Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

When Do You Really Need a Lawyer?

Posted by Cliff on from the IANALs-need-not-apply dept.

Dr_Harm asks: "I recently had the misfortune to encounter a CEO who had just received the Klez virus. Apparently, he believed the 'From:' header and accused me of not only authoring the virus, but deliberately and maliciously targeting him and his organization. Normally, clueless people like this don't bother me, except he was inclined to sue me and report me to the FBI. Of course, he's got more money and lawyers than I do, and could probably have made me miserable even though I'm completely innocent... but it raises the question: How do I know when I need a lawyer?"

"Clearly, once I've been served with legal papers, a lawyer is necessary. But I'm guessing that there are situations where having a lawyer before it gets to that point would be helpful. I'm interested in some general guidelines for when I should pick up the phone and call a lawyer. I'm especially interested in tales of 'I waited to long and got burned' as well as 'I got a lawyer so early it was smooth sailing'. Like most people, I make a decent living, but I cannot afford high legal bills for very long.

For those who are interested, the CEO in question decided to simply report the incident to the FBI. My guess is that the Feds logged the complaint for their statistics and then dropped the matter. However, the brush with someone with enough money and power to drain me financially has left me distinctly shaken..."

4 of 512 comments (clear)

  1. Need a Lawyer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Yes

  2. Dr. Harm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    C'mon, that sounds like a black-hat's name if I've ever heard one.

  3. Re:If you don't mind me asking... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Klez is NOT a Visual Basic script. You do NOT have to have Outlook even installed to get infected with Klez. Klez does NOT get e-mail addresses solely from Outlook address books. I can get them from Netscape/Eudura/etc mail archives, HTML pages, or any other kind of file. Klez has it's own e-mail engine; Klez does not require to have Outlook even installed in order to mail itself.

  4. Re:Check out the legal FAQ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    You can find another good resource here, particularly good for cases involving homosexual newbies like Malda.