Attorney assistance (2 Viewers)

[st. dave]

Nice job, Saint Sarah. Good reference.

st. dave

 

[Norwajun]

Sorry to resurrect this thread, but it seemed appropriate to post an update here.

I have had zero luck finding an attorney who is willing to even grant a consult on this issue. It deals with an identity theft and none of them will touch it, saying they don't handle consumer law. I've done all the legwork and research, all I need is for them to file a motion for me. Some knuckleheads got a judgement against me for a debt related to an apartment in Granite City Illinios, and filed in St. Charles County, Missouri. Besides the fact that I owned a residence in Omaha, Nebraska at the time, the case was filed and tried in the wrong venue, and should have been caught by the associate civil court. All I need is to file a motion to have the judgement struck, but I have been unable to find any help on this whatsoever. I am fully prepared to pay the standard hourly fee for what would entail scarcely 30 minutes of work for an attorney.

I am at my wit's end on this, so if anyone could offer advice or assistance, please feel free.

 

[bozoka45]

Sorry to resurrect this thread, but it seemed appropriate to post an update here.

I have had zero luck finding an attorney who is willing to even grant a consult on this issue. It deals with an identity theft and none of them will touch it, saying they don't handle consumer law. I've done all the legwork and research, all I need is for them to file a motion for me. Some knuckleheads got a judgement against me for a debt related to an apartment in Granite City Illinios, and filed in St. Charles County, Missouri. Besides the fact that I owned a residence in Omaha, Nebraska at the time, the case was filed and tried in the wrong venue, and should have been caught by the associate civil court. All I need is to file a motion to have the judgement struck, but I have been unable to find any help on this whatsoever. I am fully prepared to pay the standard hourly fee for what would entail scarcely 30 minutes of work for an attorney.

I am at my wit's end on this, so if anyone could offer advice or assistance, please feel free.

Where have you sought attorneys? All local (LA) counsel, or have you tried to reach out to an attorney in MO? Seems that would be what you need.

 

[Norwajun]

Where have you sought attorneys? All local (LA) counsel, or have you tried to reach out to an attorney in MO? Seems that would be what you need.

I attempted to contact several attorneys in the St. Charles County area, to no avail. Most never even returned my call or responded to my emails.

 

[bozoka45]

I attempted to contact several attorneys in the St. Charles County area, to no avail. Most never even returned my call or responded to my emails.

That's where the judgment is from, right? Nothing in LA except your residence?

 

[bozoka45]

Sorry to resurrect this thread, but it seemed appropriate to post an update here.

I have had zero luck finding an attorney who is willing to even grant a consult on this issue. It deals with an identity theft and none of them will touch it, saying they don't handle consumer law. I've done all the legwork and research, all I need is for them to file a motion for me. Some knuckleheads got a judgement against me for a debt related to an apartment in Granite City Illinios, and filed in St. Charles County, Missouri. Besides the fact that I owned a residence in Omaha, Nebraska at the time, the case was filed and tried in the wrong venue, and should have been caught by the associate civil court. All I need is to file a motion to have the judgement struck, but I have been unable to find any help on this whatsoever. I am fully prepared to pay the standard hourly fee for what would entail scarcely 30 minutes of work for an attorney.

I am at my wit's end on this, so if anyone could offer advice or assistance, please feel free.

Well, Granite City is right across the river, but is still a different state. Looks like they're both St. Louis suburbs.

 

[St. Widge]

Sorry to resurrect this thread, but it seemed appropriate to post an update here.

I have had zero luck finding an attorney who is willing to even grant a consult on this issue. It deals with an identity theft and none of them will touch it, saying they don't handle consumer law. I've done all the legwork and research, all I need is for them to file a motion for me. Some knuckleheads got a judgement against me for a debt related to an apartment in Granite City Illinios, and filed in St. Charles County, Missouri. Besides the fact that I owned a residence in Omaha, Nebraska at the time, the case was filed and tried in the wrong venue, and should have been caught by the associate civil court. All I need is to file a motion to have the judgement struck, but I have been unable to find any help on this whatsoever. I am fully prepared to pay the standard hourly fee for what would entail scarcely 30 minutes of work for an attorney.

I am at my wit's end on this, so if anyone could offer advice or assistance, please feel free.

No attorney is going to file something in a field that they don't practice in based only on your research. If they do it and you are wrong, you can sue them for malpractice and nobody is going to take that chance. So, it's not 30 minutes of work for them. It would require them to know something about that area of law and do the research on their own. Your research might be a starting point, but that's about it. Especially since consumer protection and identity theft issues deal with Federal laws that may be more complex than you think and may implicate laws that you are not even aware of. It's just not an area that most lawyers deal with and I know I would never take a case in an area that I am unfamiliar with, unless it was made clear that I would have to spend time researching the issue and billing for that time. And, even then, I might not take it and would not take it if I didn't think it would be worth the money or an area I could expand into.

And, make no mistake, someone would have to show up in court to argue this motion and it's not as easy as you might think to have a judgment overturned. Especially if you are trying to do it from several states away.

I would call the Bar Association in the City or state where the Judgement was made and see if they can refer you to someone.

 

[iron error]

First, sorry for your situation.

In Shreveport, maybe try Mike Vergis. Worth a shot. Longtime friend of my brother in law.

Otherwise, not joking here, join Prepaid Legal Services and even though this is a pre-existing situation, there will be some discounting of fees. But more importantly, they are obligated to deal with your issues. They will use their network to deal with things on the local remote level nationwide.


This list below shows the Provider Law Firms in each state. These are usually good size legit firms.

http://l.b5z.net/i/u/6079046/f/Presentation Case/Provider_Law_Frim_Directory.pdf


I know if I was in your situation they would be on it. Prepaidlegal.com

Put aside any preconceived notions you may have of prepaid. Yes, its a MLM setup for getting people to join. Forget all that part, since its just the way the memberships are marketed. Once you have become a member they actually help you quite a bit, the services you get are pretty nice, as the law firms are all legit and there to help you.

Interestingly, they also have a identity shield part of their services (like prepaid legal, but separate, but same umbrella), so that would have been good to have had, since I think you would get extra ability to resolve all these things. Not sure if that is worth adding as well at this point, other than monitoring your identity and getting coverage for new events.

The costs are like $25 a month for the prepaid and $10 for the identity thing. BUT, you WILL get a return phone call and a lawyer to start working on your behalf, there in Louisiana as well as within their network. Good luck.

 

[bozoka45]

First, sorry for your situation.

In Shreveport, maybe try Mike Vergis. Worth a shot. Longtime friend of my brother in law.

Otherwise, not joking here, join Prepaid Legal Services and even though this is a pre-existing situation, there will be some discounting of fees. But more importantly, they are obligated to deal with your issues. They will use their network to deal with things on the local remote level nationwide.


This list below shows the Provider Law Firms in each state. These are usually good size legit firms.

http://l.b5z.net/i/u/6079046/f/Presentation Case/Provider_Law_Frim_Directory.pdf


I know if I was in your situation they would be on it. Prepaidlegal.com

Put aside any preconceived notions you may have of prepaid. Yes, its a MLM setup for getting people to join. Forget all that part, since its just the way the memberships are marketed. Once you have become a member they actually help you quite a bit, the services you get are pretty nice, as the law firms are all legit and there to help you.

Interestingly, they also have a identity shield part of their services (like prepaid legal, but separate, but same umbrella), so that would have been good to have had, since I think you would get extra ability to resolve all these things. Not sure if that is worth adding as well at this point, other than monitoring your identity and getting coverage for new events.

The costs are like $25 a month for the prepaid and $10 for the identity thing. BUT, you WILL get a return phone call and a lawyer to start working on your behalf, there in Louisiana as well as within their network. Good luck.

Good thought. Here is a list of more providers of prepaid legal services: Open Directory - Society: Law: Services: Lawyers and Law Firms: Pre-Paid Legal Services

 

[buzd]

Otherwise, not joking here, join Prepaid Legal Services and even though this is a pre-existing situation, there will be some discounting of fees. But more importantly, they are obligated to deal with your issues. They will use

Interestingly, they also have a identity shield part of their services (like prepaid legal, but separate, but same umbrella), so that would have been good to have had, since I think you would get extra ability to resolve all these things. Not sure if that is worth adding as well at this point, other than monitoring your identity and getting coverage for new events.

The costs are like $25 a month for the prepaid and $10 for the identity thing. BUT, you WILL get a return phone call and a lawyer to start working on your behalf, there in Louisiana as well as within their network. Good luck.

Prepaid legal is now called LegalShield (www.legalshield.com) Prepaid legal was acquired by the company that offers the Identity Shield product, called Kroll.

First, everything iron error and bazoka said about the prepaid legal is true. It's a good product. The firm in New Orleans (and I think they handle all of LA) is well regarded, and they are well-paid to ensure their services meet your satisfaction. Their (bazoka and iron error's) advice is good.

Kroll (look 'em up) is an international investigation company that has been around for a long time. This is the company that does background investigations for the federal government. Their identity protection product is very different from the ilk of LifeLock (which is terrible) for two reasons: they protect against ID theft against more than just credit (i.e. medical, SSN, etc) and part of their guarantee is to use their network of investigators, et al to resolve your issue.

Obviously your circumstance is a little different, because you are coming to them after the fact, but I would think they could help you (for a price, most likely), whether through the legal side or the identity resolution side.

And I am not affiliated, other than being a client of both services. I do have a contact I can direct you to if you need a sales rep.

 

[bozoka45]

PM sent. Also, check out this page. National Association of Consumer Advocates | Consumer Protection Advocates and Attorneys - Help for Consumers

 

[Norwajun]

No attorney is going to file something in a field that they don't practice in based only on your research. If they do it and you are wrong, you can sue them for malpractice and nobody is going to take that chance. So, it's not 30 minutes of work for them. It would require them to know something about that area of law and do the research on their own. Your research might be a starting point, but that's about it. Especially since consumer protection and identity theft issues deal with Federal laws that may be more complex than you think and may implicate laws that you are not even aware of. It's just not an area that most lawyers deal with and I know I would never take a case in an area that I am unfamiliar with, unless it was made clear that I would have to spend time researching the issue and billing for that time. And, even then, I might not take it and would not take it if I didn't think it would be worth the money or an area I could expand into.

And, make no mistake, someone would have to show up in court to argue this motion and it's not as easy as you might think to have a judgment overturned. Especially if you are trying to do it from several states away.

I would call the Bar Association in the City or state where the Judgement was made and see if they can refer you to someone.

I appreciate the input.And I understand why most wouldn't take it, and I have no intention of denigrating them because of it. I am merely expressing my frustration at the lack of resources available for someone in my situation.

I quite accidentally stumbled across the FTC site on identity theft, and had I not made a phone call to their hotline wouldn't have even known about the limited resources that were available. The police in Omaha were no help, and it took me months to get a copy of a burglary report that does me no good because it is the wrong type of report for identity theft. Therefore, when I submitted copies of the police report I had as proof of the theft, it did no good. Also, I had no clue I was being sued until I received a letter via regular mail notifying me of a summary judgment. Several months of telephone calls and letters finally produced a one page document that says nothing about the facts in the case. It isn't even signed by a judge.


And as far as the venue, here is the applicable excerpt from the FDCPA:

§ 811. Legal actions by debt collectors [15 USC 1692i]
(a) Any debt collector who brings any legal action on a debt against any consumer shall --

(1) in the case of an action to enforce an interest in real property securing the consumer's obligation, bring such action only in a judicial district or similar legal entity in which such real property is located; or

(2) in the case of an action not described in paragraph (1), bring such action only in the judicial district or similar legal entity --

(A) in which such consumer signed the contract sued upon; or

(B) in which such consumer resides at the commencement of the action.

(b) Nothing in this title shall be construed to authorize the bringing of legal actions by debt collectors.

Seems pretty cut and dried to me.

 

[superchuck500]

I appreciate the input.And I understand why most wouldn't take it, and I have no intention of denigrating them because of it. I am merely expressing my frustration at the lack of resources available for someone in my situation.

I quite accidentally stumbled across the FTC site on identity theft, and had I not made a phone call to their hotline wouldn't have even known about the limited resources that were available. The police in Omaha were no help, and it took me months to get a copy of a burglary report that does me no good because it is the wrong type of report for identity theft. Therefore, when I submitted copies of the police report I had as proof of the theft, it did no good. Also, I had no clue I was being sued until I received a letter via regular mail notifying me of a summary judgment. Several months of telephone calls and letters finally produced a one page document that says nothing about the facts in the case. It isn't even signed by a judge.


And as far as the venue, here is the applicable excerpt from the FDCPA:

§ 811. Legal actions by debt collectors [15 USC 1692i]
(a) Any debt collector who brings any legal action on a debt against any consumer shall --

(1) in the case of an action to enforce an interest in real property securing the consumer's obligation, bring such action only in a judicial district or similar legal entity in which such real property is located; or

(2) in the case of an action not described in paragraph (1), bring such action only in the judicial district or similar legal entity --

(A) in which such consumer signed the contract sued upon; or

(B) in which such consumer resides at the commencement of the action.

(b) Nothing in this title shall be construed to authorize the bringing of legal actions by debt collectors.

Seems pretty cut and dried to me.

Have you considered filing the motion yourself? You don't have to have a lawyer - our system allows self-representation. It's generally not a good idea but if you have no other recourse, at least getting something before the judge where you can state your case and show your evidence . . . better than just being frustrated. Worst case scenario, the judge may be able to help you retain counsel.

 

[bozoka45]

Have you considered filing the motion yourself? You don't have to have a lawyer - our system allows self-representation. It's generally not a good idea but if you have no other recourse, at least getting something before the judge where you can state your case and show your evidence . . . better than just being frustrated. Worst case scenario, the judge may be able to help you retain counsel.

Along those lines, some attorneys will offer help drafting the motion and leave the filing and argument up to the litigant himself.