crwjerk
This is but one man's anonymous view on a public internet forum. I have no special information on the case.
I sense what is going on the Court Room is a skirmish; the real battle is being fought behind closed doors.
Most of the evidence is by way of documents (volumes and volumes), which the Judge has read. It seems to be me that the it has almost been agreed by both sides and the Judge that the 49ers have won the unfair dismissal, but not yet the defamation. Right from last Monday the Judge has been talking about "quantum"and pressing both sides to agree or at least set a framework for the scale of damages.
The Defence Barrister is doing most of the talking as he is wishing to discredit each individual 49ers to limit the damage. He is pressing hard on the job applications as he trying to say the 49ers did not aggressively seek work and that is the true reason they struggled to gain further employment; not the negative statements various CX figureheads made in the press, back in 2001.
I sense Mr Grossman (for the 49ers) is only making comment to bring the 49ers back to the documents should they stray (or be lead astray). I further sense Mr Grossman is keeping his powder dry for when Tyler, Chen and Rhodes appear. It is on those days you will see if both Barristers are worth their not inconsiderable fees.
Which leads to the real battle. The costs of these proceedings are potentially dwarfing the damages and I am certain CX is using that as leverage over the 49ers. Again, I have no information on this, but I would wager CX have made a settlement offer to each of the 49ers and should they fail to get a greater amount of damages from his Lordship; they will seek their costs. It's high stakes poker!
Ominously, the Judge is already talking of Appeal: he knows CX very well!!
Again, take the above for what it's worth: anonymous speculative BS on a public internet forum. That said, wouldn't it be nice if his Lordship struck back for the HK Judiciary and slapped some hefty damages on CX as punishment for bully-boy tactics in the HK Courts.
Last edited by Liam Gallagher; 14th Oct 2009 at 01:53.