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.
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.