Have You Been Sued?

Lawsuit Defense Services.

 

If you have been served with a lawsuit summons, you should take the matter very seriously. Your answer to the plaintiff’s complaint usually needs to be filed and served within thirty (30) days of the date that the summons and complaint were delivered to you. (Note that this deadline is only five days in unlawful detainer cases.)

 

Don’t Delay!

If you do not properly respond to a summons and complaint, a debt collector can get a default judgment against you, seize your bank accounts or assets, garnish your wages, file a lien against your home, and more. You must never ignore a lawsuit being prosecuted against you

 

The good news is that the situation is manageable. Take a deep breath.  It’s going to be ok.  We have worked out a way for you represent yourself in the lawsuit with our help. We can start helping you for a deposit of $250. 

 

We prepare all the necessary papers for you and provide you with professional advice every step of the way.  From 2009 to 2011, 60% of our DIY Program clients won their cases and paid nothing to the debt collectors. Almost all the rest of our clients settled for a reasonable amount and only one of them lost at trial (that person waited too long and called us only five days before trial).

 

Plus, you are in control of your defense and your legal costs at all times. You keep your own calendar.  We perform only those tasks that you authorize us to do. 

 

Here is what you can usually expect.

 

THE FIRST THREE MONTHS OF YOUR CASE

 

Answering the Complaint

It usually costs $100 for us to provide you with a professionally prepared Answer to an unverified complaint, along with detailed, easy-to understand instructions for filing and serving the Answer. All you need to do is sign and date the documents, follow our instructions, and pay any fees that the court may charge for the filing.

 

Where’s the Evidence?

We can help you make discovery requests to make the debt collector share its files and evidence with you. It usually costs $75 for us to provide you with a professionally prepared demand for production of documents, again with detailed instructions for serving the demand to the plaintiff’s lawyer and tracking the response.

 

Get Professional Advice

You can always call or email us with your questions during your case. A quick email exchange with one of our attorneys might cost about $12.50, while a 12 minute telephone consultation would be approximately $25.00.

In general, you can expect to spend about $80 on attorney consultation during the first 3 months of a case.

 

THE SECOND THREE MONTHS OF YOUR CASE

 

Give the Court What it Wants

A Case Management Statement usually must be filed with the court a couple months after you Answer the Complaint. It usually costs about $60 for us to prepare a Case Management Statement for you.

 

Settlement or Trial? The choice is yours. We can help you negotiate a settlement or move your case toward trial.

 

THE LAST PHASE - WINNING (HOPEFULLY)

We should be able to tell you if you have a good chance of winning after reviewing the debt collector's file. If we think you can win and pay nothing to the debt collector, we will advise you to let us help you prepare for trial. Trial preparation usually costs about $250.  In our experience about half the time the debt collector will dismiss its case before trial when it realizes that you are not backing down. If trial is necessary you can represent yourself, or you can hire us for the day to show up at trial for you.

 

You always have the option of switching to full service representation for the trial or at any point in the case. We charge a flat fee of $500 for a one day trial

 

*Your results may vary. Every case is unique.  This statistic should not be used to forecast your particular outcome.