

Ask HN: To be or not to be a consultant in legal case - throwaway133

I've been asked, due to my expertise, to be a consultant in a legal case between two high tech giants.<p>The one thing that worries me is that if I'm a consultant for side A, does that mean that I can never do business or work for side B again (i.e. they would not want to hire me/do business with me since I consulted for the opposing side in a lawsuit)?<p>Is this something I should worry about, or just not worry and take the assignment?
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hollerith
I do not have any experience in testifying (or in finding work as a
programmer) but as a general rule, the people who succeed tend not to be the
kind who worry that they'll get a black mark on their Permanent Record (or on
B Corp's version of their Permanent Record).

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anigbrowl
Take it. You'll be getting the kind of publicity you could never afford.

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hollerith
a lot of times an expert witness makes many times more than he usually can for
the same number of hours, which goes a long way towards mitigating the risks
you speak of.

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rorrr
But side A will always give you work :)

Joking aside, I think it's nearly impossible to predict. I doubt most HR
departments do background checks that thorough, but you never know.

