CD, Vinyl And... MMC? >>
<< The End Of The Internet Is Nigh!
 tdicon 


(Mis)Uses of Technology

by Mike Masnick

Mon, Oct 18th 2004 9:36am





Upside Down Fax Costs 100 Million Euros

from the whoooops dept

People make mistakes all the time, but how often can you think of a simple mistake that cost in the range of a 100 million euros? It's even more impressive when you realize that mistake was putting important documents into the fax machine upside down. A lawyer (you wonder how much he was paid per hour) trying to fax a 100 page document outlining the European Commission's case against a bunch of banks for running a cartel couldn't be bothered to look at the instructions, and put the document in upside down. Since the court ended up with 100 blank pages instead of an argument, they ruled for the banks.

5 Comments | Leave a Comment..


If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...
 

Reader Comments (rss)

(Flattened / Threaded)

  1.  

    Let he who is without sin...

    identicon
    Oliver Wendell Jones, Oct 18th, 2004 @ 10:19am

    I'd call the person in question a moronic idiot if I hadn't made the same mistake myself... of course mine wasn't a 100 page legal brief nor was it worth 100 million euros...

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  2.  

    Errr

    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Oct 18th, 2004 @ 12:43pm

    I'm not so sure about this. My wife has been working as a legal assistant, and had to take documents to the court in person (or registered mail I suppose, but it's only 10 miles away from the office) because they wouldn't accept faxes.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  3.  

    Re: Errr

    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Oct 18th, 2004 @ 1:49pm

    I agree, what nitwit doesn't fedex or courier the documents as well...
    Chris.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  4.  

    Commission VS Cartel

    identicon
    John Smith, Oct 18th, 2004 @ 8:53pm

    Possibly he did it on purpose. I imagine the banks/cartel would pay a handsome sum to cause this "error".

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  5.  

    That reminds me of a joke

    identicon
    Mike, Oct 19th, 2004 @ 1:00am

    A judge has heard a long and complex commercial case, and retires to his country cottage to write up his verdict - which is suitably long and complex itself. He returns to London to deliver it. However, as the court convenes he realises with horror that he's left the verdict on the table back in the rural retreat.

    "I'm terribly sorry," he says to the courtroom. "I'm unable to continue as I've not brought the verdict back with me. It's stuck down in Dorset, and I'll have to recess until I can retrieve it."

    One of the solicitors has an idea. "Fax it up, m'lord?" he says, helpfully.

    "Yes, I'm afraid it does rather." says the judge, sadly.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]


Add Your Comment

Have a Techdirt Account? Sign in now. Want one? Register here
Get Techdirt’s Daily Email
Save me a cookie
  • Note: A CRLF will be replaced by a break tag (<br>), all other allowable HTML will remain intact
  • Allowed HTML Tags: <b> <i> <a> <em> <br> <strong> <blockquote> <hr> <tt>


CD, Vinyl And... MMC? >>
<< The End Of The Internet Is Nigh!
 tdicon 

A word from our Sponsors...
Follow Techdirt
Flattr rss rss

Powered by Postrank

From the Techdirt Archive...
A word from our Sponsors...

Close

Email This