At 17:02 +0000 2/12/02, Ron Jones wrote:
After five months of banging my head against a brick wall, I'd given the City Solicitor a deadline of last Friday to respond to my claim and threatened to take my case to a solicitor if he didn't. Amazingly, he sent me an email this afternoon offering me �2000 - "...in full and final settlement of the claim you have made against the Council. The offer is made entirely without prejudice and without any admission of liability."
Don't be dispirited - this is real progress & you are probably doing as well as you could expect. Now that they've accepted that they owe you the only argument is how much. A firm of solicitors with plenty of experience in IP law will recover far more for you than the extra that they cost over a general high street firm.
The council will say that your claim is of little value, unfair & baseless. They'll stall & wriggle & probably lie a bit (usually badly). They see that as their job protecting the ratepayers money. Just ignore all the nonsense & move steadily forwards. When they get to the doors of the court they'll just roll over.
I think you should use one of the firms mentioned earlier but lawyers need constant attention. Keep on the case, chase them up every few weeks feed them with info on the value of the infringements, other cases & the amounts settled for etc. The lawyers can give good haggle & pressure, they know the system & legal methods but it's up to you to throw the coal on the fire & poke frequently!
David Hoffman
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