GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 41 - July 2018

I first found out about the arbitration clause when their lawyers finally in the 11 th hour responded to the court and my claim. Due to the arbitration clause, my claim would automatically be multi-tracked, meaning my company was exposed to all their le- gal costs should their stay application be successful, which it was. It was certainly an experience to tick off my bucket list. I was in court up against a barrister who also had a paralegal there to assist. The judge stayed their claim due to the arbitration clause and through their bar- rister, Interactive Technology Corporation Limited requested their full costs of £21,000 inclusive of VAT to be paid bymy company. In the event, the judge awarded costs of £10,000 plus VAT, just shy of £12,000, to be paid within 14 days. This happened six days before Christmas. But the irony of all this is that the owners of Affiliate Edge had to pay £9,000 of their total costs – £4,000 more than what I was claiming for. My claim was not proven one way or the other. I am certainly not taking up arbi- tration, as the losing side is exposed to all costs that this process entails. I have been advised it could be £50k plus. For £5,000, this does not make commercial sense. What would I advise affiliates who are considering this action? Employ the services of a lawyer. I was naïve and got burned badly. Lesson learned! On the GPWA forums, a thread was started, asking for fellowmembers to aid you with legal fees. Tell us what that meant to you and your case. Duncan Garvie, owner of thepogg.com , and Bryan Bailey, aka Casinomeister.com, wow. They were with me every step of the way after my day in court on 19 Decem- ber 2017. I cannot thank them enough. It was their idea to gather the affiliate community and my peers to help assist in covering the legal costs I got hit with. I had to instruct a lawyer to ensure I could publicly state what the outcome of the stay application was. Affiliate Edge’s barrister had requested for the court proceedings to be held in private, although there was nothing on the court order to suggest that the outcome was to be kept confidential. I got the green light frommy lawyer at the be- ginning of February that, yes, I couldmake public the outcome of the stay application, and Duncan decided to post about this the week after the LAC had completed. In any event, Affiliate Edge took out an advertorial with Players Publishing and their Trafficology magazine, mentioning the outcome of the case. I have to say, I am truly humbled by every- one who pledged, assisting me. I cannot express how grateful I and my family are. We could have raised double the amount we were seeking within 24 hours. I was and still am blown away by the support from my peers. I will never forget this, and it is my aim to pay it forward in the future. For too long the iGaming industry has been allowed to pretty much do whatever we have wanted . Now player safety and responsible gambling , in the U.K. anyway, are at the forefront of what we do . This is a really good thing. 55 W W W . G P W A T I M E S . O R G