Thirty years ago today, I was literally on the eve of trial. Our client's patent infringement lawsuit against Microsoft was scheduled to start in federal court the next day. As you might expect, I'd been working through the weekend and was more or less exhausted. Yet I found myself awake around 4:30 in the morning.
At first, I thought it was a truck or something. But as the shaking continued, I realized I was experiencing my first major earthquake. There was nothing by my bed that threatened to fall on me, so I just stayed put. And when the shaking eventually stopped, I rolled over and tried to go back to sleep.
That didn't work. I was certainly tired enough, but aftershocks shook my bed two or three times after the initial quake. When I started seeing light through the bedroom window, I gave up and got out of bed. I discovered a fair amount of disorder in the apartment, as the shaking had been hard enough to dislodge items from their perches and send them to the floor. Nothing major, though, so I stepped outside. I found a bunch of my neighbors who exclaimed, "Bob! Thank God you're okay!"
And that's how I experienced the Northridge earthquake of 1994.
I didn't get any work done that day. But our office was open the next day and the trial started on time. It finished three weeks later with a jury verdict in our client's favor for $120 million. Still the biggest case of my career. --Bob
Thirty years ago today
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Bob78164
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Thirty years ago today
"Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear." Thomas Jefferson
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Beebs52
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BackInTex
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Re: Thirty years ago today
I knew they were big, but for Microsoft's shaking in their boots to trigger that size of an earthquake...wow!
..what country can preserve it’s liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? let them take arms.
~~ Thomas Jefferson
War is where the government tells you who the bad guy is.
Revolution is when you decide that for yourself.
-- Benjamin Franklin (maybe)
~~ Thomas Jefferson
War is where the government tells you who the bad guy is.
Revolution is when you decide that for yourself.
-- Benjamin Franklin (maybe)
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Bob78164
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Re: Thirty years ago today
They weren't shaking in their boots. That case taught me how big Microsoft truly was. The day the verdict came down, they announced that they'd set aside the money for the verdict. In cash. --Bob
"Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear." Thomas Jefferson
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Bob Juch
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Re: Thirty years ago today
I was driving from Palo Alto to L.A. to visit my friends from UCLA when the Sylmar quake happened. I turned around and went back home.
I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.
- Douglas Adams (1952 - 2001)
Si fractum non sit, noli id reficere.
Teach a child to be polite and courteous in the home and, when he grows up, he'll never be able to drive in New Jersey.
- Douglas Adams (1952 - 2001)
Si fractum non sit, noli id reficere.
Teach a child to be polite and courteous in the home and, when he grows up, he'll never be able to drive in New Jersey.