Best Buy can now add “faking two e-mails and a memo” to its list of legal problems. A lawyer working for the company confessed his indiscretion, potentially putting Best Buy on the hook for millions of dollars in damages in a class-action lawsuit that was filed back in 2003. The plaintiffs claim that Best Buy routinely signed new computer owners up for MSN trials without permission. When the trial period expired, customer credit cards were charged. Microsoft is also a party to the case, as the plaintiffs allege that it failed to act after receiving numerous complaints.
Faking evidence doesn’t sit well with judges, and the judge in this case might simply issue a default judgment against Best Buy. If that happens, the company would owe millions of dollars to the affected class, and Microsoft would be off the hook.
| I certainly wouldn’t want to be in this lawyer’s shoes. What was he thinking? |
| From ars technica. |
Wow, this is huge. Worse than Free Credit Report scam a couple years ago. But I got a class action settlement on that one, guess what it was? 90 days of free credit report, whoop de fucking do. The same with Netflix scam, (2 months free) and the same with Epson empty cartidge reporting scam, (coupon for more free cartridges). These Class Action suits are a joke.
Mark, it is not what YOU got but what the lawyers got out of it by the time it was over. Two empty cartridges to you and 6 million dollars to the lawyers.
1 & 2–sadly you are correct. Our legal system in significant ways is twisted to benefit lawyers, not clients of society.
The case also shows another way this is done–with lawyer misconduct the client is punished, not the lawyer. The lawyer wont be punished unless the client decides to push it. Best Buy is big enough to have a choice, but you and I are usually too tire, frustrated, and broke to correct bad lawyers=====whereas the court system could do it easily, but fails to do so. Shame really.
#2 – Mark, it is not what YOU got but what the lawyers got out of it by the time it was over. Two empty cartridges to you and 6 million dollars to the lawyers.
After taxes and expenses and payouts to all the supporting staff and overhead and bla bla bla… Less than a million on a case that might have taken a couple years to litigate…
Yeah… Thats a lot of money too, but you guys all act like lawyers all live on yachts and snort endless piles of coke off the fake tits of Vegas showgirls.
Lawyers aren’t rock stars and most lawyers don’t make that kind of money, and after the hours of work they actually do, they don’t have that much time to enjoy the money they do make.
I guess my point is that while to me, most lawyers look rich, but in perspective, the money isn’t really that unreasonable.
Does anybody remember the Paypal class action? I got 15 dollars… credited to my paypal account of course. I think it had something to do with paypal using your money without permission and not crediting interest, but I don’t fully recall. Companies are just getting worse and worse in my opinion. Ed’s Blog
That lawyer will be disbarred if this is true.
Lawyer bashing is something invented by right wing talk radio so huge corporations will one day be immune to lawsuits.
You need 2 degrees and you have to pass the Bar and ace the LSAT to be a lawyer. I’d say those sort of credentials deserve some money.
If these armchair philosophers want to get rid of lawyers it’s fine by me. I’m 6ft 3 inches, weigh 240 pounds, work out most days of the week and have training in 4 martial arts. “Your wife’s cute, go make me a sandwich while I get to know her!” Don’t like the sound of that? Maybe you want lawyers then!
#6 – Thanks for putting it into perspective better than I could 🙂
Come on… just imagine what lawyers have to endure….
In California, which has more lawyers per person than any other state or country, only requires one to pass the Bar (other requirements must be met in such cases but no underlying degree is needed–tho yes, most have 2 degrees).
I think just about everyone bashes lawyers. My favorite “Whats the difference between a prostitute and a lawyer?” — A prostitute will stop screwing you when you die. But you have identified a motivation for many who dislike the role lawyers play. Shakespear said much the same?
No one mentioned or implied getting rid of lawyers–but rather that in class actions, the lawyers get the lions share of money. Thats works in some litigation, not at all in others. Thats ok as the theory is to punish the wrongdoer rather than reward the victims. Its rough.
Why you would force yourself on a woman, I don’t know. But in such situations, a cop or a gun is a better resource than a lawyer.
Most so let the abuse being discussed be ignored. Only fools the foolish.
You’re right. This lawyer might get disbarred by the system without the client pushing too hard—but most likely, they will atleast have to file a complaint. Nothing is automatic–ie, again, the judge/court system will initiate nothing.
bobbo: Without lawyers who’s the cop? When should you use the gun? The answers are everybody and all the time.
Oh please #6, if you came after my wife, the only thing impressive about your 240 lbs. is that you might leave a dent on the floor after being tasered.
jz: With an analysis like that you’d probably never understand why we need lawyers.
I think this says something about how as people we have come to embrace “the end justify’s the means” cheating,fraud,coverup,all go with big business now. This is how business is done these day’s. Sad isn’t it?
One bad lawyer doesn’t make them all bad. No more then one bad cop makes all cops bad, or a bad politician makes all politicians bad, contrary to what a lot of whiners claim.
“With an analysis like that you’d probably never understand why we need lawyers”
Wrong, my brother is a lawyer. I know all about why some are needed. But there are way too many and there is a faulty system. He just told me today about one lawyer who was so abusive he used to take depositions that lasted a week. And what is this laywer doing now? He is a federal judge with a lifetime appointment and is just as abusive as a judge.
If the amount of lawyers were directly related to a reduction in crime,
our crime rate should be the lowest in the world So basically, your analogy was illogical, flawed, and it was an attempt to induce fear. In other words, it was the exact kind of statement I would expect from a typical lawyer.