

Ask HN: When would you do when a big company "breaches contract" - options

Lets assume you have a royalty and IP agreement on a specific product
with one of the world's two biggest companies (According to Forbes
2010).  You've been trying to come to some sort of IP buyout
arrangement for 6 months.  At the eleventh hour you find out
informally from a mate that they have already licensed that software
without honouring the royalty.  The buyout terms you've previously
said "look perfect" have a clause that renders the agreement "null
and void from the outset" - you haven't signed.  You spend 7 days of
dead wall correspondence trying to work out if they have done the
dodgy. However, very senior management decline to confirm it.
You've spent 7 days trying to find a good law firm that doesn't have a
'conflict' in representing you.<p>Assume:<p>* they played hardball in the original negotiations and took
you down from a fair price of 100 * x to 50 * x and then much lower.<p>* they are in "Fundamental breach of Contract" and you are thinking of
suing for punitive damages (assume this is possible).<p>What is your aim for a settlement?<p>1) Push for a 100 * x settlement.<p>2) Push for punitive damages (i.e. risk going to court) even if you
don't feel you deserve the money.<p>3) Take them for everything.<p>4) Don't play hardball, they'll find a way to screw you.<p>5) Other.<p>Note: You meet with your legal representation for the first time tomorrow.
Since then you've been on your own (whilst trying to find a good firm that
doesn't have a conflict).<p>I'm interested in
getting a feeling for how hard you would push.  My culture is not one
that seeks too much revenge, justice is enough.  Do other cultures
feel the same?<p>What are peoples' balance points between justice, punishment, revenge, greed and renumeration? How would you justify taking more than you actually deserve?
======
markstansbury
Three quick things off the top of my head:

First and most important, you should probably take this post down right now.
Whether or not you have a confidentiality agreement of any sort with this
company, saying bad things about an "anonymous" major player--which could be
just one of two companies--exposes you to potential liability and a headache
that you do not want to deal with. I put no research into this, it's just my
immediate opinion.

Second, ordinarily you cannot recover punitive damages for a breach of
contract. You can recover actual damages and sometimes (rarely) attorneys'
fees and costs.

Third, the size of the law firm is proportional only to the fees you will be
charged--fees that you probably will not be able to recover. More important
that office size and advertising budget, make sure that you get along with
your lawyer, trust him or her, and be certain that the lawyer has adequate
resources to handle your dispute--which sounds pretty basic. You do not need a
firm capable of litigating a federal antitrust prosecution or a multi-party
international-trade dispute. Focus on the lawyer, not the brand.

Good luck.

~~~
options
The style is hypothetical.... I hope. There may be many reasons in this
hypothetical case that punitive damages could be awarded - no details, sorry.
The lawfirm costs in this (hypothetical) case are insignificant - think of it
as your father's lawfirm.

I'm mainly interested in the "Would people push for as much as they can get,
even though they know the fair price?".

