At the last minute and just days before the trial, my new lawyer Kovsky managed to wrestle a smoking gun document from Standen's accountant. In it, Standen admitted everything I'd said for the past three years.
I stared at the black and white printout in front of me. The 1/3 ownership, my split which only allowed deductions for technical running costs, the promise of a 1/3 lifetime ongoing share. He even shared the dynamics of our work relationship. I couldn't have summed it up so succinctly myself. It took me three years to get to this point. I saw the death of my mother and the deterioration of my health. I had to laugh otherwise I would cry.
By law, this document should have been revealed earlier during the disclosure phase. But not only did Standen fail to disclose it but his accountant also failed to do so when I made the request to them as a Litigant in person. This in itself is quite dubious and had I a more aggressive lawyer, they may have pushed for some kind of serious charge against my opponent and his accountant. I would've liked that.
But I guess that's just something lawyers don't do when you're on a mere paupers CFA(Conditional Fee Arrangement).
Hiring a No Win No Fee lawyer is sometimes like jumping from the frying pan into the fire. The problem with these desperado deals is your lawyer has little interest in getting you the best outcome. Instead, it is in their interest to pressure you into a quick settlement. The goal for them is simple;
"How can we do the absolute least work for the largest possible payment in the shortest periods of time?"
Therefore the outcome was poor. If you count the 5 years working hard on the site plus the 3 years spent fighting the lawsuit plus the 50% my lawyers took, my settlement was less than minimum wage.
More importantly, my lawyers didn't fight for my ongoing share... For at one point in the trial, the judge asked my barrister if we had considered an ongoing share as part of the settlement. My barrister mumbled something about it being "an unsatisfactory solution" or some other legal mumbo jumbo nonsense. Although I sensed that my barrister Blackett-Ord was a decent guy, his hands were tied. Under the rules of the UK legal system, the barrister is given instructions by the solicitor to speak and can not stray from them. Neither I nor my solicitor was allowed to speak. For under UK rules, only a barrister is allowed to speak to a judge in court.
Every impulse in my body screamed at me to say,
"YES! YES! PLEASE MY LORD DEAR JUDGE MASTER BRIGGS THIS IS THE DEAL WE HAD!"
But alas I had to hold my tongue, my breath and stifle my own inner screams.
It's funny how the UK system is seen worldwide as a shining example of a civilized institution.
The trial was held on the 18th June 2010 in the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice in London, England. Judge Justice Briggs ruled in favor of my claim# HC07C0318 proving that I was indeed a partner and not just the "hired" help as Standen had claimed. The winning of this trial for liability as the first part of a split trial paved the way for an out-of-court settlement in the form of a "Tomlin Order".
Some on the web have questioned where to find the trial information online. But UK Civil trials are not automatically posted online. This is especially as ours was a "split trial" settled with a "Tomlin" order. But along with the order, I can demonstrate that I received my settlement payments from Standen on the following dates;
The case name was "Margaret Li Chin O'Leary vs Julian Standen". My solicitor was Joseph Kosky of Rochman Landau LLP (now with Greenwoods) and the barrister representing me was Mark Blackett-Ord of Lincoln's Inn. Standen's solicitors were Catriona Smith and Colleen Keck, then both partners at Allen and Overy. The good news is I refused to sign a non-disclosure agreement at the cost of a larger settlement.
I did this because I knew that one day I would want to tell you my story.
It's early days for the Gearwarz website. I've just started to flesh out the skeleton so it's a bit "bare bones" and far from complete. As I refused to sign an NDA I will include everything that I am legally entitled to publish. Eventually, I hope my experience and all I've learned will be useful to others who find themselves in a Davey and Goliath-style legal battle where the game is stacked against them.
I am committed to the idea that the UK justice system is in need of reform. For it is the engine at the heart of a society that disproportionately favors the powerful and perpetuates a society riddled with inequality. We live in a world where those who cheat or steal often win. At such times, the only weapon we may have to fight back is our voice. I recently learned that Standen may be trying to block an article about my story that was due to be published on Soundgirls.org. I don't know if he'll be successful in silencing me this time, but he certainly won't be able to silence me forever."
Meg Lee Chin - 2021