Led by Mr. Monteverde, Faruqi & Faruqi has used the reforms to file complaints — and extract settlements — from corporations by suing them over pay-related matters.
Trolls can buy technology patents for as little as a dollar, then use the patents to extract settlements from well-funded companies.
Or to extract settlements from little guys with the threat of astronomical legal costs.
Indeed, extracting settlements is one of the points of building a fearsome reputation through a few wins in court.
And yet, I have also seen situations where accusers have been willing to lie in order to manipulate the system to extract a settlement.
After paying the lawyers who helped it extract its settlement from Research in Motion, NTP may use its windfall to pursue an appeal at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, CNet News.com reports.
If anything, the S.E.C. might be criticized for being too aggressive, using its considerable power to extract a settlement in a case whose weaknesses, if it finally goes to trial, will probably become readily apparent.
Citing the Invictus memo, Judge Lewis Kaplan of the Southern District of New York argued that the plaintiffs were seeking to use a "worldwide, full-court press" to extract a settlement against a company of considerable importance in providing energy supplies to the United States economy.
The securities raid follows a strategy developed by attorneys general over the past decade: Target an unpopular industry like tobacco or a company like Microsoft, team up to file lawsuits, and extract a settlement.
Despite this pseudo-plaintiff having never sought representation, the law firm can now proceed with seeking to extract a settlement from the opposing side.
