A Litigation Odyssey, Part II.

The David and Goliath story doesn't just exist in the Bible.

On March 31, we posted on an epic struggle between a legal layperson on the one hand, and a law firm and its corporate client on the other.

Here's another litigation odyssey. This one involves a Kent-State student grappling with Microsoft and its army of lawyers.

In sum, Microsoft sued the college student for selling its software on eBay. "They claimed he violated trademark and copyright laws by selling two unopened pieces of software on eBay for $203.50." (D. Grollmus, "Kill Bill: Microsoft's Army of Lawyers Was No Match for a Kid from Kent State", Cleveland Scene, Mar. 30, 2005.)

They claimed the student "cost Microsoft hundreds of thousands of dollars in 'irreparable damage.'" (Id.)

They demanded that he hand over his profits ($143.50) and cover the company's legal fees and costs. (Id.)

Without money to hire a lawyer, the student "totally looked up everything", and represented himself. (Id.) "I fought it out of principle", he said. (Id.)

Like the website litigation saga discussed here this week, this suit spiraled into 37 filings. (Id.)

The case just settled. (Id.) Asked if he wanted to be a lawyer, he answered, "Are you kidding? I hate this stuff!" (Id.)

(HT: D. Grollmus, "Kill Bill: Microsoft's Army of Lawyers Was No Match for a Kid from Kent State", Cleveland Scene, Mar. 30, 2005, via Mere-Orthodoxy.)