Darn Lawyers

[Alexander Von_obert <avobert -at- TWH -dot- MSN -dot- SUB -dot- ORG>]

Hello Rick,

* Antwort auf eine Nachricht von rjl -at- bostech -dot- com an All am 05.01.96

rr> From: rjl -at- bostech -dot- com

rr> All the tech writers, trainers, and product support folks also
rr> went to a
rr> two-day seminar held by the attorneys, off-site. They spent all
rr> day telling
rr> us about the hazards of litigation, and how we had to tighten
rr> up our warnings
rr> in the manuals. Usability was not considered in that
rr> discussion.

many technical writers over here are influenced by your examples and fear
 about product liability and so on. But mostly we succeed in keeping warnings
 down with arguments like readability and not letting the product appear as
 extremely dangerous.

But other things are different over here, too: At least here in Germany about
 everyone has some basic level of education, about everyone is forced to have
 some standard health ensurance, and the attorneys are payed to strict
 guidelines that depend on the case, not success or inflated financial values.

From time to time I compare American freedom and our freedom. They are quite
 different things. Nazis are free to express their opinions in your country,
 but not here. Attorneys can charge what they want in your country, but not
 here. You are much more strangled by attorneys than we are. Your limitations
 are your (by social scales) quite new laws. Over here society has evolved over
 much longer periods of time with many families living in one place for
hundreds
 of years. E.g., I live in a farmhouse that was officially mentioned in 1505
 and still contains many beams from the 17th century. The difference shows!


Greetings from Germany,
Alexander

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