Correspondent Greg Waldrop files this report wondering why there is sudden action in Lufkin, Texas:
John, Apple Computer filed suite against Creative in Federal Court in Lufkin, Texas. Today Blackboard (a learning management system company) filed suite against Desire2Learn in Lufkin, Texas. This is big news for those of us in Higher Education as Blackboard has become an overnight monopoly. I used to live in Lufkin, Texas. The average IQ there is lower than the speed limit. Why do these tech companies choose to file lawsuits in Lufkin?
Any Texas lawyers out there who can explain this phenomenon?
Here’s the Bloomberg story on the Apple-Creative back-and-forth lawsuits.
Lufkin, Texas Homepage
I heard the answer a while ago, since the federal courts in and near california are for the most part tied up with other cases, trying the case in texas or other parts of the country tends to speed up the judgical process quite a bit for these companies
Looking at their city homepage – and the fact one of the other cases was filed in Madison, Wisconsin – I was wondering if it had an open docket…
Large jury awards didn’t seem to be an issue.
Either a) docket is not as full, b)feel like they have a better chance at gettign a judge that will agree with them, C) think they have a beter chance of getting a Judge they can “convince” to agree with them D) a combination of the before mentioned
I am going to hazard a guess that Apple is just messing with Creative, not forum shopping. From Bloomburg:
If Creative was steamed about the Wisconsin filing, its burning about the one in Texas.
It’s probably a lawyer thing, once the legal types take over the principals tend to lose control of all the manueverings.
Since there is already a pending case in California then it behooves me why Apple would want to open additional claims in other jurisdictions. I would think they would be declared frivolous and tossed out.
What will happen to Apple if Creative prevails and the iPod is stopped? How much will Creative want to allow Apple to continue selling them. Would iTunes also be affected?
I’ve heard that Texas is a “lawsuit friendly” state. Not sure what that means… maybe i need to go out to eat and burn myself on something…
my world history teacher was from lufkin 😮
from what i hear from them they don’t even know what internet is :!
You are obviously are not a lawyer, H. Fusion. Where a case is filed has absolutely nothing to do with the merits. A frivolous case is one that is deficient in regard to substantive issues. The remedy for filing in a far away jurisdiction just to harass the other side is to remove the case to a more convenient jurisdiction. In a situation like this one, the cases will probably be consolidated in California.
As for the merits, Creative has about as much chance of winning as you do of sprouting wings and flying. The request for an injunction? Will not happen in this universe. Little chance in an alternative reality, either.
Having lived in Lufkin, I think it is probably the freed up docket as well. I would add that Mr. Waldrop needs to speak for himself however regarding the IQ thing. And Patrick Yan, yes, we know what “internet is”. I’ve read Dvorak since the Amiga years and used the internet since it was available, browsing it on my Amiga before pc’s were even tolerable. Please speak for yourselves, you don’t know everyone in every city. Judging from Waldrop and Yan’s comments, their IQ’s seem to be lacking some critical elements themselves. Namely generalizing whole populations based on their own limited experiences.
it’s most likely free docket space. California courts are so overloaded with civil actions it could be years before they get even close to a verdict.
I thought the Feds. passed an anti-shopping law on class action suits, where there is a possibility of large JURY awarded payouts.
I seriously enjoy the “most likely” and “I think maybe” and “it could be that” BUT surely there is an expert who isn’t speculating and actually knows the reason — as in “knows.” Guessing is not what I’m looking for. My kids do that too. Not that some speculation is not interesting, as I do it myself. But what do the experts know.
You people in Cali are so smart with your iPods, Google watches, and electric cars. I just feel so belittled by it all.
And while John shops around for the skoop, for free, instead of traveling to Lufkin himself like a good journalist would do, I will go back to making my black coffee and contemplate my stupidity in silence.
#9, Podesta, True I am not a lawyer. I do understand that to bring an action in Federal Court at least one of the parties must be located in that district. Second, if an action has already been tried OR the same or closely related issues are being tried in another court then the same issues may not be taken to another court. It is that light that I used the word frivolous.
A frivolous suit is one without any legal merit. In some cases, such an action might be brought in bad faith for the purpose of harrassing the defendant. In such a case, the individual bringing the frivolous suit might be liable for damages for malicious prosecution.
http://www.answers.com/topic/frivolous
If you want a more narrow definition then answers.com I have no objection.. If you wish to clarify I would appreciate it.
Thank you for the correction.
This article linked here applies to Marshall, TX, but the reasoning may be the same
15 Good find, James
…and Wisconsin are reportedly now promoting their patent-adjudicating abilities.
Interesting that one of the previous suits was filed in Wisconsin…
Are they looking for a Judge who’ll “Get ‘r dun!”?
Excellent indeed. Does anyone read that blog? He has one comment.