ATT: to all those facing Lawsuit/ Judgement

[George2037]

Just wanted to say again how important it is that you show up for court when CA files for Judgement.  I was in Small Claims for a Judgement filed against me (still in litigation, CA is 4 yrs past SOL but fighting it, my lawyer is all over it also with a possible counter suit).

While waiting for my case to be heard I counted 16 cases where neither the CA or the Debtor showed and the CA recieved default Judgement and can collect the debt.  If the Debtor had showed and contested it with the CA not there they could have had the case dismissed with Prejudice..meaning never again can the CA sue (similar to a cop not showing for traffic court). 

Court is not a scary place to be, don't be scared....show up!!!  Even if you can't afford a lawyer, you always have that off chance the CA's Attorney wont show and boom it's gone.

[Anonymous]

I think they are counting on you NOT showing - and they win!  You show and request a trial they have to produce all sorts of evidence - which they probably don't have.

The internet is a wonderful tool to prepare yourself for court - you can research, get sample motions, etc. And making a lawyer look unprepared, dunmb, etc in court is a great perk in itself.

[Anonymous]

Excellent words of wisdom George! Thank you for the post.

[Anonymous]

Thank you, great advice.

[George2037]

I only wish I had known about SOL and Judgements 2 years ago.  Had 3 Judgements and my wages garnished for 1.5yrs for debts that were 1.) Had Inccorect name listed on lawsuit, 2.) No evidence subited to courts supporting debt, and 3.) SOL had run out by 1 year.   I got scared and didn't show up to court, they got default Judgement.  The Lawyer I hired for this 4th one looked at the default ones from 2 years ago and shook his head......$12k I could have saved by just showing up to court cause NONE of the CA attorneys showed up to court either   

To top it off none of them have filed PIF documents to the clerk as of today, so my public records still show $12k of outstanding Judgements (I'm assuming that's why I'm stuck at 650).  Once this 4th one is done we are going after the 3 CA Attorneys with inaccurate info on my CR.  I'm going to ask they all be vacated and dismissed with Predjudice just to get them off my CR in exchange for the ATTY's not filing PIF.

[Anonymous]

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George2037 wrote:

While waiting for my case to be heard I counted 16 cases where neither the CA or the Debtor showed and the CA recieved default Judgement and can collect the debt. 

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If neither party shows up, isn't the case dismissed? How does the CA get a default judgment if it isn't even there?  Is this something that could vary in different jurisdictions?

You do make an excellent point that it is always better to show up than to stick your head in the sand.