Eric Pepin and The Higher Balance Institute

christopherbanks

New Blood
C
Joined
Jun 18, 2014
Messages
7
Nine years ago I purchased 'The Handbook of the Navigator' and a few CD's from 'The Higher Balance Institute' founded by Eric Pepin. I read the book, found it interesting because I was naive and listened to some CD's. I took part in some forums discussions and that's when it started to become rather creepy. I won't go in detail but long story short, I quit the HBI material and posted on a forum about my experience at that cult. I recieved a letter from Eric Robison in which he stated that HBI lawyers had flagged my post and they know who I was but Eric Robison had decided the best course of action was to threaten me that If I ever spoke against HBI I would face legal charges.

Seven months ago I decided to look upon HBI out of interest. I went onto their forums and came across a guide that contained very precise numbers and percentages on how best to promote Eric Pepin's book on Amazon via inflating the positive reviews and hiding the negative reviews. Not illegal of cause but slightly immoral. I reported this guide to Amazon and also mentioned that I found it a strange coincidence that after several years of Eric's books being available on Amazon. The exact same month a former staff member of HBI joins Amazon is the same month they release this guide. I also posted the guide to the Amazon forums.


Cease and Desist all defamation of character and reputation of Higher Balance Institute and Eric Pepin.

Over two weeks ago I received a cease and desist letter from 'Reward Claims' on behalf of Eric Pepin and The Higher Balance Institute.

h t t p://s8.postimg DOT ORG/3klk3k0ys/Multipage.jpg

I have posted this letter to a few places looking for legal advice and guidance. A few things to note, Guy Bailey the lawyer responsible for this letter was fined and his offices shut last year. Reward claims as a company does not exist. He works from home. He works out of an outlook email address. No reference number. No signature. It's basically a thug letter of intimidation in the hope that I admit to something.

The letter claims I had been traced through my IP. I contacted my ISP and they stated that no legal requests had been made and they would never hand over my information to any third party. It also claimed I was behind multiple fake profiles and had been harassing members. Yet again untrue. On the HBI facebook page they went further, claimed I had been cyber bullying them and that I had six amazon accounts and had left over 40 negative reviews. Yet again untrue as I own only two amazon accounts and had left negative comments on books I had bought but not through Amazon.

The letter mostly focuses on Amazon stating I left negative reviews. That I attempted to get an employee fired and it even states that I impersonated my neighbors and they would be contacting my neighbours if I did not do as they demanded. My Amazon account name is 'Anklers'. My neighbors have a very similar sounding name. Amazon have stated in emails that the former HBI staff member who works at Amazon was put under review because of my actions in contacting Amazon to report this guide, has never had access to Amazon customer details despite working as a Technical Program Manager on the Amazon web services. (can anybody verify if he did have access from that job?)

One theory is that the former HBI staff member who works at Amazon saw my post on the forums and took my account profile name 'Anklers' and then handed over my information to HBI.

The second theory is that HBI kept my nine year old address, found out my neighbour was called something similar to 'Anklers' and guessed it was me. So on the off chance it was me they sent a threatening letter.

After the letter

After I had posted the letter about, i found some people posing as me and other's taking action against Eric. On the facebook page Eric had claimed they were being cyber bullied with fake facebook profiles and yet again I was blamed for these actions and branded 'A stalker'. They also made other claims that I was racist and mental deranged. Lovely stuff.

I'm refraining at this moment from posting the very long HBI information post that was sent to me and I presume others due to concerns about legal threats.

However here's a link with a discussion about HBI.

h t t ps://whyweprotest DOT NET/community/threads/eric-pepin-and-higher-balance-institute-hbi.116683/

Apologies for not reaching the 15 posts before posting this topic.
 
An unsigned legal letter sounds unethical if not illegal to my no legal training mind. It definitely sounds like a letter no one is willing to stand behind so I wouldn't be as concerned as I would had the letter looked professional.

I checked out the HBI facebook page to have a good laugh and discovered I haven't been listening to what the universe is trying to tell and my chakras are heavily imbalanced. Just a little meditation should open my 6th sense so I can channel other dimensions. This Pepin guy sure sounds to me like he knows his stuff.
 
After I received that cease and desist letter. I was provided with information but I also did my own digging around and this is my understanding of HBI.

Higher Balance Institute

Eric believes that there are places of power that imbue 'white cells' with code that advance their energy and understandings. Locations with ley lines, poltergeist activity and paranormal events are sites of power. Future meditation based upon your thought and experince of these places causes you to clear darkness from yourself.

Eric believes that anybody who questions their purpose for living and existing is a 'White cell'. White cells are drawn to spirituality like a calling and they exist as 1 in 15,000 people. Eric claims this inner knowledge to search for answers in a 'White cell' is called 'The Navigator.' Eric claims that 'White cells' are spiritual warriors, who's true purpose is to raise the vibration of the collective consciousness, allowing for a more unified and tolerant civilization by spreading the message of 'The Higher Balance Institute' and it's teachings.

Eric believes that most people simply function, they do things in an automated manner without ever pausing to ponder the reason. Eric calls these people Red Cells and they are trapped in the 'DO' of ever day life.

The ultimate goal of being a member of this religion is to become a 'mentor'. Mentors train others in the knowledge of The Higher Balance Institute while not forgetting to give 20% royalty fee's back to HBI.
 
Senex said:
An unsigned legal letter sounds unethical if not illegal to my no legal training mind. It definitely sounds like a letter no one is willing to stand behind so I wouldn't be as concerned as I would had the letter looked professional.
Click to expand...

IANAL, but:

Well, it could be signed if the person who signed it is really legally called Reward Claims, and he/she can't write and signs with a squiggly line. (According to a BBC Radio 4 programme I heard recently, that would be quite legal in the UK. Like signing with "X").

Borderline illiteracy and idiocy is rife in the rest of the document as well. "The IP address from which the defamatory statements are [sic] made has been traced through Virgin Media as well as other corroborating evidence."

Not only do they get the tense wrong (that would have to be "were"), but they claim that an IP address was supposedly "traced" through "other corroborating evidence". Huh?

They go on to state: "The User IP address has been captured under multiple fake profiles and has been captured on a third-party service under another fake profile, all submitting untrue, false and damaging statements".

What on earth does "capturing an IP address mean"? What the hell is the legal definition of a "fake profile"? What is a "third-party service" in this context? (and how does an IP address suddenly switch from singular to plural, "all"?)

Also, the website they give yields a "404 Not Found" error when I tried it. And oh yes, they describe Eric Pepin as an "educated, world reknowned and respected professional". Yes, "reknowned".

No lawyer, not even a very dodgy one, would write a letter like this. This is pseudo-legal posturing, nothing more. And purely going on intuition, I'd bet it was written by Mr. Eric Pepin himself.

The threats at the end are scary, though. If I ever received a letter like this, I would seriously think of notifying the police.

I haven't got the time right now, but the letter has what appears to be a possible real address on it. Have you tried using Google Street View to see if that address if for real, and if so, what's there?
 
Last edited:
christopherbanks said:
After I received that cease and desist letter. I was provided with information but I also did my own digging around and this is my understanding of HBI.

Higher Balance Institute

Eric believes that there are places of power that imbue 'white cells' with code that advance their energy and understandings. Locations with ley lines, poltergeist activity and paranormal events are sites of power. Future meditation based upon your thought and experince of these places causes you to clear darkness from yourself.

Eric believes that anybody who questions their purpose for living and existing is a 'White cell'. White cells are drawn to spirituality like a calling and they exist as 1 in 15,000 people. Eric claims this inner knowledge to search for answers in a 'White cell' is called 'The Navigator.' Eric claims that 'White cells' are spiritual warriors, who's true purpose is to raise the vibration of the collective consciousness, allowing for a more unified and tolerant civilization by spreading the message of 'The Higher Balance Institute' and it's teachings.

Eric believes that most people simply function, they do things in an automated manner without ever pausing to ponder the reason. Eric calls these people Red Cells and they are trapped in the 'DO' of ever day life.

The ultimate goal of being a member of this religion is to become a 'mentor'. Mentors train others in the knowledge of The Higher Balance Institute while not forgetting to give 20% royalty fee's back to HBI.
Click to expand...

Sounds like the higher balance refers to his bank balance.
 
FromBelgiumWithLove said:
IANAL, but:

Well, it could be signed if the person who signed it is really legally called Reward Claims, and he/she can't write and signs with a squiggly line.

Borderline illiteracy and idiocy is rife in the rest of the document as well. "The IP address from which the defamatory statements are [sic] made has been traced through Virgin Media as well as other corroborating evidence."

Not only do they get the tense wrong (that would have to be "were"), but they claim that an IP address was supposedly "traced" through "other corroborating evidence". Huh?

They go on to state: "The User IP address has been captured under multiple fake profiles and has been captured on a third-party service under another fake profile, all submitting untrue, false and damaging statements".

What on earth does "capturing an IP address mean"? What the hell is the legal definition of a "fake profile"? What is a "third-party service" in this context? (and how does an IP address suddenly switch from singular to plural, "all"?)

Also, the website they give yields a "404 Not Found" error when I tried it. And oh yes, they describe Eric Pepin as an "educated, world reknowned and respected professional". Yes, "reknowned".

No lawyer, not even a very dodgy one, would write a letter like this. This is pseudo-legal posturing, nothing more. And purely going on intuition, I'd bet it was written by Mr. Eric Pepin himself.

The threats at the end are scary, though. If I ever received a letter like this, I would seriously think of notifying the police.

I haven't got the time right now, but the letter has what appears to be a possible real address on it. Have you tried using Google Street View to see if that address if for real, and if so, what's there?
Click to expand...

Yes I've used search engines and even 192, paying a small fee to confirm the property owner is in fact Guy Bailey. Searching on google for 'Guy Bailey' brings up all manner of links relating to this solicitor including the closure of his practice at the solicitors regulation authority. I have contacted them and they informed me that they are unable to assist but they did helpfully redirect me to contact claims management regulator. Which I have done.

My most serious concern is that I am not alone. I strongly believe that Eric Pepin has threatened any member of Higher Balance Institute with legal action who came to their senses.

How did HBI find such a dodgy ex-lawyer such as this man? It's also worth noting that on the facbeook page for HBI they took full credit for this letter in a big triumphant post.
 
My untrained legal eye notes that the claims in the cease and desist letter haves a similar "feel" to those in the SOTT lawsuit. In the latter, the case was dismissed as being without merit, and then the defendant prevailed on a SLAPP motion.

Even loony George R. Simpson did better than that.
 
Eric Pepin has recently released a book called 'Waking the Immortal Within' released on Amazon. In a day it had eight, five star reviews with one, 3 star review and one, one star review.

This was the one the star review: 2 of 18 people found the following review helpful

I was lucky enough to speak to fellow HBI members who shared the techniques which will feature within this book. I had created a profile on facebook and became friends with those who had helped put this material together . I approached the material with an honest and open without prejudice approach. Unfortunately the book consists of mostly magic tricks and misdirection.

The author asks that you meditate in a quite place when using his technique. After finishing your meditation you will almost certainly notice a low pitched buzzing sound. The author claims that this is proof that their teaching method works and that you have absorbed energy/Prana from the universe/Gaia. However what the author fails to mention is that When there is competing environmental sounds, the ringing in your ears can be "masked" or drowned out. Tinnitus in quiet environments occurs because of the adjustment of the neural feedback loop responsible for "gain", sensitivity of the hair cells. These cells produce noise, i.e. electrical impulses, all the time, however the brain dynamically adjusts sensitivity to filter them out.

I was also told that the book will feature techniques to see the human aura. Yet the human body naturally emits bio-photons, radiation, infrared light, electromagnetism and pheromones. None of these are detectable by the human eye.

Your eyes have photo-receptors that capture the reflection of light, creating color. Your eyes are also never still, and constantly moving slightly, which is why your blind spot isn't much of a problem. Your eyes capture the reflection of light and color, and your brain will change it slightly. After seeing an object, your brain creates a shadow of the object, called a focus shadow. This allows us to pay attention to objects better, and also creates the illusion of an 'Aura'.

Anybody who ever claims that you can see the human aura or hear tones is not to be trusted. That is why I have given this book a one star rating.

This comment will be heavily downvoted for using scientific facts. I hope those who are smart enough to read the one star reviews take great caution in choosing to purchase this book.
Click to expand...

The review was heavily down voted and three people had replied. Here are the replies.

not helpful, report, "offtopic information, personal attack on author
Click to expand...
- This would remove the negative review, despite no attack on the author taking place.

Yes I agree Damian!

I am not a Higher Balance Member but I have had experience with the Tones through Transcendental Meditation.

These people who use "science" as if it is infallible. Science has been proven wrong countless times in our history but these Science Fundamentalists tend to forget all that.

I will be buying the book as soon as I finish this comment. 1 star comments without actually trying out the material are better ignored.
Click to expand...

I agree,, seems like some people wake up angry,, wowow I will get this book also because of the 1 star review,, dont understand why someone believes in science so strongly when it has been proven wrong since the beginning of time..remember people use to think the earth was flat haha
Click to expand...

I only know about the release of this book due to post after post on the HBI facebook page.
 
No one here is in a position to evaluate your claims or your truthfulness, so any comments are speculative. IANAL, and no lawyer would give you more than direction on a forum.

This is relevant to US law (and UK law wrt defamation/libel is fairly different but still the provess outline of how to deal with cease&desist letters is relevant.
http://www.dmlp.org/

You received a cease and desist notice regarding defamation of HBI & Pepin (maybe more of a correction/retraction letter perhaps) Alone, that shouldn't cause alarm, but might cause you to act IF you feel the claim has validity. You state that you didn't create or control these "fake" accounts, but you evade the real question - did you defame HBI or Pepin ?

For example the Cease&Desist states that they believe you accused Pepin of being a psychopath, child molester, and the organization of being a cult and a scam. If you did publish such things and you can't demonstrate it's true, or an honest opinion - then you may have a serious problem.

The letter refers to emails that you have been sending customers in an attempt to hurt attendance. It's unclear how you would have access to their customer's emails generally. If you were for example replying to ppl who contacted you via facebook or whatever, then its likely not libel (not published) but might still be covered in UK defamation law (unclear).

Just as troubling that the defamation accusation is the suggestion that you are responsible for copyright violations of their video products. I would have expected them to place that matter front and center. Peculiar they didn't.

I'm not sure how "trying to get someone fired" is any sort of issue that would become the legal concern of HBI or Pepin.

"Reward Claims" is the registrant of the website, listed a "UK Sole Trader" (perhaps similar to a US Sole Proprietorship) and may not show up as a corporation. The registrant address is a residence.

Speculation that the law firm is out of business or that the cease&desist requires a better signature is pointless conjecture; they left you plenty of contact information. Call if you doubt. Someone did serve you with a cease&desist notice on behalf of HBI/Pepin and HBI/Pepin can continue this action through another firm.

You can speculate all day on whether some ISP or IT guy fed them information unlawfully - the main question is whether that info is accurate or not (only you can answer) and secondarily if they can bring such evidence to a court (unlikely if it was obtained as you suspect).

=======

So did you defame this woo-thinker or his woo-based organization ?

To the extent you did defame them - I suggest you consider the cease&desist (plus other) remedies. Of course you'll need to disclaim any control or responsibility for the "fake' accounts, so this involves a round of negotiations of terms.

If OTOH you feel that you have not defamed either, then you can either ignore the cease&desist, or else reply with some detail on your position an why you reject their claim.

If you choose to negotiate or reply you'd be smart to run it past a lawyer.
 
stevea said:
did you defame HBI or Pepin ?

For example the Cease&Desist states that they believe you accused Pepin of being a psychopath, child molester, and the organization of being a cult and a scam. If you did publish such things and you can't demonstrate it's true, or an honest opinion - then you may have a serious problem.
Click to expand...

I was sent the following information. The full post contains URLS to the sources of this information.

2008 - Eric Pepin acquitted of sex charges

A Washington County Circuit judge called the leader of a metaphysical Internet sales company manipulative and controlling and his testimony unbelievable, even as he acquitted him Wednesday of charges that he had sex with an underage boy.

In the 34 hours of audio transcripts from the court case Eric Pepin himself admitted in the trial. (If you don't believe he admitted this, order a copy of the court transcript from Washington County Circuit Court in Washington County Oregon.) He's what Mr. Pepin himself admitted in the trial under oath:

- Pepin admitted to having sex with seven of his eleven employees (all male).

- Pepin admitted to having three way sex with the alleged victim and Pepin's co-defendant jamison dwight priebe.
(Also an employee of Higher Balance).

- Pepin admitted to being sexually attracted to the victim when he first met the victim at age 17.

- Pepin admitted to being in the same sleeping bag with the victim on a camping trip before the victim turned 18. Even though Pepin said he was sexually attracted to the victim, he claimed that nothing happened on that camping trip.

Judge Steven L. Price, after a five-day trial without a jury, found Eric James Pepin, 40, not guilty of two counts of second-degree sexual abuse, four counts of third-degree sexual abuse and one count of using a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct.

However, Price said it was "probable that the conduct alleged in all counts occurred," but he wasn't convinced beyond a reasonable doubt. "There's a lack of strong corroboration," such as a date-stamp on a videotape of the sexual encounter, the judge said.

Later in 2008 -Civil lawsuit

Chris Young, the victim in the alleged sex abuse case had been quoted by his lawyer in turning down $250,000 from Eric Pepin to stop the case reaching trial. However, Eric Pepin now faced a civil lawsuit for the sex-abuse charges.
Rather than clear his name in court, Eric Pepin settled the case for an undisclosed sum in August. Also in 2008 Brooksby Kaempf filed suit against Eric Pepin in Multnomah County Circuit Court seeking $61,138 in alleged unpaid legal fees.
Eric chose to not pay his legal fee's and instead filled for bankruptcy.


The Core Higher Balance Teaching levels

Should you wish to learn about The Higher Balance Institute method to enlightenment you will need to progress through seven cores levels.

Core 1 - Dimensional Consciousness - Full price - $413 Package Price - $289
Core 2 -The Secret Key - Full price - $711 Package Price - $497
Core 3 - Phoenix Rising - Full price - $990 Package Price - $693
Core 4 - Mind Mechanix- Full price - $1032 Package Price - $722
Core 5 - The Unknown Door - Full price - $1490 Package Price - $1043
Core 6 - The Navigator - Full price - $1183 Package Price - $828
Core 7 - Circle of Masters - Full price - $796 Package Price - $557
Total Full price - $6615 Total Package Price - $4340


The Siddhis Cube scam - Manifestation Cube

Higher Balance Institute claims that the cube can alter the fabric of reality.

1st Cube. $20,000, 2nd Cube - $7,500, 3rd Cube - $2,500, 4th Cube - $1,500

If the 1st Cube is beyond your reach, never fear. You can also choose from a $7,500, $2,500, and $1,500 model. All are imbued with Eric's special unique Eric-ness, but the cheaper ones have less Eric in them. The cheapest one has only a little bit of Eric in it and isn't even personalized. But it's better than no Eric at all.
Yet when we scroll down to the very bottom of the page, in tiny writting we can read:

"Higher Balance Cannot guarantee any spiritual, metaphysical or any other result from this item. For all intents and purposes, this item is considered an art piece. "


Eric Pepin Sues The Internet for $4.47 million dollars - March 13, 2008
Higher Balance Institute v. Signs of the Times

HBI claims that employees of the Quantum Future Group posted defamatory statements about it on one of the website's forums. According to the complaint, these statements include allegedly false claims that HBI is a "front for pedophilia," that HBI is "conning the public," that meditation, as sold by HBI is an act of "falling into confluence with a psychopathic reality," and that HBI is a "cointelpro" organization. Cmplt. ¶23. (The Signs of the Times website uses the term "cointelpro" to refer to organizations that it claims perpetuate the ethos of a 1970s FBI counter intelligence program designed to quell domestic dissent.)

The complaint, filed in federal district court in Oregon, contains claims for defamation, false light invasion of privacy, and intentional interference with business relationships and prospective economic advantage. HBI seeks over $4 million in damages and an injunction. On April 25, 2008, Quantum Future Group moved to strike the complaint pursuant to Oregon's anti-SLAPP statute, Or. Rev. Stat. § 31.150.
Update:

4/25/2008 - Quantum Future Group filed motions to dismiss for failure to state a claim on which relief can be granted and for lack of personal jurisdiction.

5/19/2008 - Quantum Future School, Signs of the Times, and Knight-Jadezyk filed special motions to strike the complaint under Oregon's anti-SLAPP statute and joined Quantum Future Group's motion to strike.

12/18/2008 - The district court granted the defendants' motions to strike the complaint under Oregon's anti-SLAPP statute. The court's decision relied in part on section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

06/18/2009- The court granted in part the defendants' motion for attorney's fees. The court found the request of over $135,000 to be excessive, and so awarded $51,500.

After Eric's case was thrown out of court and he was ordered to pay $51,500 in legal fee's.
Eric was quoted as saying:
"Sometimes when you win you lose, sometimes you lose you really win" - Eric Pepin

Allegations of sexual grooming

Rijken says he came to Pepin with burning questions about the nature of good and evil. Pepin again took him to his bedroom, Rijken says, and described an ancient ritual that would allow Rijken to join Pepin’s inner circle and attain enlightenment in this lifetime. All he had to do, Rijken says, was masturbate in front of Pepin.

“He told me, ‘Never tell anyone what happens in this room.’ And he went on to say I should never get on his bad side,” Rijken says. “I felt very uncomfortable. I knew something was wrong.”

Rijken says he left immediately. When he returned the next day and said he didn’t want to join the inner circle, Pepin banished him, he says. No one else from Higher Balance would return his calls.

The Magnetic Pill Scam

Previously the magnetic pill was named magneurol-6-s. Owned and operated by the Higher Balance Institute, it promised magical powers should you invest hundreds of dollars in their vitamin pill. On the release of Mangneurol-s6 they made wild and wacky claims that you can achieve spiritual enlightenment by swallowing their pills. The claims where soon reported and 'REMCURE ENTERPRISES, INC.' was shut down and replaced with 'REMCURE ENTERPRISES, LLC'.

This time around having learned their lesson. The fictional abilities the magical pill was able to produce became more realistic. By realistic they simply explained how each vitamin works and how it's beneficial for you. You can achieve the exact same result for a 1/5th of the cost by buying some multivitamin pills and some cod liver oil.
Click to expand...

I'd say it would be pretty easy to prove any of those claims.
 
christopherbanks said:
I was sent the following information. The full post contains URLS to the sources of this information.



I'd say it would be pretty easy to prove any of those claims.
Click to expand...

@christopherbanks,

Please do not spam this forum. The wall of text you pasted is available on the Internet at another site. A simple link would suffice; brief snippets if you feel compelled to quote; the full text, no.

Also, please be clear on your motives for posting here. So far, it looks like you simply want to further propagate a smear campaign against Eric Pepin. Eric Pepin appears to deserve very much to be smeared, but let's keep it true to the purpose of the JREF forum.

Current events, please. Not speculation; not personal anecdotes.
 
jsfisher said:
@christopherbanks,

Please do not spam this forum. The wall of text you pasted is available on the Internet at another site. A simple link would suffice; brief snippets if you feel compelled to quote; the full text, no.

Also, please be clear on your motives for posting here. So far, it looks like you simply want to further propagate a smear campaign against Eric Pepin. Eric Pepin appears to deserve very much to be smeared, but let's keep it true to the purpose of the JREF forum.

Current events, please. Not speculation; not personal anecdotes.
Click to expand...

Apologies, although I singled out the information that would support my case against the accusations and you're right. It would of been more appropriate to claim that it can be substantiated via the link.

My motivation is to bring into discussions a cult that mirrors itself upon Scientology. I believe we are seeing the early days of this cult and the latest information I have been given is that Eric Pepin has moved to Santa Rosa CA and is attempting to move all staff and members to this city. The Scientology project 'Operation Normandy' against Clearwater FL springs to mind.

I do not want to see people trapped inside a cult that they cannot leave because they have built their live upon that cult. If I have to go to court for 'libel' for citing news articles, legal cases and HBI sources. I just hope my actions help others avoid this cult.
 
You might be interested in Popehat, a blog run by some rather geeky lawyers with an extreme love for the first amendment. They have a huge following of like-minded lawyers, and they love nothing more than helping people get pro-bono support to defend against frivolous or SLAPP lawsuits involving protected speech (actual facts and personal opinions count as protected speech; lies, unless they're so outrageous as to clearly constitute hyperbole, which is a tricky line to walk, do not). If you tell them about the situation, they might send out the "Popehat Signal" for you.

Here's an example of a successful application of the Popehat Signal: http://www.popehat.com/2014/07/06/popehat-signal-update-dream-team-victory-in-texas/

Now, if you've actually gone so far as to lie about this religious group, then there may be nothing Popehat can do for you, but if you think you've confined yourself to facts and opinion, there's a chance they'll be willing to help. Note that simply calling them a cult may actually be a problem. So I don't know how far you'll get, but overall, this sounds like the sort of thing that Popehat loves, so you might have a shot. And the fact that you have a C&D definitely suggests you should do something.

Be warned, though: the Popehat guys are very acerbic and have scant patience with stupidity. Fortunately, it sounds like the bulk of the stupidity is on the other side, but....
 
christopherbanks said:
How did HBI find such a dodgy ex-lawyer such as this man? It's also worth noting that on the facbeook page for HBI they took full credit for this letter in a big triumphant post.
Click to expand...

So somehow, they managed to find a dodgy ex-solicitor who has apparently set up shop as a dodgy bill collector of sorts (going by the corporate name he uses).

I should have known better than to state that no real lawyer would write something as absurd as this, and remembered advice from a smart real lawyer friend of mine (who specializes in the rather arcane field of maritime law). He doesn't have a very high opinion of his colleagues in the general field, and maintains that all you need to get a law degree is a good memory for written text. Intelligence, let alone ethics, is entirely optional.

I don't know how it works in the UK, but where I live lawyers charge by the hour, and/or by the number of pages of legalese they send out. This leads to there being a class of lawyers, usually individual practitioners, who can spot suckers from a long distance away, and are more than happy to send off pointless, multi-page letters if they think they've spotted a client who doesn't know the first thing about the law but who is willing and able to pay for these pointless letters. Whether or not the content of such letters has any real legal relevance, or would stand up in any court of law, doesn't matter to them. They can bill their client.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom