The premise of this article is that you somehow have to respond to it which is nuts. If the letter is ridiculous (e.g. citing terms of service you did not sign) then you're better off to ignore it and not waste money on legal fees. Also everyone who suggests getting a lawyer has probably not had to hire one in the past. With very few exceptions they will tell you it "depends" and maybe give you a few legal terms you can google. If you are lucky a good lawyer will give you their opinion on the merits of the letter but many will be so guarded it's not useful.
A C&D costs the sender almost nothing and is not the same as actually being sued. Very rarely are they serious enough to actually file something. If that does happen you should get a lawyer at that point, but doing it before is just a waste of money.
If you have not received a C&D before then the reason to consult with an attorney is to evaluate the risk. A lot of legal trouble arises from assuming you understand something when you actually don't. (Ask me how I know.)
> If you have not received a C&D before then the reason to consult with an attorney is to evaluate the risk.
The poster you are responding to just explained that most lawyers are too guarded to offer a useful evaluation of the risk, thus rendering their advice useless or low value.
You can do it. The basic problem is that you are hiring somebody to do something you don't know how to do yourself. Here's my approach for lawyers or tax accountants, another gloriously arcane field.
1. Get recommendations from people you trust. Talk to at least three people.
2. Pose your problem and ask them what they recommend doing. Do they listen carefully? Have they dealt with similar problems before? Do they present options in clearly understandable language that allow you to make choices? Do they respond to your questions and concerns?
3. Check their rates and ask for an upfront estimate of the hours to solve your problem. Get the best person you can afford. (Think about how much it's worth to you.)
4. Check references.
5. Switch if things don't work out.
#2 is a big deal. Don't be intimidated. This person is your interpreter of the law. If they can't explain it clearly that's their problem, not yours. Keep looking until you find the right person.
Ok, so you get a lawyer, ask their advice, realize it's worthless, and then you... don't pay the lawyer's bill? So now you have 2 legal issues, and no lawyer. Sounds like a worse position than what we started off with.
Signed a legal document in support of an open source initiative against patents that had a section that was confusing and hard to understand. I remember thinking it was probably no big deal and anyway the document was for a good cause.
A couple years later that section had legal consequences almost derailed a major transaction involving our company. We could have avoided the whole thing by checking with our lawyer first. Moral of the story: never sign any legal document you don't understand.
Not responding is also an action. Just assuming it's safe to ignore a C&D without understanding possible risks would not be my first choice. For instance it would be helpful to know if you need to seek out additional legal counsel which is potentially time-consuming and expensive.
Not sure we read the same article. The first point under "Decide how to respond" is "1. Ignore" (although it suggests this is risky if ignore includes continuing what lead to the C&D)
A C&D costs the sender almost nothing and is not the same as actually being sued. Very rarely are they serious enough to actually file something. If that does happen you should get a lawyer at that point, but doing it before is just a waste of money.