> which the programmer did (offering a different document to sign). \n\n IIUC, at that point, the lawyer went away

The article says that the organization refused the counter-offer and doubled down instead

> he should have talked to his own lawyer for advice

Costing how much? Next I'll need a lawyer for telling the supermarket that their alarm system code was being overlooked by someone from the bushes

It's not bad legal advice and I won't discourage anyone from talking to a lawyer, but it makes things way more costly than they need be. There's a thousand cases like this already online to be found if you want to know how to handle this type of response

Sounds very usa-esque (or perhaps unusually wealthy) to retain a lawyer as "sounding board"