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We have now been through mediation, and just last Friday(3/5/2021) Ryan Thompson and I with our attorneys had a Zoom settlement conference with the judge in our case. No settlement has arisen from this meeting to date. I do appreciate that this judge is giving Ryan Thompson dba Pro Solar Hawaii and myself the opportunity to save us both from spending $30,000+ to prove our cases.
All was not lost. I mean, it was very productive even if no settlement was reached. Ryan Thompson dba Pro Solar Hawaii now knows that if this goes to a jury trial I am asking for $1,000,000.00 for the damages caused by him. Will a jury in Hawaii award that amount to a consumer that was libeled per se and wronged severely by a Hawaii solar contractor? Yes, I think so. When a jury sees my evidence and what my treatment was by Ryan Thompson dba Pro Solar Hawaii including his frivolous lawsuit about my writing on these issues, I have no doubt whatsoever that 19 out of 20 juries will be sympathetic to me over that Hawaii solar contractor.
I have now learned that Ryan Thompson dba Pro Solar Hawaii is seeking $250,000 in damages from me in their lawsuit. something that had never been laid out in any of his court filings. I assume it got under his skin with my $1,000,000 offer to settle. I have also learned that there is absolutely no evidence or proof of any damages in any court filing so far. I am no lawyer, but I can read a court filing. Let me tell you, dear reader, go and get the filings yourself (I assume you can) and read them. Here a headline for the local paper from them, "Hawaii Solar Contractor claims defy reality"
One can only speculate why any Hawaii solar contractor who has recently lost an arbitration case for a substantial amount would ever be eager to continue a lawsuit against someone seeking $1,000,000 from them? If it were me, I would assume that fact would be used to show a history, and the last thing I would want a jury to know is about having lost that arbitration. I think that's pretty damning evidence. Heck, I'd be worried about all the problems I've had with other customers coming to light in front of a jury. Especially if I was a Hawaii solar contractor with a history of problems with past customers.
Expanding on my previous thought. One also would have to question why Ryan Thompson dba Pro Solar Hawaii does not at least settle on the defamation per se he is facing. His attorney has had to advise him I would think that he is never going to be able to win that case, please feel free to see one of many examples of said defamation per see. [previous post] It is pretty clear as to what was the intent of posting that to Yelp on a different review than my review of a Hawaii solar contractor, Ryan Thompson dba Pro Solar Hawaii. Agin that is only one example. I definitely would not want a jury to read them all when I am pleading my case.
I have had one idea/question/thing flopping around in my head since our meeting with the judge on Friday. Is Ryan Thompson dba Pro Solar Hawaii listening to his lawyer's advice? Is his attorney advising him that going to a jury trial is in his best interest? I mean no disrespect to Al Thompson who is Ryan Thompson dba Pro Solar Hawaii attorney (no relation). He seems like a pleasant enough guy in my interactions with him in the courtroom. But, on the other hand, if Al Thompson has a client that's not following his advice, he can always ask the court to be removed from the case. So there's that thought too to ponder.
I believe that Al Thompson is experiencing firsthand what I and others have experienced in our professional dealings with Ryan Thompson dba Pro Solar Hawaii. I believe that Ryan Thompson dba Pro Solar Hawaii is making this case a living hell for Al Thompson. I guess that no matter how hard Ryan Thompson's dba Pro Solar Hawaii's attorney tries to give the best advice to him, Ryan Thompson dba Pro Solar Hawaii just doesn't get it. I assume that the best legal advice that can be afforded by Ryan Thompson dba Pro Solar Hawaii is being given to him. I know that my legal bills so far come to $6,000 in this case. I would guess that the legal bills that are being generated over in the Ryan Thompson dba Pro Solar Hawaii camp are somewhere around double that.
Let us take a moment to analyze this. if we go under the assumption that Ryan Thompson dba Pro Solar Hawaii has spent roughly $12,000 on his case against me so far, and I paid roughly $20,000 for my system, he under the assumption has lost all profit on his sale and installation of my screwed up solar system to me. Does it not seem idiotic to spend $30,000 on lawyer and court costs to risk ending up paying me $1,000,000 plus costs when you lose? Even more so when one of your claims is that your losing business due to this blog. The question is it not evident that because you can spend $30,000+ and risk paying $1,000,000+ suing me proof in itself that business is not being hurt by this blog a claim in the lawsuit??
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The judge told me it would take 3 years to get this case in front of a jury. that's 3 years of me posting updates to this blog. 3 years of exactly what Ryan Thompson dba Pro Solar Hawaii claims is what he doesn't want because (at least to the court) it is hurting his business. One needs to spend a moment contemplating this. Would a rational person with a business interest consider it's better to fight a case against a blogger and spend 3 years giving said blog content to post?
Here is another thought Ryan Thompson dba Pro Solar Hawaii might want to consider. Will a jury be understanding of 3 years on top of the past time spent on this case, of intentional emotional distress this Hawaii solar contactor is causing me? Will this jury 3 years from now say, "that's messed up" and award me over the $1,000,000 I ask for on intentional emotional distress alone? I suspect that it is going to be impossible not to get a jury's sympathy on this issue.
I want to say something directly to Ryan Thompson dba Pro Solar Hawaii. You had better get your ego in check dude. You are about to go down a path that is going to dramatically change your life. Everyone here in Hawaii would agree it's never a smart idea to jump in the water with bleeding wounds when there are Tiger sharks in the water.
To end this blog post with a lot of gratitude. I want to express my sincere appreciation to my attorney Peter L. Steinberg Esq. for his unwavering support during this case.
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