
Chatbot lets you print lawsuit forms for suing Equifax for up to $25k - yegle
https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/11/16290730/equifax-chatbots-ai-joshua-browder-security-breach
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thinkloop
Incredible title. Story:

"state your name and address and it generates eight pages of lawsuit
documentation in PDF form for you to print and file"

"Filing and winning a small claims case takes more than just filling in a
form."

It's a story about a form.

~~~
imaginenore
$25K is not a small claim in any of the states, is it?

~~~
cobookman
IANAL, do not take as legal advice.

When I looked into small claims court, in California. It was any claim <= 10k.
You also needed to legally serve the defended with a non involved party.

That means for equifax, not being a california party, you gotta pay someone to
send docs to their legal representation.

~~~
siberianbear
IANAL too (so this is not legal advice), but I don't think that's hard.
California maintains an online list of "foreign" (out-of-state) corporations
registered to do business in California. [1]

It appears to me that Equifax can be sued in California by serving their local
representatives in Sacramento.

CORPORATION SERVICE COMPANY WHICH WILL DO BUSINESS IN CALIFORNIA AS CSC -
LAWYERS INCORPORATING SERVICE 2710 GATEWAY OAKS DR STE 150N SACRAMENTO CA
95833

[1] [https://businesssearch.sos.ca.gov/](https://businesssearch.sos.ca.gov/)

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RyanShook
Can someone with a legal background explain if this is even worth trying
without clear damages? I'm not interested in wasting breath to annoy Equifax.

~~~
fred_is_fred
Because lawsuits aren't about proving you are right, it's more about having
enough to get the other guy to settle.

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RandomInteger4
"Attorney Scott Nelson, from the advocacy organization Public Citizen, says he
isn’t convinced a chatbot can successfully win a lawsuit."

Gee, I bet there isn't a conflict of interest in that statement.

~~~
SwellJoe
They advocate for consumers, not lawyers, and they're a non-profit. Not sure
what the conflict of interest there is.

~~~
RandomInteger4
Like that other person said, I was just pointing out a potential conflict in
that statement.

The last thing anybody wants is for their profession to be automated away, so
the conflict of interest is justified, but worth noting.

Also worth noting that you can still get paid if you work for a nonprofit.

Regardless, I think we could use a bit more automation in the legal field
given how disproportionately distributed representation seems to be from my
perspective as a relatively poor person.

~~~
SwellJoe
"Regardless, I think we could use a bit more automation in the legal field
given how disproportionately distributed representation seems to be from my
perspective as a relatively poor person."

On that, we're agreed. I was raised with no conception that there were legal
options; attorneys were just too far outside the realm of affordability to be
a thing my parents would have considered under any but the direst
circumstances. I have the same mindset, even when it's been detrimental to my
own economic situation.

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ams6110
Unless you can show $25,000 in damages, your lawsuit will go nowhere.

~~~
ransom1538
US Judges are pretty ruthless too, esp. in their own courtroom -- if they see
this is just a spam law suite / mocking the courtroom I wouldn't be surprised
to see people getting tossed into contempt. If they feel like the courts' time
is being _wasted_ they get _really_ pissed. Don't mess with judges. [i][ii]

[i] [http://www.gainesville.com/news/20170227/gainesville-man-
get...](http://www.gainesville.com/news/20170227/gainesville-man-
gets-6-months-for-using-facebook-live-in-court)

[ii]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssujwibxOlA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssujwibxOlA)

~~~
throwawayjava
I mean, it sounds like he was trying help intimidate already fidgety
witnesses. That's not just wasting the court's time.

~~~
foota
What? I don't have context for what else has occurred, but it sounds like the
lawyer in this case was objecting to the bond that the judge put on his
client?

~~~
throwawayjava
Person A was on trial for (attempted?) murder. Person B posts to InstaFaceGram
that Person A will be free soon. Person B then shows up to court and starts
live-streaming the court proceedings, included of witnesses, to a sketch-
sounding Facebook group.

Person B then lies to judge about what he was doing and so the judge throws
him in jail for 6 months for contempt.

The probable witness tampering probably had something to do with the harsh
contempt punishment.

~~~
foota
Ohhhhh. I see where I was wrong. I had only watched the second reference in
op's post. Thank you for explaining.

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methodin
Lawsuit DDOS?

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artursapek
A la church of scientology

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SubiculumCode
What damages can one claim if one's ID was stolen in the Equifax breach, but
havent yet been the subject of fraud?

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yeukhon
I imagine anxiety and paranoia such as going through statements to ensure no
unauthorized purchases, but that's only for credit card. Identity stolen is
far more scary and will never be resolved in life time. Your social security
number can be changed, but that doesn't guarantee free from all identity
frauds.

I'd like lawyers to have inputs on this.

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heartbreak
The tests for emotional distress are very stringint in every state. Have you
seen a psychologist about your anxiety related to Equifax?

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yeukhon
Oh no, I am just asking from a general legality PoV. There must have been a
precedent on anxiety due to identity fraud. I just want to see if a lawyer can
give two cents on this matter.

I do want to be part of the class action suit, even if it is only $15 (FB's
settlement was $15 for all). The company must paid for its negligence, and I
am happy to take $15 from them.

~~~
heartbreak
No I’m saying if you (the hypothetical you) haven’t seen a psychologist you’re
going to have a difficult time proving that you have anxiety due to Equifax to
the court.

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blondie9x
I live in LA. How can I go to a court in Sacramento?

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ddoolin
Drive, fly, walk, bike, etc. Them's the breaks, the superior court is in
Sacramento. Same, I'm in OC.

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mark212
No, there are actually five superior court locations in Orange County
(Westminster, Brea, Costa Mesa, Santa Ana, and Orange -- but Orange is Family
and Juvenile so it's really four if you want small claims). No need to go to
Sacramento.

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synicalx
Australian here, looking forward to my $25,000.

/s

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mark212
Talk to your member of parliament and get a more consumer-friendly set of
laws.

