

UK judge who issued ruling for Samsung against Apple hired by Samsung - antr
http://www.fosspatents.com/2013/02/uk-judge-who-issued-extreme-ruling-for.html

======
UnoriginalGuy
An expert in intellectual property and one of THREE judges in the appeal.
While it does seem incestuous, I don't know how niche this area is in general.

It is like reading about people jumping ship between regulators and industry,
it certainly seems "wrong" from a common sense perspective but how many
experts are there?

~~~
tinco
I don't think it's wrong at all even from a common sense perspective when you
look at the facts.

If you are a company and you are in a lawsuit you are allowed to call an
expert in to defend your position. Companies always choose an expert who is
likely to agree with them (as do their opponents!).

This guy is an expert in both law and the particular kind of cases. He has
also already shown to Samsung that he has a view on the matters that are in
line with Samsungs interests. As a judge he comes across as a trustworthy
expert.

Why not hire him? And for the judge, why not be hired? The case is done, he's
not likely to rule between Apple and Samsung again for obvious reasons.

------
onemorepassword
On the plus side, unlike many judges and prosecutors in various copyright
cases at least he didn't get on the payroll until _after_ the verdict...

~~~
meaty
Until next time.

------
thorum
I wonder how often corporations quietly let judges know that if they rule a
certain way, there will be a high-paying position reserved for them 1-2 years
down the road...

~~~
daigoba66
Probably not often at all. I don't know about UK bribery laws but that is very
likely illegal both for the corporation and the judge.

~~~
SEMW
> I don't know about UK bribery laws

As of 2010, more or less the toughest in the world:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bribery_Act_2010> (which has been criticised as
going too far for effectively criminalising e.g. corporate hospitality).

------
coob
He couldn't wait a year to make it seem less suspicious?

~~~
glimmung
What is suspicious about it?

~~~
nym
I scratch your back, you give me job.

~~~
Kylekramer
That will involve the judge also getting two other judges to risk career
suicide in order to get a consulting job for one of them.

~~~
fnordfnordfnord
>risk career suicide

When is the last time a judge was fired or disbarred for failure to recuse
himself over a conflict of interest?

------
monochromatic
This article can't point to any evidence of impropriety, so it substitutes
vague innuendo. Pretty weak.

------
SEMW
The UK judiciary is famous for setting aside judgments when there's even a
hint of the possibility of conflict of interest, certainly compared to other
countries. E.g. the House of Lords in 2000 set aside its own ruling on the
extradition of Pinochet ( <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinochet_(No._1)> )
because one of the Judges was on the board of an arm of Amnesty International,
who submitted an amicus brief in the case. Florian Mueller's 'lax British
practices, this would never happen in the US' insinuation is amusingly
ridiculous.

