You need to call an attorney. Any other advice you get here is bad advice.
Why? Why is your opinion the best? Are you an attorney? Are you an attorney he's called?
This statement has no value, it's almost a paradox,.
Where's the proof behind it? Do you have have statistics? It seems to me to be purely a pass the buck statement.
But if you don't believe me just speak to any attorney.
Also I can tell you as someone who's looked at the software industry for over twenty years that YES not knowing what you're doing can be very costly.
Of course a lawyer can still give you bad advice, but that may be a reason to talk to more than one lawyer rather than guessing which is unlikely to help.
So when I'm getting a house built, talking to friends is no use and forbidden, I should only talk to a builder?
If a house falls down I could be killed, that's way worse than being sued.
Sounds like nonsense, but why? Every day we do things that put our lives in non specialist hands but it's a legal issue suddenly "only ever talk to lawyers."
Yes advice must be taken lightly, especially on the internet. Experts have a time and a place. But living in fear can be worse.
I personally would prefer free internet advice than selling out and becoming part of the problem. That to me is a fate worse than being sued.
Others however might prefer a mix, they also might have more on the line than me. That's all good.
But don't let the fear take over and make you irrational. The worst thing with the patent wars is not the suing it's the fear it's creating.
OTOH, I'd say there is a non-zero chance that some HN user might see this and be able to reply something to the effect of "Yeah, went through a similar problem with that same firm last year. Contact me by email and I'll tell you how it went down."
The law is serious business.
The OPs point is that a competent lawyer will be able to evaluate the relevant law in the relevant jurisdiction(s) and ask relevant questions before giving advice. While advice given on HN may sometimes be right in regards to the law, it is so often wrong that it's best to just go see a lawyer. (Or if you really think the advice is that good, bring the advice to the lawyer)
When dealing with the law and giving people options as to what they might do it's important to note that it's information and not advice. If someone actually gives advice on hacker news then you should definitely not take it. Someone giving information is generally the first clue that they the information they are giving might be relevant in their jurisdiction.