Unles you are headed to circuit court you will not need to hire an attorney - you can represent yourself in small claims with the advice (via a free consult) from an attorney.
Did you receive anything with the summons - any documentary paperwork?
Typical 'answer' will include:
Defendent denies all allegations made by plaintiff and requests the earliest possible date for trial.
(1) Defendant is requesting discovery of all media related to this action (list from Lonnsters DV on the motion)
(2) Defendent asserts that Statute of Limitations has expired.(prep motion)
(3) Defendent is filing a counterclaim for violations of FCRA, FACTA, FDCPA and (your state's Consumer law)
(4) Plaintiff failed to properly serve defendent under the laws of _____(state). (Make them prove good service)
(5) Defendent is filing a counterclaim for wrongful suit, defamation of character and harrassment. (this has to do with them filing after SOL has run and since they are attorneys they know about SOL)
Now prep 2 motions and 2 counter claims and on #3 & 5 ask for the max allowed by your small claims court (can always be lowered but not raised) The counterclaim must be detailed as to which sections of the code you feel they have violated (but not how - that is for court)
Present to Judge in the following order: 4,2,1,3,5
Message Edited by Lady_Scarlet on
01-11-2008 01:42 PMMessage Edited by Lady_Scarlet on
01-11-2008 01:52 PM
Good stuff. And even better that you will be at least trying to get whatever free legal services you can. There are usually free Legal Clinics, lots of attys will give you a consult, and also the Legal Aid hotline here in NY should give you a few numbers of attys that do so. 