At a hearing Friday, PepsiCo attorney Dean Panos argued that Erwin should vacate her prior order because Wisconsin law disfavors default judgments. Panos also argued that since the case had barely begun, the plaintiffs would not be harmed, and that no default judgment can stand if the underlying complaint is defective.
The men allege that Pepsi stole their proprietary idea for purifying and selling tap water, and turned it into the inexplicable success that is Aquafina.
Judge scraps $1.26 billion judgment against Pepsi [Journal Sentinel] (Thanks, Emily!)
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Misplaced Letter Costs PepsiCo $1.26 Billion In Bottled Water Lawsuit
(Photo: marcus_in_ny)
]]>@Inglix_the_Mad: Well, it would require psychic powers to respond to a court order you've never read. Pepsico claims their lawyers never actually saw the court order because it wasn't passed on by the secretary that signed for the letter. Now that they've been informed of the claim, they wish to try the case on merit. That seems reasonable to me...
]]>@coren: In some ways, however, the huge corporation has MORE excuse to misplace the summons. A certified letter to an individual is typically received and signed by that individual or a household member. Sent to a corporation, the summons likely has a much tougher route to get to a responsible party.
]]>Purifying and selling tap water can be considered a proprietary idea?
Can grinding up coffee beans and boiling them in water also be considered a proprietary idea?
Also, Pepsi and their lawyers were arrogant when they failed to acknowledge the suit. The old standby "paperwork got lost somewhere" doesn't work anymore when you're talking billions of Dollars.
]]>@xtc46 - thinksmarter on twitter:
Well, she probably shouldn't be punished. I know its counter-intuitive, but default judgments aren't usually a big deal.
]]>I love the "law disfavors it argument". Those are not solid rules, it is just something a judge can use to reverse a decision he doesn't like. If the law really disfavored default judgments they wouldn't be allowed at all. I did think the case was B.S., but if a huge corporation is arrogant enough to not even respond to a complaint, then they should be hit with a default judgment. And now all that will happen is it gets litgated for the next 10 years, millions of dollars are wasted, and then they will settle and everyone eats their own fees. How about the court disfavoring wasting everyone's time?
]]>Also, best avatar ever.
]]>@mythago: Pepsico and MS are both big companies, but considering pepsico being $96.37 Billion and Microsoft being $253.23 Billion, I'm sure microsoft would've been more at the top of their game at keeping track of pending lawsuits.
]]>And, again, it doesn't really require a lawyer - the motion to vacate is pretty simple in most courts.
]]>Then everyone started yelling.
]]>*Hangs head*
"Okay..."
I mean, I don't sympathize with the plaintiffs at all.
]]>@Esquire99: Same. I just had a default judgment vacated because the papers were served and the hearing happened during a time I was so sick that I couldn't get out of bed (much less, you know, drive to court).
]]>@The Marionette: And through a series of incompetence and big-organization dumbassery, Microsoft doesn't bother to respond to the lawsuit?
]]>How Pepsi was allowed to ignore the suit AND get a do-over is just disgusting.
]]>There, fixed.
]]>If the plaintiffs think they have a good case, they shouldn't be afraid of trying it on the merits.
]]>It's generally not hard to get a Default Judgment vacated unless you walk into court and tell the judge that the only reason you didn't show up was because you didn't want to.
]]>..Sorry. I always wanted to "yell" at a cat picture. Carry on. Happy Sunday.
]]>Default judgments are pretty much universally thrown out just by asking nice.
]]>I'm not saying it was a good judgement, frankly they lost because of one incompetent employee, but still, it just shows that laws don't actually apply anymore to whiny crybabies.
]]>As for the vacation, if someone sues me and I don't show up for court, I'm screwed. Why should Pepsi be given special treatment?
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