Am I Foolish, Prideful Or Courageous?

[ReneeIW]

1 hour ago, unworthyservant said:

First is that if there are libel or slander issues involved

Nobody’s talking about libel or slander issues at all. They didn’t mince words in their letter to me.

They are telling me that I cannot publish actual documents that detail actions this particular law firm took. They claim there is a state Supreme Court law that “prohibits” information from those documents from being made public. That is not true, but it was the only thing they could think of.

Basically, they want me to know that they don’t want to be in the book. Having a powerful law firm saying don’t put them in a book is intimidating, but they really can’t do much unless  they go the unethical route and file some type of baseless lawsuit.

The press already mentioned their very minor role in the dispute I was in, but the press didn’t go into detail. In the book,  I go into detail and I’m quoting directly from documents.

Btw, I’m not making any money off of the book. It’s a social justice project for me and a story  I believe needs to be told.

 

[unworthyservant]

1 minute ago, ReneeIW said:

They are telling me that I cannot publish actual documents that detail actions this particular law firm took.

Oh, were you a litigant in any of those actions or stand to benefit from anyone who was?

[unworthyservant]

2 minutes ago, ReneeIW said:

Basically, they want me to know that they don’t want to be in the book

They can't stop anyone from putting them in a book or a tweet or anything else as long as what is put out is either publicly available information or properly vetted private communication that's been obtained legally.(Else every newspaper in the country would be sued into oblivion every week) That usually includes Court actions unless the Court has them sealed for some reason (then comes the question of how you obtained them anyway) or there is a non-disclosure contract in place that the info would violate. Otherwise, to my knowledge anything so obtained and documented is fair game but again, consult an attorney who's experienced with your particular situation with whom you can discuss the details and be covered by attorney/client privilege. 

[ReneeIW]

1 minute ago, unworthyservant said:

Oh, were you a litigant in any of those actions or stand to benefit from anyone who was?

It’s such a long and complicated story(I need a book to explain it all!)  and I don’t want to bore you with all the details. But the short story with this particular firm is that I went to them looking for help because I was being threatened by another powerful firm.

They declined to help me, and then reached out to the other powerful firm that was threatening me to let them know that I had come to them looking for help. They then forwarded all the materials I had given them to this firm and told the firm they would “alert” them if I came back to them.

I filed a complaint with the bar association against them because I thought whatever you gave to a law firm was confidential. The bar association investigated for 7 months and during the course of the investigation they sent me documents which included emails between the two firms. I am quoting from those emails in the book.

They are claiming the state Supreme Court prevents me from disclosing information I obtained through the investigation.

 

[ReneeIW]

2 minutes ago, unworthyservant said:

They can't stop anyone from putting them in a book or a tweet or anything else as long as what is put out is either publicly available information or properly vetted private communication that's been obtained legally.(Else every newspaper in the country would be sued into oblivion every week) That usually includes Court actions unless the Court has them sealed for some reason (then comes the question of how you obtained them anyway) or there is a non-disclosure contract in place that the info would violate. Otherwise, to my knowledge anything so obtained and documented is fair game but again, consult an attorney who's experienced with your particular situation with whom you can discuss the details and be covered by attorney/client privilege. 

You are 100% correct.? What they can do is threaten to file a lawsuit they know is not winnable, but it would cost me a lot to defend against it. In the end I would win and they would have to pay me back for my defense and legal fees, but they would be hoping that I would not want to go through all that in the first place.

I responded to their letter on Friday so we will see what that say. They may just back off because it’s not that big of a deal. What they did was unsavory, but not illegal. Of course they don’t want to be in the book, nobody does.  But at the end of the day, I’m a first time author, so not many people are going to read it anyway.

They may be more afraid of me going to the press with the documents, which I will not do because I don’t  trust the press.  They are soulless vultures.

[unworthyservant]

5 minutes ago, ReneeIW said:

They declined to help me, and then reached out to the other powerful firm that was threatening me to let them know that I had come to them looking for help. 

Did you share details without giving a retainer to ensure attorney/client privilege? If so shame on you, if not sue them for the breach. Again, since it's a prestigious firm I'm going to bet it's the former.  

[unworthyservant]

Just now, ReneeIW said:

What they can do is threaten to file a lawsuit they know is not winnable, but it would cost me a lot to defend against it.

That's an old GC trick that's been used to cheat sub-contractors for years but most reputable firms only stoop to such things if the stakes are high enough to risk the reputation for filing frivolous lawsuits.

[ReneeIW]

7 minutes ago, unworthyservant said:

Did you share details without giving a retainer to ensure attorney/client privilege?

Yup! I was petrified and desperate. Shame on me is right.?

In my defense, I thought because the firm that was threatening me was this other firm’s competitor, they would want to help me. My mistake! Also, I was told by the former Attorney General in my state that if you contact an attorney looking for help, the info you provide them is privileged even if they decline to represent you. 

Anyway, the head of the  other firm that threatened me was fired for his harassment of me and threats. The Wall Street Journal reported on the firing. So in the end, I won  that little battle. So this current firm doesn’t want to be seen as helping another firm whose leader ended up getting fired for threatening me.

Edited September 22, 2019 by ReneeIW

[unworthyservant]

That being the case you have several issues when dealing with lawyers who are dealing with other lawyers and unfortunately they're not all ethical ones. You REALLY do need your own ATTORNEY with whom you have given a retainer (to insure the attorney/client privilege and who is adept at these sort of legal wranglings as there are so many possible issues in such a situation such as you describe.

[JTC]

On 9/20/2019 at 9:38 PM, ReneeIW said:

Today I received a letter  from the most powerful law firm on earth called Kirkland and Ellis. They informed me that they did not want me publishing certain communications. They quoted a state Supreme Court law claiming I was  prohibited from disclosing the information. They are lying about that.

In any case, I’m going to go  forward and publish it. I think the communications would be very helpful to some women in a certain industry and could possibly start a conversation.

Is it foolish or prideful of me to do something a powerful law firm is warning me not to do? Or is it courageous? Right now I feel it’s my duty to put truth out there and to not  be scared. But at the same time, I do have a family that I don’t want to stress out. My husband thinks  it’s interesting info to publish, but not worth it if they end up threatening a lawsuit. I feel as though the powerful will always unjustly threaten people if people continue to back down.

Hi Renee,  First I want to apologize for not reading this whole post. Maybe someone else already covered this. I wonder what those lawyers can do to you? I'm assuming they won't break any major laws, such as having you or your family beaten up. If they would do things like that  I will change my advice. So assuming these lawyers play fair you have to determine 2 thing. I hope you're an introspection person.  I want you to search your feelings and figure out how much of this is revenge and how much is taking the creep off the streets so he can.t harm others?

  Here's a possible scenario to help you answer that question. Let's assume you win the case, he gets time in jail and let's further assume you're awarded a modest money award.    BUT, let us also assume the case took up to 5 yrs to win and in that time, either your husband loses his job or suppose he doesn't like the law case person you become. (I'm thinking the lawyers who threatened you can make him lose his job)   But now it's 6 yrs later and the creep went to jail. This is the question, was it worth it?

   Renee it's normal for you to be angry and even to want revenge. I know this because in my younger yrs I was friends with several women that were raped and/or were sexually abused as children. One of those women even told me she had bought a gun and she killed every man who raped her. Now, I don't believe she did that but I believe she had wanted to do it. That's angry she still was. I also think that by telling me she killed them she derived a little vicarious revenge in the telling.     finallycuufinancial
   I also think the creep who hurt you had to have other victims. your case reminds me of when Bill Crosby was  taken to cort, there's always other victims) Maybe you can find some. Even if you h\ave to delay your case several yrs, I think several women will win easier and it may stop his lawyers from  you.Other than  problems I don't know what the lawyers can do. You have to reseach this also. I know it's normal for lawyers to sdare people, they do thst like lunch..

I'm having word process problems with the P  C olday.