Because the goal isn't to win the case. You don't go to a firm like BSF
because you've got a winning case. You go to them because they'll make it so
expensive for the other guy to win that he'll cave and settle with you to
avoid the expense. When you're playing that game, the strength of your case
doesn't matter because you're not playing to win.
The only way to stop
this is to stop awarding just costs. It'll only stop when the losing side starts
having to pay the winner's fees as well. It'll only stop when the
defendant can expect to not have to bear the cost of defending themselves
against baseless or frivolous claims. [ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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To most of the world, SCO is an obscure footnote on the history of BSF.
Boies built his reputation long ago, and reputations don't disappear
overnight.
In some ways, BSF reminds me of the Oakland Raiders (an
American Football team). Many years back, the Raiders used to be experts at
finding loopholes in the rules. There was no rule against putting a little
stickum on your hands to make it a little easier to catch the ball. One day, a
Raider caught the ball with the back of his hand! The next year, there
was a rule against stickum. They also invented techniques like picking up the
ball-carrier and throwing him over his opponents. It wasn't against
the rules, because nobody had ever thought of it. Now it is. I won't even
bother trying to explain the "fumblerooski" to non-football fans, but suffice it
to say that it's still spoken of in awed tones years later. And is now
completely against the rules. The Raiders won Superbowls exploiting loopholes,
but eventually, they ran out of loopholes, and stopped winning quite so much.
Boies, from what I gather, was likewise an expert at exploiting
loopholes in the rules, but many of those loopholes have been closed, and/or
opponents have learned to prepare for them, and nowadays BSF doesn't seem so
impressive if you watch carefully. But they still have their reputation to ride
on, from their glory days.
And they're still good enough to win their
fair share of cases, even if they aren't performing like the superstars they
once were.
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Do not meddle in the affairs of Wizards, for it makes
them soggy and hard to light. [ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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