More bullying behaviour from Specialized.

[smilingcat]

I've heard Specialized' FB is trashed with hate message.

City of Roubaix in France should sue Specialized for a license fee for use of their name. French government can back up Roubaix. You know bigger fish eating smaller fish.

Thankfully there are plenty of other competitors to specialized so its not a terrible hardship to buy something else. Another thing is at your local LBS, tell them that you are avoiding Specialized product because of their tactics. If enough LBS hears about it, specialized will get the message.

And shame on Specialized for saying how they support the war veterans in one breath and in the next shut one down. War veterans group should go after Specialized for their double talk.

Stumptown bike versus Stump jumper??? really epic wheel builder in Portland versus Specialized epic whatever it was really?

[shootingstar]

I never said free at all, Oak. And I know that this is not a legal aid case --IP law is not legal aid work.

If one follows the discussion among some lawyers in the past few years... on changing their business models.

(I know personally know a person who has a malpractice suit....it was lost after 10 years. She's going to lose her small condo home because of the legal fees. She's a single, divorced mom with 2 children.)

[OakLeaf]

And again, you haven't addressed the comparison ... the #1 cause of bankruptcy in the USA is medical bills. Yes indeed, doctors and NPs in community health clinics work for quite a bit less than concierge doctors do - but when one of their clients needs to go to the hospital, they get billed on the same plan as the billionaires, and if they can't afford their surgery or their MRI or their chemotherapy or their schizophrenia medications, it's just too bad for them.

What "business model" do you envision, where a small corporation's lawyers would do hundreds of hours of work for 10% or less of the price that Spec's lawyers do the same hundreds of hours of work on their side??? Or realistically, probably less than 1%, when you're talking about what a small bike shop can afford? What do you call it, other than "free," where someone doesn't get paid for the work they do ... even if you're saying they should get paid for the first, say, 20 hours of work, but nothing past that? Never mind that even that "piddling" $5,000 would make a serious dent in most LBS's bottom line.

[shootingstar]

You know the profession better than I. I'm not really interested in a pitched battle. I am only aware of the hourly billing rates for a national firm, also global firm (and it shocked me...I worked for such firms. But then, they didn't need to have offices in one of the most expensive areas of Toronto.)

Here's a Canadian lawyer who was also journalist editor for a well-read, cited Canadian national law newspaper for lawyers. Because he has inside knowledge how the legal world operates: http://www.law21.ca/

I did work for a national law firm, where students did do Internet searches this is in the area of IP law....honest it was a way for the firm to drum up wee business with a major corporate client.

Enuff said. (It's not surprising why some lawyers left practicing law...but for a variety of other reasons also.)

Canadian medical system is very different from the U.S. (thank goodness). However catastrophic permanent disability is costly care.

[maillotpois]

On the legal fee thing - most defense type firms are already billing at rates that barely allow a profit margin when you consider the expenses of running a law firm. They are NOT billing at the same rates per hour as the firm Specialized is using is - far from it. I can assure you based on my friends' experience being sued by Specialized that the Specialized lawyers will bury you in work you must respond to. Even a prudent defense lawyer (which I used to be) would have a hard time keeping the total tab under 150k with all of that facing you. You can only cut so much before you run a risk of blowing something because you cut too much.

My friends spent their entire retirement savings defending the Specialized lawsuit. It nearly put the company out of business.

Specialized is really Armstrong-esque in its tactics.

[shootingstar]

Hey thx, maillotpois!

On the legal fee thing - most defense type firms are already billing at rates that barely allow a profit margin when you consider the expenses of running a law firm. They are NOT billing at the same rates per hour as the firm Specialized is using is - far from it. I can assure you based on my friends' experience being sued by Specialized that the Specialized lawyers will bury you in work you must respond to. Even a prudent defense lawyer (which I used to be) would have a hard time keeping the total tab under 150k with all of that facing you. You can only cut so much before you run a risk of blowing something because you cut too much.

My friends spent their entire retirement savings defending the Specialized lawsuit. It nearly put the company out of business.

Specialized is really Armstrong-esque in its tactics.

[smilingcat]

Thanks Irulan for the link. And yes, spread the word buy something else. And when we do, let LBS know why you bought something else. It'll show up in the bottom line.