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FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5

Premium Member

Shows small claims court info; not deal with AT&T appeal

In any case, it doesn't show anything about how he will go about dealing with an AT&T appeal of his small claims court win.

Looks less like a site to help you win in court than it does as a sales pitch for a poker chip customizer kit.

A better strategy - force AT&T to go to arbitration. You have a better chance there(no matter how small) than you do in winning against AT&T when they appeal a small claims court loss.

ptrowski
Got Helix?
Premium Member
join:2005-03-14
Woodstock, CT

2 recommendations

ptrowski

Premium Member

Force them into arbitration? Are you crazy?

cdru
Go Colts
MVM
join:2003-05-14
Fort Wayne, IN

1 recommendation

cdru to FFH5

MVM

to FFH5
said by FFH5:

Looks less like a site to help you win in court than it does as a sales pitch for a poker chip customizer kit.

Good grief. He has two banners, one of which isn't all that big at the top. And they are from a friend's business that get gets a cut of each sale to help with his defense fund (or at least so he says). So he's not a web designer creating a fancy webpage. At least it loads fast so you don't go over your wireless cap.
kaila
join:2000-10-11
Lincolnshire, IL

kaila to FFH5

Member

to FFH5
Let them appeal and spend a dollar to defend a nickel. Which is likely somewhere near a lifetime of revenue of an average customer.
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

openbox9

Premium Member

AT&T is paying its legal team anyway, might as well employ the lawyers to establish a precedent.

vpoko
Premium Member
join:2003-07-03
Boston, MA

vpoko

Premium Member

There's no precedent, an appeal would usually be a trial de novo in front of a low-level trial court (in MA, the state district court), not an actual appeals court that issues precedent-setting opinions.
vpoko

vpoko to FFH5

Premium Member

to FFH5
said by FFH5:

A better strategy - force AT&T to go to arbitration. You have a better chance there(no matter how small) than you do in winning against AT&T when they appeal a small claims court loss.

That's terrible advice and the only people who would give it are you and AT&T. His "appeal" (actually a new trial) would consist of presenting the same evidence he already presented and won once with.
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

1 recommendation

openbox9 to vpoko

Premium Member

to vpoko
Yes, and with a new judge, new court, and new defense, the opportunity to establish a ruling in AT&T's favor increases. What other reason is there for AT&T to appeal a $850 judgement?

DataRiker
Premium Member
join:2002-05-19
00000

DataRiker

Premium Member

Most states do not easily grant appeals for small claims court. I believe California is one of maybe 3 (?) states that guarantees an appeal.

In fact California's defacto appeal means the new trial will likely proceed just like the last one as ATT was not required to show any error in order to get the new trial.

vpoko
Premium Member
join:2003-07-03
Boston, MA

vpoko

Premium Member

I know MA gives the losing party appeal-by-right.
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

1 recommendation

openbox9 to DataRiker

Premium Member

to DataRiker
That doesn't answer my question regarding AT&T's motivation to appeal a $850 judgement if it isn't to change the ruling and start putting a lid of other potential litigation.

vpoko
Premium Member
join:2003-07-03
Boston, MA

vpoko

Premium Member

The motivation is they have a chance to save $850. They'll prevail on appeal in some cases, and lose on others, so overall they will pay less than if they just let the original judgements stand. Unless is goes up to a higher court (at that court's discretion), we're not going to see binding precedent.

DataRiker
Premium Member
join:2002-05-19
00000

DataRiker to openbox9

Premium Member

to openbox9
said by openbox9:

That doesn't answer my question regarding AT&T's motivation to appeal a $850 judgement if it isn't to change the ruling and start putting a lid of other potential litigation.

Its not overly obvious? Its to make collecting money from a judgement as long and tiresome as possible.

Luckily my state doesn't grant defacto appeals so its not an issue. Small Claims court is fast and easy here as well.
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

openbox9

Premium Member

It is obvious and that's kind of my point
wkm001
join:2009-12-14

wkm001 to openbox9

Member

to openbox9
Never underestimate the court of public opinion.

dabble531
@comcast.net

dabble531 to kaila

Anon

to kaila
They need to appeal (from a business perspective - not that I support AT&T) because if they don't, they leave themselves open to the same deal (or a class action suit) from everyone that has the "unlimited" package. I.e., it's not just a nickel (or $850), but $850 * 10's if not 100's of thousands....so appealing against a possible (probable?) future cost of millions makes sense.

Rambo76098
join:2003-02-21
Columbus, OH

1 recommendation

Rambo76098

Member

They don't "need" to appeal, they need to stop being a shitty company.

Xioden
Premium Member
join:2008-06-10
Monticello, NY

Xioden to vpoko

Premium Member

to vpoko
They'll be pushing the binding arbitration clause in the contracts to get it thrown out of court during the appeals.

After that they just have to cite that one verdict to anyone else who tries in small claims court and they save themselves a lot of money, and get to keep the "unlimited" cash cow going strong.

vpoko
Premium Member
join:2003-07-03
Boston, MA

vpoko

Premium Member

The contract specifically allows suits in small claims court.
axus
join:2001-06-18
Washington, DC

axus to vpoko

Member

to vpoko
Yeah more like the lawyers making the appeal are motivated to take a break from sending cease-and-desist letters to people downloading TV shows, and get some extra money for going to court for AT&T.
tcope
Premium Member
join:2003-05-07
Sandy, UT

tcope to FFH5

Premium Member

to FFH5
You do understand that this is AT&T as the defendent, right? As if AT&T has ever made anything easy.

None the less, a settlement won't really do much for anyone but putting a few hundred dollars in the plaintiff's pocket. I don't get the impression he cares too much about the money. Only a verdict and a judges ruling would send any type of message or change anything.