- Joined
- Oct 29, 2015
So, let's just say that, against all odds, Sam would get a license to practice and a training contract:Hello again everyone. I've not been posting on here because I'm working away from home and will be until the middle of next week and have had to suffer intermittent hotel Wi Fi that I've only just managed to make less shite.
Funnily enough, I'm seconded to a firm in Hertfordshire this fortnight. That's the same county Vordy lives in. I was wondering why I've felt fully 10% more autistic this week than normally. But I digress. And no, I'm not going to show up on his doorstep in Welwyn Hatfield because that would be abject weenery.
Anyhow. Vordy, Vordy, Vordy. What are we going to do with him?
"Britain's Highest Court." "Pillar of the community." More like pillock of the community. And it's not Britain's Highest Court, that is to the Supreme Court (formerly the House of Lords). And Sam allegedly passed his LPC. Though to be fair, that's not difficult. I managed it, for one.
So suppose Samuel Collingwood Smith takes it upon himself to file yet another lolsuit against Null and/or Lolcow LLC. And suppose by some fluke, those worthies think it's worth actually defending it this time. One of the things with defamation is that you have to have a reputation that is lowered in the minds of right-thinking people by the false statements made about you. I'm not sure that Vordy's reputation could be lowered any further. It is a matter of public record that he accused his political opponents of child abuse, falsely. It is a matter of public record that he falsely accused Amy Lee and their record label of hosting child porn on their forum, floated said rumour to Perez Hilton and other tabloid sites, and legal action was only averted because he signed an undertaking from Schillings, representing Evanescence and friends (source: his own admission). It is also likely to be a matter of public record, if said lolsuit is filed, that he harassed a 17 year old girl electronically and then threatened her with further legal action if she spoke out about it. Not to mention those times he falsely accused Null and Dyn of hosting child pornography and being into "hurtcore."
Put simply, the man has a reputation as a person who falsely accuses people he doesn't like of child molesting and has done so over several years.
I think it's at least arguable that such a lolsuit should be dismissed summarily as an abuse of process. He has a track record of using legal threats to silence his critics, usually in the context of autismal internet slapfights, which are only of interest to a very small number of people comparatively. There are cases (Jameel -v- Dow Jones and Liberty Fashion Wares Ltd -v- Primark Stores Ltd) which indicate that where the likely readership of an allegedly defamatory publication is small and little to no damage to the reputation of the claimant can be shown, actions should be dismissed as an abuse of process.
But suppose it goes to a full trial, and Null / Lolcow LLC have proper representation and suchlike. Vordy is going to have to give evidence and be cross examined about how he took umbrage to a thread poking fun at him on a fourth-rate internet forum. He's going to have all his dirty washing exposed in public. He will do more damage to himself than he ever could do to Null. I don't know Null or his life, but I'd say he has less to lose than Vordy. Vordy appears to own his own home (must remind self to check with the Land Registry on that - anyone want to lend me three quid to check?) and seems to want to become a solicitor himself. If he does end up battling a protracted lolsuit against people for, effectively, sneering at him on the internets, he's going to make himself even less attractive to employers. And if he wins - well, it's trivial for Null / Lolcow LLC to put any assets they have beyond the reach of any enforcement, so he will get nothing. If he loses, he stands to lose his home when Null's costs are awarded against him, and they will be large, oh yes. (It helps that property is one of the easiest assets in the UK to enforce a judgement against.)
A bit of background here. You don't magically become a TRUE AND HONEST solicitor in the UK upon completion of the LPC. You have to do two years of a training contract with a law firm. This is basically on the job training. They are extremely competitive. When I did my LPC (tw: powerlevelling) in 2008, there were roughly 20,000 LPC graduates, full and part time, across the whole country, but only 5,809 training contracts offered across the whole country. So the roughly 14,000 LPC grads who didn't get a TC were stuck till the next year to try to get one. But then along came another 20,000 LPC grads competing for roughly the same amount of training contract places. So Vordy has got to beat, I would estimate, about 8 to 10 other candidates just to get a foot in the door. Not bloody likely.
Oh, and here's the best bit. Guess how much Vordy is likely to have paid for his Legal Practice Course he'll never use?
Probably £15,255, if he went to BPP or the College of Law, or around £12,000 for one of the other providers.
How long would it take for them to kick him to the curb after receiveng information about his past misdeeds?