”Publicly commenting on who knew what when means a significant risk of being subpoenaed or having to appear in court as a witness, which would be a huge hassle and time cost for whoever speaks out (and possibly also for their employer and other people they’re connected to). I believe this is one of the main reasons why senior figures aren’t commenting on this.”
In most cases, I think the being-dragged-into-legal-proceedings risk of a random person speaking out is considerably less than this quote would imply. First, you’d need a litigant who cared enough about what you had to say to issue a subpoena—the FTX debtors, presumably. Even then, they would only care if they were litigating a suit for which the information would be relevant and which didn’t settle quickly enough. Unless the person on the other end denied the facts, it’s doubtful they would want to burn one of their limited number of depositions on a third party who heard something. And they’d likely get any relevant e-mails from the other person anyway. There are restrictions on subpoenas—for instance, in the US gederal context, they generally cannot command attendance more than 100 miles away from where the person lives, regularly conducts business, etc. [FRCP 45; FRBP 9016.] If you’re in a non-US country and are not an employee or agent of a party, international process is often very, very slow to the point it is a last resort for getting information like that.
None of that is legal advice, and people who have questions about their potential exposure for speaking out should consult with an appropriate lawyer.
“which would be a huge hassle and time cost for whoever speaks out”
Wait—so if leaders were complicit, yet admitting to that would be a hassle, then it’s better that they not mention their complicity? I’m afraid of a movement that makes such casual justifications for hiding malefactors and red flags. I’m going to keep showing outsiders what you all say to each other! :O
I think the quote is saying that speaking out would saddle the person who spoke out about what someone else knew with significant costs. Although I think the quote overstates the risk, I don’t think your reasoning holds. It’s not clear to me why anyone has a duty to voluntarily burden themselves with costs to aid the litigation interests of a third party.
If the statement is actually about a senior leader’s own knowledge, and their organization received significant funds from FTX/Alameda-linked sources, they are very going to be involved in litigation whether they speak or not.
From my DMs:
”Publicly commenting on who knew what when means a significant risk of being subpoenaed or having to appear in court as a witness, which would be a huge hassle and time cost for whoever speaks out (and possibly also for their employer and other people they’re connected to). I believe this is one of the main reasons why senior figures aren’t commenting on this.”
In most cases, I think the being-dragged-into-legal-proceedings risk of a random person speaking out is considerably less than this quote would imply. First, you’d need a litigant who cared enough about what you had to say to issue a subpoena—the FTX debtors, presumably. Even then, they would only care if they were litigating a suit for which the information would be relevant and which didn’t settle quickly enough. Unless the person on the other end denied the facts, it’s doubtful they would want to burn one of their limited number of depositions on a third party who heard something. And they’d likely get any relevant e-mails from the other person anyway. There are restrictions on subpoenas—for instance, in the US gederal context, they generally cannot command attendance more than 100 miles away from where the person lives, regularly conducts business, etc. [FRCP 45; FRBP 9016.] If you’re in a non-US country and are not an employee or agent of a party, international process is often very, very slow to the point it is a last resort for getting information like that.
None of that is legal advice, and people who have questions about their potential exposure for speaking out should consult with an appropriate lawyer.
“which would be a huge hassle and time cost for whoever speaks out”
Wait—so if leaders were complicit, yet admitting to that would be a hassle, then it’s better that they not mention their complicity? I’m afraid of a movement that makes such casual justifications for hiding malefactors and red flags. I’m going to keep showing outsiders what you all say to each other! :O
I think the quote is saying that speaking out would saddle the person who spoke out about what someone else knew with significant costs. Although I think the quote overstates the risk, I don’t think your reasoning holds. It’s not clear to me why anyone has a duty to voluntarily burden themselves with costs to aid the litigation interests of a third party.
If the statement is actually about a senior leader’s own knowledge, and their organization received significant funds from FTX/Alameda-linked sources, they are very going to be involved in litigation whether they speak or not.