Sadly, unless you really know what you're doing, you have to pay a lawyer to respond to their lawyers, and that process can be dragged out in any number of ways, either intentionally or just because the system has a lot of process and red tape.

In addition, they can request to do things like: - Request a court order to stop you from doing any further side work until the case is settled - Depose all your friends and co-workers - Seize all your equipment for analysis - Change the venue to another state if corporate HQ isn't where you live, requiring travel for you (and your lawyers) for meetings

You can, of course, object to all this in front of a judge...but that requires a lawyer too.

This all adds up over time, and every phone call, letter, meeting, or appearance in court costs hundreds of dollars per hour (and usually billed in whole-hour increments) for your lawyer to represent you. Eventually, some people can no longer afford to defend themselves.

Note: IANAL - these are only things I have witnessed personally.