Re: I guess this is going to be tossed out
First, he is going to have to prove that the meeting was even recorded, and he will have to state who did the recording. In his filing, he didn't even provide a date of the alleged meeting.
He will have to provide sworn affidavits from either the person who did the recording (self-incriminating) or someone who has first hand knowledge (anything other than first-hand knowledge is inadmissible hearsay.)
Once that has been established as fact, THEN he will have to prove that the Apple product was used to record the meeting. Then he is going to have have to establish that he didn't have any other applications on his phone that could be used to remotely record the meeting.
Now, this is civil court and not criminal court, so he doesn't have to establish proof beyond a shadow of doubt. He only has to establish a preponderance of evidence -- meaning that it is more likely than not.
However, he is going to have a very tough time doing that. The only way that he is going to prove that the meeting was recorded is to provide a copy of the recording. He could also find someone willing to testify under penalty of perjury that they have personally listened to the recording and that they have first-hand knowledge that the recording was of the meeting in question -- meaning that they themselves would have to have been at the meeting -- but if they can do that then they could have made the recording themselves using any number of means unrelated to this bug, and it IS more likely that someone used a standard digital recorder than used an undisclosed bug, especially as the bug doesn't have the ability to create a recording in an of itself. He will also have to provide affidavits for all in attendance that they didn't record the meeting, and explain what due diligence he undertook to insure privacy at this meeting.
Additionally, he is not just suing Apple -- He is also suing the developers, distributors, and advertising agents. He is claiming that each of them not only knew of the bug, but recklessly proceeded in bringing the product to market knowing ahead of time that the bug existed. The discovery is to get the names of the people who acted in that capacity so that he can add them to the suit by name.
No, he is trying for an out-of-court settlement because he knows that the cost of discovery is going to be high and is hoping that SOMEONE (he knows it won't be Apple) would rather pay off a nuisance lawsuit than undergo the expense of fighting it. He is leveraging the "vast experience" that he has gained in his less than 4 years of practicing personal injury law on the claim that within the less than 90 days that it has been since the bug was introduced that an event has occurred that has resulted in irreparable harm and PHYSICAL pain and suffering, but can't even give the date of the alleged event. He is smart enough not to have himself for a client and is using another attorney to file the suit -- however if he was serious about taking this to court you would think that he would pick someone who is well versed and has lots of experience in this area of law -- but instead he hires a personal injury lawyer who specializes in car accidents with just of a year of experience as an attorney.
If it goes to court he is going to have to affirm, under oath, under penalty of perjury subject to incarceration and disbarment, to the events alleged in his filing. He certainly doesn't want to do that, otherwise he risks irreparable harm to his future as an attorney and it will have been at his own hand.
I kind of hope that Apple doesn't settle. Lawyers like this shouldn't be practicing law.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
