Small contracts lawyer uses loophole to beat major telco company at their own game by adhering strictly to their contract terms: 'He was exposing them to risks greater than any of them were willing to be a part of'

Author image for Brad Dickson
Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Sep 17, 2024 12:00 PM EDT

There's always a bigger fish… No matter how big or small you are, you can almost take solace in the fact that there's always going to be someone bigger or better than you at something and will soon come to take your place. This is a real worry to the big fish out there who are desperate to maintain their status as top dogfish. In this way, sometimes being the smallest fish is beneficial because all the other fish are so much larger than you that they consider you to not be a threat or even worth their while, not bothering with eating or beating you—especially when you provide some sort of usefulness to them. 

With all this talk of fish you're probably wondering starting to wish that you had some salmon to barbecue or are otherwise wondering when we're going to start talking about fish tacos instead. You might be surprised to learn at this point that the story really isn't about fish at all, and might feel that this entire metaphor has simply been an amusing waste of time. 

But contract lawyers live and thrive in a world of fish trying to eat each other and keep from being eaten. This lawyer knew when to lie low when facing down the iron-clad contract of a major client, a big player telecom company, who they knew was trying to establish standards that would be more than favorable to their needs and desires. The lawyer knew that taking a stand on the terms of the contract would see them locked in a major legal battle in which the telecom company would be sure to ensure their bankruptcy. 

However, years later, when the telecom company had rebranded, the lawyer overheard the lawyer for the telecom company bragging at a private event about how great he was at his job, inspiring the contracts lawyer to go back and dig out that dusty old contract and see just how great the other lawyer actually was, finding a loophole that would be the undoing of his ego.

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    Cheezburger Image 10404963072
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    Retiring lawyer spills his beans L Kinda long with no tldr. This all from memory bases on the ramblings of a dok retiring lawyer about 30 years ago. All mistakes are mine. So I started work in the 90's on the shop floor of a pipe making factory, but made a few friends in
    via necronboy
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    the office. So one year at our End of Year break up party I overheard a story from the corporate lawyer who was retiring on the same day. Someone asked what his most memorable case was.
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    This guy was Grey. Grey hair, Grey skin, Grey clothing, Grey manners. Nothing distinctive about him at all. In fact, at the annual company party known for d✈ng this guy was always sober, but not that night. He was a contracts lawyer, never tried a case, just proofed contracts all day (as far as I know).
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    He's probably dood by now along with most people in this story but no company names as those entities live forever. So, we made pipe. Plastic pipe. Water supply, sewer, electrical, and Telecommunications Duct. We were the second biggest in the market and would swap contracts with the biggest manufacturer as we both bid on supplying the big players in the markets.
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    In our jurisdiction we had a government communication dept which got sold off and became Big Telco along with deregulation of the sector. We supplied green ducting for Telecommunications to Big Telco, lost the contract to the competition, gained it back, etc, life went on.
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    One day a new international company entered our market and started under cutting Big Telco. Let's call them OK Telco. So as things go we lost the Big Telco contract, but picked up the OK Telco contract which was bigger as they had to establish an entire network from scratch. Yay us!
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    This is where Mr Grey enters the story. He was a contracts lawyer, not a criminal law or other specialty, but contract. He gets a "please attend" meeting invite from Big Telco along with a select few from our company. Probably about the upcoming renegotiating of contracts.
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    When Mr Grey walks into the room with his boss there sitting across the boardroom table are Mr Bigshot and several $5-a- word-flesh-eating-attack lawyers. They ambush them with an injunction about using "This Green" (you know, the standard Telecommunications green) for OK Telco pipes and are ready to take them for everything including the pension fund for daring to supply the competition.
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    They had a strict contract on the table which had to be signed then and there, or another $5-a- word-flesh-eating-attack lawyer standing by at the courthouse would have a judge sign an injunction against making any pipe at all until the case was settled. Probably an empty threat but even a two week break in production could kill our company while lawyers cleared it with a judge to let us make other types of pipe.
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    Mr Grey looked over the contract and told the boss to sign as they could tie us up in knots due to their huge size and budget while the contract just made it clear that This Green was the exclusive property of Big Telco and could ONLY make it for Big Telco. We folded like a shirt and signed. Life went on with us making OK Telco a 'That Green' pipe.
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    A few months later Mr Grey went to a 20 year reunion from his law school. Guess who was there? Mr Bigshot, telling everyone about how great a lawyer he is and how he can push around anyone due to how great he is, and definitely not due to his huge budget and army of $5-a-word-flesh-eating- attack lawyers.
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    Mr Grey is ped. Mr Grey bides his time and pours over the contract. A few years later Big Telco has to have a name change due to how much bad press they have from shifty service and practices, and as a way to avoid debts under the old name. They change everything store fronts, letter heads, everything. They are now New-old Telco.
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    Contracts come and go. The other big pipe company gets the contract from New-old Telco to make pipe. Mr Grey strikes. Other pipe company and New-old Telco get served with cease and desist orders about making and using green pipe. Bigshot lawyer is puzzled and angry that this has happened and calls Mr Grey. Mr. Grey arranges a meeting and then hangs up on Bigst mid- threat.
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    Bigshot turns up with his $5-a- word-flesh-eating-attack lawyers to see just Mr Grey in the boardroom, no ambush, no backup, just him. Mr Grey lets him vent his spleen about how they're going to gut the company and Mr Grey will never work in law again. Then Mr Grey takes out a packet of papers and a highlighter. Makes a few strokes and pushes it to the
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    closest $5-a-word-flesh-eating- attack lawyer. They read what he had highlighted and screwed up their face. This was repeated as the papers were passed to the Bigskt lawyer. I'm no lawyer and this was about 30 years ago so I can only paraphrase what Mr Grey said he had highlighted. Only Our Pipe Co, in conjunction with Big Telco can make and or use This Green pipe. Exclusively, with no substitutes, parent or child companies, successors or blah blah blah."
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    Since there were only two companies listed on the contract they were the only two sets of people who could decide the fate of This Green pipe. Bigst said that they could claim ownership of the pipe colour since they were in effect just a rebranded Big Telco. Mr Grey pointed out that that admission would cause all their avoided debts to come home with interest along with an admission of guilt
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    in trying to pervert the course of justice. Bigst then claimed that they inherented the ownership... Mr Grey cut him off with the 'no child company' clause. Bigsbt went on for a while being blocked by Mr Grey at every turn, and at the end even his $5-a-word- flesh-eating-attack lawyers were jumping in to shut him down because he was exposing them to risks greater than any of them were willing to be a part off especially since THEY had made the contract as air tight as they could to screw us
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    As they were leaving Mr Grey said two things. "This was an unfair fight, all if you versus me. Next time bring more and smarter lawyers. And since we now effectively control the 'This Green' here's a document making the colour public domain, we don't want to screw the other pipe company, it's not their fault they have idiots for customers."
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    Madrugada_Eterna $5-a-word-flesh- eating-attack lawyers What a wonderful phrase!
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    SmoothManMiguel I read 30 years ago and IMMEDIATELY went to the 70s. Smh we're getting old man
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    rini... With full offense to the other companies involved, having done a scant bit of work in advocacy against those companies, Teleco is a trash industry owned by scum corporations. So this was a pretty satisfying story.
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    yParticle Hoisted on their own petard, and instead of making a huge financial deal from it, Grey simply shows them how things should have been all along.
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    vomitkitiesandrain... As a contract lawyer love this. Most 5-word-flesh- eating-attack lawyers forget that the introvert lawyer who just loves to be alone will always read everything!
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    Exodus 180 TLDR: Telco company has a fight their pipe makers made pipe for someone else using green pipe, wins with air- tight contract. Later on Telco company rebrands. into new company and uses. green pipe made by someone else. Old pipe maker's lawyer defeats army of lawyers using their own air-tight contract against them.
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    JReynolds 197 Good story. Like that saying: 99% of lawyers give the other 1% a bad name.
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    gthrees to be fair, lawyers are in the malicious compliance business
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    JunosGold As a non-attorney contracts. professional (I get to negotiate, review and correct agreements put together by attorneys), this made my day. Nothing more satisfying than maliciously complying with a client's contract.
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