines, but you could have made your points and been informative without the insults. It's not helping anything and leading to otherwise unnecessary defensive back-and-forths.

[jolmg]

> This shows that SimulaVR is run by a bunch of children [...] SimulaVR needs to grow up and hire lawyers to handle this.

It wasn't SimulaVR who responded to you, so why respond by insulting SimulaVR for the comment of someone else? They've already got legal counsel:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33111249

All SimulaVR did in their blog post is state the facts. They haven't refuted the point you said, and may be already looking into that.

[Huh1337]

So what if they don't have the funds? What if they have only so much for this but then have to close the business down because of it? It's a small startup.

[tannhauser23]

You. Work. With. The. Attorneys.

Why is this so hard to grasp. This subpoena is to get certain market information. SimulaVR can negotiate with Meta to provide the information in a way that's not super burdensome for them. I did this all the time when I was a lawyer.

SimulaVR is a FRIENDLY WITNESS for Meta, since they can presumably provide evidence that Meta operates in a competitive VR market. This means Meta's lawyers will be very accommodating to get the info they need.

And yeah guess what, you need to hire lawyers from time to time when you run a business. Just like you need to hire accountants. It sucks but that's how things are.

[jonas21]

Judging by the responses in this thread, it seems like many folks on HN have never worked with an attorney before (which isn't too surprising).

Do you have any advice on how to find a competent attorney with reasonable fees who can do the specific work that you need done? The one time I had to do this for my business on short notice, I used Yelp and Google, and it was somewhat disastrous. I think it would be really helpful for me, and a lot of other folks, to know the right way to do this.

[tannhauser23]

Unfortunately I think word of mouth is the best way to find good attorneys. Ask people who run similar businesses as you who they use? If there's a chamber of commerce in your city or town, you could ask them for references.

[alain94040]

I'll chime in to say that I was very happy with @grellas's firm in Silicon Valley. I found them the right mix of startup-friendly and competent in tech issues. (grellas.com).

[jonas21]

Thank you!

[st3fan]

Haha friendly witness. Please hand over your current and future business plans over. What could possibly go wrong. Does nobody here see how that could backfire with Meta having such insight on your business?

[gbasp]

If Meta is so friendly they should pay the legal fees for the lawyers that they're forcing Simula to hire.

[Huh1337]

Lol, you mean trusting Meta's people? That's insane.

All the accounting you need to do at the beginning of your business can be done by yourself, or very cheaply. Fighting Meta's claim to your business secrets is not going to be cheap.

[sroussey]

You charge them time and materials, and cap it. Or ignore it. Best to just write back that they are too small, no revenue, no funding.

Ignore the tone of these things. Legal is commanded to write in this manner.

[caslon]

Simula isn't even an American company.

[Brian_K_White]

So what if they are children? Fuck children?

They received a letter that looks important and official to them, and looks to them like something they have to comply with.

Are you giving legal advice to ignore letters from lawyers?

[wtetzner]

> Are you giving legal advice to ignore letters from lawyers?

The only advice I saw them give was to hire lawyers to help them deal with it.

[Brian_K_White]

They called them children and by inference incompetent to operate a business, because they took what the letter says at face value.

My question is a logical extension of that.