Speak to someone in the clerk’s office. Explain that you believe you’re the defendant in a lawsuit filed against you and are looking to find out more information. Ideally, if you have it, provide them with the case number.
Full Answer
5) Talk with the clerk of the court for specifics of filing in that court. 6) Pay the filing fee and file the original at the Court in which the Complaint was filed. 7) Get a couple conformed (court-stamped) copies of the document. 8) Keep one for yourself and provide the other copy to the opposing side. Additional resources provided by the author
Mar 03, 2009 ·
Do nothing; If you do nothing, the plaintiff can – and probably will! – ask the court for a default judgment. You may have other options as well. The best way to evaluate your options is to speak to a lawyer. An attorney might be able to identify defenses that apply to you or even help you settle your case out of court.
When a court decides someone is "indigent" - with few assets and no funds to pay an attorney - generally either a private lawyer will be appointed by the court and paid with county funds, or a public defender program will be appointed to represent the person.
Even if you do not have the money to pay the debt, always go to court when you are told to go. A creditor or debt collector can win a lawsuit against you even if you are penniless. The lawsuit is not based on whether you can pay—it is based on whether you owe the specific debt amount to that particular plaintiff.
If you do not pay, the creditor can start collecting the judgment right away as long as: The judgment has been entered. You can go to the court clerk's office and check the court's records to confirm that the judgment has been entered; and.
You might be able to prevent collection of a judgment by negotiating with the creditor or claiming property as exempt. If a creditor sues you and gets a judgment, it has a whole host of collection methods available to get its money from you, including wage attachments, property levies, assignment orders, and more.
If you do nothing, the plaintiff can – and probably will! – ask the court for a default judgment. You may have other options as well. The best way to evaluate your options is to speak to a lawyer. An attorney might be able to identify defenses that apply to you or even help you settle your case out of court.
File an answer. Filing an answer is probably the most common way of responding to a lawsuit. An answer is your opportunity to respond to the complaint’s factual allegations and legal claims. It also allows you to assert "affirmative defenses," facts or legal arguments you raise to defeat plaintiff’s claim.
Insufficiency of service of process. That means plaintiff did not properly serve the summons and complaint on you. Failure to state a claim. In other words, you are arguing that plaintiff failed to state a legal claim in the complaint, and there is no relief legally available to plaintiff based on her allegations.
File a motion to dismiss or for a more definite statement. There are a number of reasons why you might file a motion to dismiss, including: Lack of jurisdiction. In other words, the court does not have jurisdiction over you. Click to visit Deciding Where to File for more information about jurisdiction.
However you decide to respond to the lawsuit, remember there are deadlines to take action. Typically, you have twenty calendar days from when you received the summons and complaint (not counting the day of service) to file a response with the court. But that time might be shorter in some cases.
What happens next will depend on what you filed. If you filed an answer, the case will move forward. To see how a civil case moves through the district court or justice court, click on these flowcharts:#N#Flowchart - Civil Case in District Court#N#Flowchart - Civil Case in Justice Court
Overview. If you have received a summons and complaint, that probably means you are being sued. Being sued can be one of life’s most stressful experiences. Although it might be tempting to ignore a summons and complaint, ignoring a lawsuit does not make it go away.
Your best bet is, as noted, if you have business insurance that covers it. But, most insurers will try to settle and in this case that likely means you change your name. There may be someone who actually is a good trademark lawyer and takes litigation on a contingency, but I haven't met him or her in almost 4 decades of trademark practice.
Most trademark infringement cases do not go to trial. If your company has a decent defense, the case should settle during discovery. To do so, you should retain an experienced trademark litigation to defend the case. If your company can't afford to defend the case, than it will have to default.
While you are right that lawyers rarely take trademark infringement cases on contingency, you failed to make a distinction between representing a plaintiff and a defendant. A lawyer will never defend a case of contingency because there is nothing to take a percentage of upon success.
If you are being sued in connection with a business you are running whether personal or otherwise and have business insurance with advertising injury coverage, you may be covered in which case your insurance will pay for an attorney.
You are between that rock and hard place. Only an attorney can represent and defend the LLC in court. If you cannot afford to hire an attorney to represent the LLC, your only options are to allow the plaintiff to obtain a default judgment (not a good idea) or settle the matter...
Trademark infringement is a personal tort action and perhaps in this case only the entity is being named in the complaint, but of course you personally can be named and held accountable.
An LLC, like a corporation, cannot represent itself in court other than small claims court. You could hire an attorney to draft and file a response to the complaint. However, if the complaint sufficiently alleges the elements of trademark infringement, the complaint won't be dismissed.
In a criminal proceeding, if you can't afford legal assistance, a court will appoint an attorney for you. In a civil case, generally described as a dispute between two private parties, to get legal representation, you have to get creative. Here's how to find legal help if you can't afford a lawyer:
That is, if you lose your case, you won't pay money, but if you win, the law firm will take a portion of the money awarded to you. However, it's important to tread carefully before picking a lawyer. Choose a reputable attorney and make sure the rate is agreed upon before the lawyer takes your case.
And to add fuel to the fire, spending time preparing for a court case can mean losing wages or part of a salary. In short, if you don't have the time to self-educate, and if you can't find enough free legal advice to help you have your day in court, it's a wise decision to seek out a competent attorney.
The Akron Bar Association, in Akron, Ohio, is an example of what's out there. You can call the second and fourth Fridays of each month from 9 to 11 a.m., as part of their Ask an Attorney Service, and they'll answer legal questions for free.
Legal aid societies are nonprofit organizations found in almost every corner of the country that provide free legal services to low-income people. While this is certainly worth exploring, the problem for many households is that the individual or couple makes too much money to qualify for help.
It's risky for lawyers to take cases on contingency, and they need to be confident a judge or jury will side with you, and that there's going to be something sizable awarded to you. While no legal expert will suggest you represent yourself, it is an option if you're in a financial bind.
For instance, you can't go to small claims court if you're trying to work out your financial affairs after a divorce. But if the stakes are fairly low where someone owes you money or is trying to collect money from you, and it isn't worth risking lawyer fees, you might consider small claims court.
If you have received a notice that you are being sued, you may be understandably devastated. What can make the lawsuit even worse is when you do not have the means to be able to pay for the lawsuit. Even if you win, the time and money spent working toward a settlement can be extremely costly.
Stop creditors from garnishing your wages. These are all very real situations that can cause you to stress and make you fear for your — and your family’s — future. As soon as you start to work with Castle Law Office, you are in good hands.
When you become aware that you will not be able to afford the lawsuit and maintain your current expenses, filing for bankruptcy can be a reasonable recourse. Filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy can stop a lawsuit from going further. Here are a few ways it can help: Stop creditors from harassing you.
Creditor lawsuits are civil suits filed in state courts and each state has its own names for their lower courts. Some of the names are:
Speak to someone in the clerk’s office. Explain that you believe you’re the defendant in a lawsuit filed against you and are looking to find out more information. Ideally, if you have it, provide them with the case number.
Hearing the words “you’ve been served” is a dreaded thing. It can feel overwhelming to be served with a lawsuit, especially if you’re being sued for unpaid debts. A lot of people face debt problems at some point in their lives. If you’re facing debt-related challenges, you’re not alone and you do have options.
The length of the statute of limitations varies by state and typically falls between 3 – 10 years from the date of the first defaulted payment or the date of the last payment received, depending on the approach taken by each state.
You can always pay the debt in full with a lump sum payment. You can also pay the debt in full over time by entering into a payment plan with the creditor, if your creditor is amenable to this solution. This is a possible resolution even after a lawsuit has been filed but has not yet concluded. Your creditor wants to resolve the suit so they can avoid racking up legal fees, court costs, and other legal costs when there is a risk that you could file for bankruptcy and they would potentially receive nothing.
Chances are that after the months of missed payments stack up, the original creditor will cut its losses and sell the debt to a debt collection agency. Your account will read as “charged-off” on your credit report, which may decrease your credit score.
If all collection activity fails and you continue to default, a debt collection lawsuit can be filed against you. Unpaid debt doesn’t just go away. It continues to be reported on your credit report, harming your credit score, and leaving you at risk of potentially being sued.
For example, as soon as you miss a credit card payment, the credit card company will begin calling the phone number on file.
This negative reporting will likely decrease your credit score, making future borrowing more costly in the form of higher interest rates and annual fees on credit cards.