The reason stupid people in these situations do not forgo lawyers and defend themselves is that they are always told "You can't win." Well, you can't win if you do not try and sign a settlement. Defend yourself, drag it out as long as you can, and let the software company, or whoever, spend all they want on lawyers. If the Judge has any business sitting on the bench, he will protect you from just being double-talked to death and look at the merits of the case, rather than how handsome that lawyer they hired is. If you lose, what exactly did you lose that you were not going to lose already? The money they owe you? Go to legalzoom.com or a local lawyer and pay a flat rate to have them draw up a counter suit for you, then help the evil company spend even more money defending against it. For god's sake, convicts do this all the time, hundreds of suits a year, even. Eventually, the company might just pay you to go the hell away, or you might actually win, if you are not dumber than a convicted felon. Are you dumber than a convicted felon?