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Comment by doubleshadow | Hacker News Reader

> In the transcript of a private hearing before Judge William Alsup in United States District Court in San Francisco, Mr. Levandowski’s lawyers said he was invoking his Fifth Amendment right to avoid incrimination in turning over documents relevant to the case. Uber’s lawyers said they have made clear to Mr. Levandowski that he needs to release any documents relevant to the case as part of discovery.

Does Levandowski also have his own lawyers? Says here that his lawyers said he was invoking his 5th amendment, while Uber lawyers said he needs to turn over all documents

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A guy with a high net worth, that may have taken secrets from Google then sold them to Uber? It'd be very surprising if he didn't have his own legal team.

One would imagine part of Uber's tactic would have been to make sure that they got representations on paper that everything was safe, that no secrets were being passed. If I was buying contraband, I'd want to make sure the invoices I officially paid for looked legit...

Of course every action you take to hide your tracks potentially leaves detectable tracks of their own. At some point you trade the ability to claim a lack of premeditation if you've clearly and extensively premeditated.

True in the abstract, but I suspect that it's fairly easy for Uber to argue that there was an honest intent behind all but the most idiotic of paperwork they might have signed.

"We were buying a technology company. Of course we did our due diligence to make sure that we were protected in the unlikely event that the company was not what we were led to believe."

By the way Judge William Alsup is the one who presided over Oracle v. Google and knows how to code.

That's an understatement. Haskell is his middle name.

I heard he has a Lisp.

> Does Levandowski also have his own lawyers?

He damn well should. It's ALWAYS important to keep in mind that your employer's lawyers work for the company, not you, and will be angling for the outcome which is best for the company, not you.

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