Looking for legal advice

In My Humble Opinion
21

The state or provincial bar has a referral service. If one doesn’t, I’d be very surprised. All you need to do is make a phone call, and it’s often an 800 toll-free number. Say that you’d like a referral to a local lawyer that handles the kind of matter you are dealing with. For example, “I’d like a referral to a lawyer that can …”

Handle my divorce.
Represent me in a criminal matter.
Sue somebody for [reason].
Draft a will for my spouse and me.
Create a corporation for my family business.

And so on. Here, in my jurisdiction, if you request a referral from the Law Society (same as a bar association in the US), you’ll get a list of three names and contact information of lawyers who practice in the area where you need help. Plus, going through the referral service gives you up to 30 minutes of a free consultation. That won’t apply everywhere, but it can’t hurt to ask about it.

That should help answer the question of how you find a lawyer.

22

A good suggestion but I don’t belong to any groups like that.

23

You should seriously consider asking your insurance company what happens if you seek to recover on your own directly from the trucking company and the judgment is for less than what the insurance company has already paid you.

24

The insurance company hasn’t really paid me anything. They paid the garages that did the repairs on my car. I had to pay a thousand dollars of this repair cost (my deductible). And all this money was paid out last year.

So neither the insurance company nor the garages owe me any money and I’m not seeking money from them.

25

Well, he can pretty much call or walk into any law office and ask if they’ll take his case. Which most of them will say it isn’t worth their time. Just think of it. If he gets a lawyer to take it on contingency, that’s $330 to the lawyer. How many letters/pleadings/appearances will $330 get you? Find me a lawyer who is able to support themself billing less than $100 an hour?

He’s going to be getting a pretty low-level atty anyway, so he might as well go with the billboard guy.

If he is so broke that the grand is worth the hassle, he can maybe qualify for legal aid. He should be able to look that up on-line.

You could probably sue in either - or where the company is headquartered. But why not do it where is most convenient to you? Call the clerk of court in your county. Or go down to the county courthouse. Do it on a Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon when they aren’t too busy, after they’ve gotten back from lunch but well before they are planning on leaving for the day. They are generally very helpful.

Well, not everyone is immoral and doesn’t believe they ought to pay their debts. But the injured party could always go to small claims court. You would have to pay the costs of defending. If you don’t defend, the plaintiff will get a default judgment. And with any judgment, the plaintiff can try to file a lien, etc. Might even get costs. But collecting on a judgment is a whole nuther matter.

When I was a sophomore in college, my roommate and I successfully sued in small claims for our security deposit. Maybe $300. It is not rocket science. But you. have to decide how much your time and effort are worth.

26

It’s my understanding that they’ll refer anyone in good standing with the bar association; IOW, has paid their dues to the bar association & done the minimum number of con ed hrs & not necessarily a ‘good’ lawyer & that calling them isn’t much better than (in days of olde) opening the yellow pages & closing your eyes & pointing.

27

When do I sue in a Town or Village Court?
If the defendant lives, works, has a place for doing business, or
owns property you are/were renting (and your claim is related to
your tenancy or lease) in a Town or Village, you can use the Small
Claims Court:
• In that Town or Village (for up to $3,000), or
• In any City Court in that county (for up to $5,000).
When do I sue in a City Court?
If the defendant lives, works, has a place for doing business, or
owns property you are/were renting (and your claim is related to
your tenancy or lease) in a county, you can use the Small Claims
Court in any City Court in that county for a claim up to $5,000.

28

Just because it’s not worth getting a lawyer involved doesn’t mean there is nothing you can do. Where I live, the sheriff or marshal will enforce a judgement I get on small claims court. I was told that if necessary they will stand next to the cash register and take any cash that comes in. Not sure about that, but they can seize or place a lien on bank accounts, real estate or motor vehicles , get a business license suspended , get a driver’s license and/or registration suspended , or have your wages garnished. Is it going to work all the time - no. But I’m pretty sure a trucking company will pay if the alternative is losing a truck or their business license. And the marshal/sheriff doesn’t cost several thousand dollars. They get 5% of the judgement plus fees - in NYC marshal’s and sheriffs will charge up to $45 plus up to another $70 in mileage. Not worth it for a couple of hundred dollars but sometimes you don’t even need to enforce it, they pay up as soon as you get the judgement. And it absolutely would be worth it for a few thousand.

29

That’s one of the issues I have to ask about. The trucking company is located in California. As far as I can tell, they don’t have a local office. So I’m going to have to argue that they were working here (the truck was making a delivery) when the accident occurred.

30

Well, yes, but that’s why you say, “I need a lawyer to help me with _____.” That helps the referral service to narrow down the practitioners in your area who can handle your matter. If you have a criminal matter, for example, you don’t want to be referred to somebody who only does incorporations, mergers, and acquisitions. And if you don’t say why you need a lawyer, they will ask, “And why do you need a lawyer?”

They do, at least in my case, track lawyers’ practice areas. Every year, when I renew my bar license, I have to update my practice areas—if I’m no longer practicing in an area, or no longer wish to practice in an area, I delete it from the list. I can do this at any time, in fact, not just at re-up time. So it is very unlikely that I would ever get a referral to handle an incorporation, since I have not included that in my practice areas.

There are other ways to get referrals, of course. I often get asked if I can handle a _____, but if it’s not one of my practice areas, I’m happy to refer to a colleague who practices in that area. Or if you need a will done, you might ask your friends who they have used.

And remember, at least in my jurisdiction, you will get three names from the bar association’s referral service—if you don’t like the first for any reason, try the other two.

Just like engaging with any other professional (doctor, dentist, accountant, etc.), really. The 800 number to the bar association for a referral is a handy service, but not the only way to get a lawyer.

31

Speaking only for my jurisdiction, but I’m sure it’s the same elsewhere.

If the trucking company is doing business in your state, even just driving through it, then if they have an accident in your state and you are involved (e.g. your car is damaged), you can sue in your state. Start the matter at the local courthouse, then engage a process server in California to serve them with the filed paperwork. After you have couriered it to the Californian process server, of course. I’ve done it before.

Point is, that it doesn’t matter where the trucking company is located, you can sue it from your location. There may be a few additional hoops to jump through, but it is perfectly possible.

32

When the insurance company pays a garage money to repair your car, just consider that within the colloquial meaning of paying you.

The point is this: the insurance company has paid out money that it would probably like to get back from someone. Presumably the trucker, the trucking company, or one of their insurance companies.

What you should look into is whether your going after one or all of those parties in small claims court might preclude your insurance company from recovering the money it has already paid to you (ok, or a garage) and, if so, what the ramifications of that might be for you.

33

So the trucking company owes me a thousand dollars and it owes my insurance company around seventeen thousand dollars. I go to small claims court to get paid the thousand dollars I’m owed.

Are you saying doing this would prevent the insurance company from also recovering the thousand dollars I am owed? If so, that seems reasonable, even if the court for some reason decides I am not owed the money.

Or are you saying that if I seek to recover the thousand dollar debt the trucking company owes to me, it will somehow affect the seventeen thousand dollar debt the trucking company owes to the insurance company? If so, I don’t see how that would happen. I would not be taking any action regarding that debt.

34

I’m saying this all seems very confusing to me, and that while I am not giving you legal advice (because I can’t), it might be prudent to either (a) seek legal advice from an actual attorney to find out what happens to your insurance company’s ability to get reimbursed if you pursue your own court action and by extension what your insurance company might do to you or (b) if you can’t afford or don’t want to pay for that independent legal advice, then maybe just ask your insurance company directly.

Because while you are thinking of this as the trucker, the trucking company, or their insurers owing you 1K and your insurer 17K, I’m not sure that’s the case. An alternative interpretation is that the trucker and/or the trucking company owes you 18K, of which you might be required to reimburse your insurer 17K for what it has already paid on your behalf to a garage, and any insurer associated with the trucker or company might be contractually obliged to defend them and/or cover any damages for them.

So I really think you need to parse this issue with either independent legal advice or, again, your insurer before you proceed with a small claims action on your own.

35

Years ago I was sued in small claims court and defended myself. A friend who is an attorney “coached” me a bit, listened to my narrative about what had happened (I was only marginally involved, but I was the only party with any money), and helped me write notes on what I wanted to tell the court.

It was really a lot of fun! The plaintiff was telling his story, and he quoted what someone else said. I objected, as this was hearsay. The judge sustained my objection, then explained to the plaintiff why my objection was sustained. The plaintiff then started his narrative again, and again I was able to object, and my objection was sustained.

The fourth time I objected, the plaintiff screamed at me to “just shut the fuck up”.

I won!

@OP: You should first contact your insurance company. It’s only been a year and they might be comfortable with the pace. Let them know you want to be made whole and are uncomfortable with the pace. Then, if it is ok with your insurer, file a complaint in your local small claims court.

36

I have contacted my insurance company repeatedly. They don’t seem to be working on this. So while I will continue to communicate with them, I think I need to start taking my own steps rather than leave this to them.

37

As we all know, the SDMB is the center of world attention and the interactions on this board are constantly monitored by global leaders and major corporations.

At least that seems to be the case here.

I have been sending emails to the trucking company for months. I have never received any response back from them. I started this thread yesterday.

I have now received three emails from the trucking company and their insurance company.

38

Excellent news! I hope it works out.

But in case not, I’m going to emphasize this again because ASL is right.

You really need to contact your insurance company and tell them what you plan to do, and ask if this will cause any problems. If the trucking company is in the (slow) process of paying the insurance company their money plus your deductible at the same time you are also trying to get the deductible directly from the trucking company, then best case your claim is rejected and you spent time for nothing. Worst case you get in trouble trying to double-dip.

39

As I’ve said, I plan on keeping my insurance company fully advised on what I’m planning and what I’m doing. But I’ve crossed the line where I’m willing to just sit back and trust them to handle this.

40

Very fair. A year is ridiculous.

Are the emails you got today encouraging?