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SCO Lawyers Ambush IBM Witness

Mr. E. writes "In a sneaky legal maneuver, SCO's lawyers managed to ambush an IBM witness into having to give a no-holds-barred deposition in front of an unrelated court in another state. After SCO was limited in what they could depose Mr. Otis Wilson about by the Utah court, the company blindsided IBM with last-second subpoenas before a North Carolina court. IBM's lawyer was on vacation at the time, didn't give prior notice to big blue, and now they've won the right to ask him anything they want. They've asked him about whether he has a criminal record, about ex-wives, etc. and they have four hours in which to do so. According to PJ of Groklaw, 'I'd say [Magistrate Judge Brooke Wells] has thrown poor Mr. Wilson to the wolves in North Carolina and told him it's his own fault.' SCO, of course, is fishing for something — anything — they can use to stave off IBM's Motion for Summary Judgement which is fast approaching, and if they can somehow trip up Mr. Wilson, they might be able to do just that. However, there was at least one line of cold comfort in Magistrate Well's order '[T]he court wishes to note that its decision should not be viewed as any type of invitation to reopen the discovery process.'"

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  1. The Monica Lewinski gambit by Catbeller · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Clinton was being deposed on Paula Jones (who later said she was used and dumped by the Arkansas Project actors) and the lawyers got a free pass to depose him on whatever they chose by fibbing to the judge about the relevance to Jones. Lewinsky was only pertinent to destroying Clinton, not the case at hand. They had a party. (And Clinton still managed to dodge the bastards by having the judge rule "sex" as intercourse. Technically, he did not lie. And I'd still like those two bastard lawyers to be brought up on charges for lying as officers of the court. But Clinton got fined instead. A lot of white-hooded types in Arkansas government didn't like Clinton, and got their vengeance that day.)

    There are certain types of lawyers that would be considered dangerous sociopaths in any other venue but their day jobs.