Let's talk about Legal Action for a minute. People like to throw out threats about pursuing "legal action" when they feel threatened, stepped on, or maybe just guilty about whatever it is that they were caught doing and they don't want the world to know. Wouldn't it be best to just have a chat with the person who has upset you and ask them to stop rather than to threaten something you have NO IDEA what you would be getting yourself into? Not to mention cost. The cost of a lawsuit (especially an international lawsuit) would all but devastate a person's savings - - if they had a savings. When people are literally living off the pennies given to them they really need to consider using language less offensive than "I'll be pursuing legal action". It may just be a bit of wholesome and healthy advice, but worthy of taking.
Legal action involves so many things; cause is the main thing necessary. There must be cause or grounds for such movement of the Court. In Johnny Depp's case he had reason to believe he was being defamed by his then longstanding girlfriend, but then again, Depp has deep deep pockets, and the fame that the trial has brought him over the past six weeks is enormous! You can't really buy that type of publicity! It works out for people like Johnny Depp; but that's such an anomaly! We, the average, who don't really have much to gain or lose by moving the Court one way or the other should probably stick to something simply like, oh, I don't know, music, writing, blogging, singing, soaking in the sun with our friends. Let bygones be just that -- gone.
Three of my favorite "legal" words are: Discovery, Deposition, and Interrogatories. I remember the first time I had to type the word "interrogatory" on a pleading. Geez, has it really be nearly 30 years since I've been in the investigatory and/or legal fields of both insurance and corporate law? I guess it has been. Who knew? Years fly by when you're digging up things and learning what you can either for personal knowledge or because you're paid to do it. The word "Discovery" is just that; it discovers literally EVERY LITTLE THING about a person, a place, a thing, the nature of, the underlying cause for the bringing of the cause. How do we discover? We use my 2nd and 3rd favorite words "Deposition" and "Interrogatories".
First, a deposition is something charged with questions and follow up questions, questions that may or may not have something to do with the case in genuine. A lawyer can literally ask anything whatsoever as long as he/she can justify to the Court the reasoning behind the asking, and that reasoning can be as flimsy as paper! It can be something like "I thought it may lead to discovery" or it could be "we think it is relevant to the case" (even if it may not be so relevant, it can stop a case in its tracks when the right buttons are pushed and the one being deposed chooses not to continue in the mandated discovery.) Interrogatories are questions too, but they are written out, asked and expected to be answered in a certain amount of time. If they are answered they may trigger the need for a deposition and that/those deposition(s) could be very very interesting in deed. A lawyer may choose to depose the one bringing the case, and he/she may decide to depose one's family members, former spouses, ex-lovers, mothers, fathers, you just never know. At least being married would save a man from having his wife give testimony -- that is, in America. I don't know about the rest of the world.
Legal Action is not something to be taken lightly by either side. Best to settle before attempting the first movement or motion. Best to mediate if possible. Best to get on with one's walk than to trip over the rocks he/she has set out in front of their own path. PUBLIC POSTING is just that, PUBLIC. Anything written or said (or sang) on the internet is for the WORLD WIDE WEB and subject to being seen, heard, used, criticized, speculated about, and shared - - often shared without permission. Oh, and that's another thing; permission isn't as cut and dry as one may think. There are local laws, state laws, national laws, international laws. Geez....best to just play it safe and accept that when you put something out there it is in fact out there. You can't get all huffy about it when it slaps you in the face or if you weren't expecting it to be exposed. That's called "life" - - it's not always pretty.
One of the best things about Legal Action is that it is a two edged sword. The sword cuts both ways, and exposes both ways. If there is a suit, there can be a counter suit in order to pay the fees, but in doing that of course there are in fact more fees. Best to just live your life in such a way that no one can say anything about you that you haven't posted yourself. That way, if someone REALLY defames you, you have a leg to stand on and you can move the Court through Legal Action. Best you realize that biting off more than you can chew is not always wise - - keep it simple. Maybe take guitar lessons or take a dip in the rustic waters of a foreign country! Live a little, and stop worrying so much about what others think. We're not on this Earth long enough to really form an opinion that matters anyway.
This has been a public service announcement for anyone who is silly enough to think that Legal Action is the equivalent to "Please stop, thank you". Civility is king and it can be queen too.
adjective
- 1.conveying the force of a question; questioning:"the guard moves away with an interrogatory stare"
noun
- 1.a written question which is formally put to one party in a case by another party and which must be answered.
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