QUESTION
Should she seek a lawyer or go through arbitration? Should she send all the project documents to the hired law firm to state her case?
Asked on Aug 08th, 2019 on Business Law - California
More details to this question:
Good Afternoon, My client is needing advice and possible representation in a case involving a homeowner who will not pay the final bill after sending the invoice, a few emails were exchanged between the two of them trying to come to a solution and then she received a letter from a Law firm stating the following: (1) DEMAND TO CEASE AND DESIST INTERFERENCE WITH PROPERTY AND EXTORTION ATTEMPTS, (2) NOTICE OF VIOLATION OF BUSINESS & PROFESSIONS CODES (3) RECISSION AND/OR TERMINATION OF AGREEMENT She acted as a Consultant in clearing a red tag code from the City of Los Angeles and contacted people for the homeowner to come and repair what was needed in order to put the home on the market. A contract agreement was signed by the homeowner and she completed the project he hired her for. An arbitration clause was added to the contract.
1 ANSWER
You've asked two questions which are unrelated. If the contract has a valid arbitration clause, your client has to arbitrate her dispute with her client, regardless of whether she engages a lawyer or not. If she contracted with her client individually, she has a choice of engaging a lawyer or handling the matter herself, and whether she should engage a lawyer or not depends a lot on how much is at stake. There is no point to hiring a lawyer when the amount at issue is less than the lawyer's fees will be. If she contracted through an entity, however, such as an llc or corporation, she will have to engage a lawyer since corporations and llc's cannot represent themselves (although sometimes this rule is relaxed in small claims court). I see no reason to send the law firm anything. They are not interested in the merits of her claim, they work for the homeowner, and will take whatever she sends them and try to use it against her.
BTW, you specifically sais that this was a letter from a law firm, not any legal papers connected with a lawsuit. Obviously if what she actually received was a summons and complaint or other documents starting a lawsuit, she has to respond to it.
Answered on Aug 09th, 2019 at 9:30 AM