Griever/Messages for Defendants

Staddon vs. Griever: Messages for Defendants

In the past I have attempted to convey bits of information to the Defendants by "going through channels" (e.g. suggesting to my lawyer that she convey them to the defending attorney to convey to them), but that doesn't seem to work very well.

Maintaing a list of such things here opens up two other possible avenues of communication:

• I can bring them up in mediation, if it seems appropriate
• The Defendants (or their attorney) might read this page (or possibly it will be brought to their attention by a third party)

Trivia

I still have several items which somehow ended up in my possession; please remember to ask for these before the mediation adjourns:

• Lynne's 45 RPM recording
• A couple of Bubba's CDs
• An expired Georgia driver's license of Lynne's

I brought them with me to the previous mediation session and showed them to the mediator, but they got overlooked in the rush at the end of the session.

Legal Matters

(I may or may not bring up these items at the next session, depending on the situation.)

We ended the last session with an agreement that I would produce an accounting (henceforth "sales accounting") showing what RDA would be owed were they to be credited for a share of sales through The Red House Store / vbz.net (henceforth "The Store") under the system described by Lynne; in return for this, Lynne will produce an inventory of all vbz merchandise (i.e. merchandise paid for by any of the Defendants with the intention of selling it in The Store) remaining in their possession.

• To all parties, regarding the sales accounting:
  1. It was stated that Defendants had not yet seen a sales accounting. It is not true, however, that I had not produced one; I had done so, and it was included in the list of Documents Available for Inspection Online (see "Detailed Accounting of Sales") as early as September 21, 2005. It remains at [ http://www.hypertwins.org/files/rh_sales/ ].
  2. Now that Lynne has clarified what information she wanted (i.e. an accounting showing receipts and expenses from which to calculate the RDA's share according to the schedule she described), I have produced a slightly different accounting. It is 64 pages long as of this writing and I haven't yet figured out how to format it for the web, but I will be bringing a printout of it to the next mediation session.
  3. This new accounting shows that for the time period beginning with the first known sale at The Store and ending June 27, 2003 (the date when I notified Bubba that I was ending our business relationship), the net balance of sales showed a loss of roughly $9000; RDA's share of this would then be a further debt in the general area of $7000.
  4. As I have said before, I do not believe there was an agreement in effect between myself and the Defendants by the time RDA's merchandise began selling through The Store (for reasons stated elsewhere), and I do not at this time intend to hold RDA liable for this additional $7000 of debt.
  5. However, in the even that the merchandise remaining is substantially less than my best estimates of what I left in Athens, I will be putting in an additional claim for the estimated value of any missing merchandise. (I am of course willing to consider evidence that my estimates should be revised.) The existing accounting assumes that all merchandise will be returned.
• To the Defendants, regarding their strategy: You appear to be taking up a position which more or less diametrically opposes my own (i.e. you are the injured party, and I should pay you damages), but (so far) without any substantiating arguments, much less evidence. I would respectfully suggest that this strategy will be counterproductive for you, for the following reasons:
  1. The longer this case takes, the more expenses I will incur, and I am assessing all my legal and travel expenses to your account. (The no-show for the very first court date, for example, cost you $247.50 at the IRS mileage rates then in effect.)
  2. The longer this case takes, the more evidence I find to substantiate my case, and the more I am able to organize it and prepare for a possible court presentation. Conversely, as far as I can tell, you have no substantial evidence to present in defense of your side, otherwise you would have presented it by now.
  3. The longer this case takes, the more interest will accumulate on your account (the interest for 2005 alone was over $2000).
  4. I think the reason you are taking up this (completely unreasonable and indefensible) position is so that the mediator will suggest a "middle ground" which will be effectively in your favor. This is Moving the Fulcrum and committing the Fallacy of Moderation, and it can only work against an unprepared opponent or if the negotiator is easily misled (neither of which I believe to be true) or as a delaying tactic, which I believe (for the reasons given above) will ultimately be detrimental to you.

Mediation

Finally, I would like to propose that all matters discussed in this mediation be considered non-confidential unless otherwise specifically requested. As far as I know, neither party has any matters relevant to this case which they would consider to be confidential or sensitive, and placing a lid of secrecy on the procedings serves only to stifle outside discussion which might help untangle some of the confusion and "intertwined" (as Bubba put it) nature of our former business relationship.

In the event that the Defendants do not agree with this proposal, I will need a list of items discussed at each session, so that I can keep track of which issues are to be considered confidential. As I do not have any record of the proceedings (as required by the mediation agreement), I am otherwise forced to rely on my memory of which items have been brought up solely in mediation (and are thus confidential) and which have been brought up elsewhere (and thus are not).