corporate-law breach-of-contract litigation
Why do large companies make legal battles public?
<p>It would seem big companies try to keep litigation private and confidential. I guess this is so they can save face and it would like bad for business regardless of the outcome of the court may be. Is my understanding correct?</p>

<p>On the other hand, on rare occasions you have companies that try to make law suits go very public. Why do they some times choose to get the medias attention for lawsuits? </p>

<p>Here are some examples I have in mind</p>

<p><a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/riskfactor/computing/it/bridgestone-sues-ibm-for-fraud-in-600-million-lawsuit-over-failed-it-implementation" rel="nofollow noreferrer">This one</a>
<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/ibm-groupon-idUSL2N186228" rel="nofollow noreferrer">And this</a>
<a href="https://www.computerworld.com/article/2493504/manufacturer-sues-ibm-over-sap-project--disaster-.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">And finally this</a></p>

<p>The spokes people for the company could have just said nothing.</p>

<h2>Legal battles <em>are</em> public</h2>

<p>Litigation is a <em>government</em> function and, at least in liberal democracies, government is publicly accountable. Courts in common law systems <em>make</em> law and people need to know what the law is. Politicians need to know what courts are deciding so that, if they don’t agree with the law, they can change it. The public needs to know so they can follow it.</p>

<p>Private citizens (including big companies) are free to settle their disputes any way they like and can agree on - negotiation, mediation, arbitration etc. - and they can keep those processes and outcomes secret if they agree to. However, when they ask the <em>government</em> to resolve their dispute they are asking the <em>public</em> to do so (through their agents) and the public needs to know.</p>

<p>If they don’t want the publicity, they can accept the <em>status quo</em> or agree on a confidential outcome. Deciding to initiate litigation is a (commercial) decision to, among other things, go public.</p>

<p>Court dockets are public, so anything filed with the court is available for people to read. I imagine there are always reporters checking for interesting cases. Also, losing these cases are potentially very costly, so I believe they are usually mentioned in company filings as potential losses otherwise you could also have a shareholder suit.</p>

<p>As with anything that large companies do the PR (Public Relations department) will take a look at what's happening and then decide if and how to publicly communicate about this. If they go actively public, it's typically for a specific reason or business goal.</p>

<p>In most cases the goal is to either shore up public support or to scare off other potential law suit targets. The latter one is very typical for IP (Patent) law suits. You public sue one or two egregious offenders and that strengthens your negotiation position with other (and perhaps stronger) companies. Other infringing parties are way more likely to settle, pay license fees, or make other accommodations/compensation if you have a strong track record of dragging offenders into court (successfully, that is).</p>
