We went dealt thoroughly with the issue of what constitutes legal advice in Stoid’s Thread. Information about how courts operate, what relief they can provide and how to enforce in a particular case amounts to legal advice.
Actually, strictly speaking, they have until the end of the day to pay me so the consultation should probably be tomorrow. I think it’s unlikely they’ll call me at 5 pm and ask to meet to hand over a check, but it’s (remotely) possible.
And tomorrow starts my workweek, so any consultation will likely take place next week, as far as physically meeting with a lawyer (phone calls can be made during lunch for business hours stuff). There is a three year time limit on this, so I can take a week or so if I need to in order to get my ducks in a row.
Yes, I can add yet another debt collector to their life (we were, at one point near the end, getting more calls from debt collectors than customers) but I wish to exhaust other possibilities that might gain me the full amount (or more) before settling for a debt collector.
I have already obtained another job. I am not starving. MY debts are paid! 
I’ve already moved on, more or less, except that I feel it necessary to recoup as much of these wages as possible. At this point it’s about maximizing the sum I eventually obtain from this.
Just to echo the rather depressing advice given earlier -
I had a somewhat similar situation. Employer owed me a non-trivial amount, and ignored my efforts to collect. I consulted an attorney, who advised me [ul][li]I had a pretty strong, well-documented case []I would probably prevail in court []I would probably never collect a penny.[/ul]Because they would continue to do what they did do - ignore me. They would not show up in court, they would not pay up, they would not respond until I dropped it. You have to convince the sheriff’s department to enforce the judgment, and they usually don’t do that. [/li]
I wish you the best, and a better, fairer outcome than the one I got.
Regards,
Shodan
In the US, don’t the Labour Standards Branches have the power to enforce unpaid wage claims? They do in Canada, for just the reasons that Broomstick and Shodan mention - the difficulty for the average employee to collect on a judgment.
Here in the UK, company directors can be personally liable for company actions. Also, in the UK, if it’s a limited company, once you’ve got judgement and they do not pay, you can apply for the company to be declared bankrupt.
No check today, they have missed the deadline (can’t say I’m surprised, sadly)
So, I will now be researching and reviewing my next steps.
I took a company to small claims court once in Illinois and won (well, they settled for the full amount I wanted before they actually lost, but in my book that’s a win). Be organized, have all of your papers at hand in case the judge wants a copy of something, and be as business-like and matter-of-fact as you can. Be polite to the judge, and (assuming things really are as cut and dried as they sound) you shouldn’t have any trouble with the courtroom aspect of things. In my experience, the judge didn’t treat me any differently than the defendant’s attorney (well, he actually treated me a bit better, but that’s only because opposition counsel was ill-prepared and was starting to annoy the judge), so there shouldn’t be any fear of being out-maneuvered or out-lawyered.
The Indiana Secretary of State’s web site has a business name search that may provide some rudimentary information as to the type of “company” they have set up, which in turn might help with figuring out what assets might be available for your taking. Not sure about in Indiana, but in Illinois one of my options for collecting was to file a lien on some sort of property the entity owned. It has the drawback of not necessarily being an immediate remedy, but it does have a certain appeal to it, knowing that it’s there hanging over them until they clear their debt to you.
Good luck, and keep us posted. I love reading about other people’s experiences in small claims court. I really feel like it’s an under-appreciated part of our legal system.
During a very brief stint doing collections, I was astounded at the lengths folk went to to make themselves judgment proof. Stuff tnat would never cross the minds of an average person who expected to pay their debts. And don’t get me started on states like Texas and Florida! Just saying, if these folk were running a business and running from creditors, I would assume getting at their assets will be difficult.
I prevailed in SCC as an undergrad. It isn’t all that hard so long as you are willing to put forth the time and effort. I do not know the SCC rules in IN, but ISTR in IL that the person we sued got at least one continuance.
The reason to send yet another letter is that it serves to emphasize how reasonable and persistent you have been. It probably won’t be enough to win your case by itself, but a polite, well-phrased letter sent “receipt requested” can go a long way to defusing several potential arguments, while clearly setting out your version of events for the SCC judge, and presenting you as reasonable and sympathetic. I’d likely consider it worth the couple of bucks it would cost.
Good luck!
Since most likely I will be soon talking to a lawyer and this is likely to turn into a court case I will probably not be able to say much more about how things progress. I want to thank everyone for their responses and of course if people want to continue the discussion feel free to do so.
Well, OK, one more question: any suggestion for shopping for a lawyer for this?
You mentioned earlier that if your employer didn’t pay up the Labor Board could give you advice. I would take advantage of that resource and discuss it with them.
Regarding shopping for a lawyer, websites such as lawyers.com and lawyers.findlaw.com let you search by state & city as well as legal issue. Lots of lawyers offer free consultations so I would call a few, talk to them and choose one that appeals to you.
But really, your case is pretty simple and straightforward; any competent lawyer should be able to help you.
It may be simple and straightforward but I would hate for my ignorance of the legal system to get in my way! It doesn’t hurt to be prepared.
Oh absolutely! I prevailed in the both the cases I mentioned upthread by doing lots of research, covering all bases and having everything in writing. A lawyer can definitely help you with all that so call around and find one you’re comfortable with.
I’m not sure how to find a competent lawyer who could afford to represent someone for $1000. If they agree to accept a 30-50% contingency, that would only cover a letter or 2.
During my brief stint in private practice billing hourly I concluded that no one could really afford to pay an attorney hourly to sue for less than $10k.
Only thing I would suggest would be legal aid - if you qualify.
I’d think going it yourself in SCC might be your best bet. And - really - this doesn’t sound like something a reasonably intelligent person couldn’t pursue on their own. The big issue is going to be collection - and an attorney may not be of that much help in that department.
The purpose of a lawyer in this context is NOT to go to court with me - it’s to provide advice and perhaps write a nasty letter or two. Completely different things. I have used lawyers for the latter reason in the past - advice and letters - for prices quite reasonable and affordable. A lawyer can clarify my legal options for me without having to spend a lot of hours on representing me.
Cool. If you can find a lawyer who is willing to do such for you for a reasonable fee, by all means, take advantage of it. I don’t know any lawyers who will blow their noses for less than a couple hundred. But I guess a possible benefit of there being way too many lawyers (IMO) is that you can find some who are willing to work for cheap.
Best of luck. It really shouldn’t be this much of a hassle for you to get what you are owed.
Don’t let this stop you from going to court though. I was pleasantly surprised at the check that immediately showed up after many “cold day in hell” rants from the other party. Also, you’ll always get a bit of karmic satisfaction…even if they don’t pay they will still have a judgement on record against them which can make life more difficult for them in the future with loan approvals, background checks, future court cases, etc.
In my state (Washington) they don’t allow lawyers, and the judges grant a lot of leeway as a result for ignorance of legal technicalities or procedure, so that’s nice 
If you have paper documentation nicely organized, and avoid getting into a “he said she said” then you’ll be fine.
That’s why I want to do some research. The more prepared and organized I appear to be to the judge the greater weight my side of the story will be given.
Umm, other than making you happy, and spending some time & money, what use is it? I spoke to my lawyer (we are in the same club) and he said (this is CA law, now, mind you) that for all intents and purposes, you already have a judgment. *Which they aren’t paying. * Why do you want another judgment they wont pay?
If you have a real judgment, and not a for-all-intents-and-purposes judgment, you can get a court order (after a separate proceeding :() to execute the judgment on the judgment debtor’s assets within the court’s jurisdiction (as say, a bank account).
A point for our OP to ponder: You do not need to send demand letters before instituting a suit. You can go to court directly. I’m not going to give advice on how to do that, but I will make the very limited observation that your former employer very likely already knows what’s up (or has been attempted to be contacted by the State of Indiana without response).