Reply to: Legal threat from last client...

[BlasterBates]

If I remember correctly, isn't this the project that keeps track of Russian jounalists ?

[csharpcontractor]

Heavy Mob

You can have them for indimidating you, surely. Can't imagine a client of mine turning up with the heavies! Have had a run in with one bunch of a**holes stitching me up on a contract then turning nasty but nothing pyhsical. What exactly did they do?

[AtW]

Sounds like client from hell - hold firm, if the contract was time based rather than project based then they can't really claim you did not finish anything, they would have to prove you actually did finish but maliciously did not add to version control system etc.

[TheMonkey]

Actual fact sod it. I've got a hell of a lot less to lose than they have.

[TheMonkey]

Hope you have your soon to be required insurances!!!!!!

Time to name and shame I feel. I don't think that is against any laws is it? But then, IANAL...

Not needed. I'm going to fold it next week anyway/ New venture.

[ratewhore]

Hope you have your soon to be required insurances!!!!!!

Time to name and shame I feel. I don't think that is against any laws is it? But then, IANAL...

[TheMonkey]

More news...

Got letter two this morning basically them curling up into a ball and agreeing the contractual and NDA stuff but tagging on some threats on the bottom of the letter:

My first letter to you was couched in the most anodyne terms.

Classic line.

With respect to your suggestion that, had I reported your failure to comply with the NDA to IT Recruitment Agencies it would have been tantamount to slander, I am afraid you are quite wrong. Had you failed to comply with the NDA and I had reported it to other agencies, it would not have amounted to slander as it would have been a statement of fact. For a statement to constitute defamation it must be untrue.

yadda yadda yadda. I did comply with the NDA. No schedule was left for returning property which was returned anyway. Not only that, I didn't want anything to do with that industry sector again anyway.

Now the golden lines:

For example, I understand there may well be elements of your work that you have not made accessible to others and will have to be repeated, resulting in extra costs and delay. We are in the process of assessing your work and will contact you, should it be necessary to make any claim.

Bear in mind everything is documented as far as possible so proving this would be very hard. The entire software solution is dropped into Subversion so full change log is available of all changes I've ever done, which would be admissable evidence in court. There was no agreement of what should be delivered either - it was just use of skills for X months. Not only that, the project was so disorganised and core principles were so volatile that the work would remain perpetually unfinished.

Oh just to add, I provided their entire software environment (SVN/Gemini/CCNet etc) so that it was fully audited, tracked and documented and did a lot of stuff outside the scope of the contract to help their insane paranoia!

Lovely people.

[MarillionFan]

You have to be careful. The same happened to Milan. The client had part of his brain removed and now he changes tapes for a living. God knows what will happen if they decide to do that as well, he had have about a limited capacity of usefullness as Sasguru.

[AtW]

They would have hard time proving that NDA was broken after contractor just finished contract and did not renew - in any case a UK court would require evidence that actual losses were incurred, very hard thing to do - it is easier for time sensitive stuff like say product specification that you get to know as a magazine reviewer but you can't publish the stuff before certain date.

[Xenophon]

Any news TM?

[tim123]

Coke secret is protected in the USA is not it?.

Yeah, by virtue of the fact that all the employes who know it, have signed the NDA. There isn't a line in the constitution that makes it a secret.

Courts fraun on indefinite one sided terms .

I'm sure that the company will sign your NDA if you gave them one. What secrets are you taking to the party?

It's not very hard sticking to the terms of an NDA. It only stops you from doing something that you couldn't have done if you never worked for that company. You don't have to keep secret knowledge that you could have acquired any other way.

proving breach of NDA is not that easy either.

Agreed, doesn't make the agreement any less valid.

tim

[AtW]

And yes, the obligation does (theoretically) last forever, and yes, the courts do accept that principle. If this wasn't the case someone would have disclosed the secret 'coke' recipe by now.

Coke secret is protected in the USA is not it?

Courts fraun on indefinite one sided terms - proving breach of NDA is not that easy either.

[where did my id go?]

are they not used to having contractors ?

Is it a small company ?

Is the project going to fail/be late ?


sounds bizzare

[TheMonkey]

It still doesn't stack up, Monkey. Are they seriously saying that the act of you leaving with some information in your head is theft of their IP and a breach of your NDA. What were they expecting, that you would contract with them forever?

Yeah they were expecting that. But they were assholes so I didn't renew.

Think of that film "The Firm"

[tim123]

That's now the case - courts will never accept infinite NDA, plus if something is already in open domain AND you knew about it from NDA, then it's okay to speak about it or use.

Looks like the client is totally inadequate, good thing you left them.

Did you mean that is 'not' the case?

Actually, in the UK, you don't need to even have signed an NDA to be bound 'not' to disclose secret details, it is part of common law.

And yes, the obligation does (theoretically) last forever, and yes, the courts do accept that principle. If this wasn't the case someone would have disclosed the secret 'coke' recipe by now.

Though, obviously you aren't bound not to talk about something that has reached the public domain. That would be a stupid restriction.

tim