Business Litigation Legal Questions

This is not a legal issue, this is a finanical one. If you cannot afford a new engine, you won't get far trying to blame the oil change place expecting them to "foot the bill" based your need an bare accusation. You drove the vehicle for a month or more with no issues, so its unlikely there was less than 50% oil in the engine, as there would have been all kinds of isses and warning lights. UNless you get clear and compelling evidence of fault on the oil change place, you will simply be paying for a new engine or repairs out of pocket.... Read More

If the courier states it was delivered to your address, then the vendor won't have any interest in giving you a refund when they show you recieved the parts. You will need to get details from the courier as to when, where and to whom the items were cliamed to be delivered. If this was to an unsecure location like a porch, its possible porch pirates stole the items, which is not generally the responsibility of the seller/shipper unless it required signature. If you can show the item was not delivered to you, but the wrong location or person, you have a more viable dispute. You should also file a dispute with the credit card you used and hopefully they will issue a chargeback. ... Read More

You can't truly pretend you are confused that providing a place of employment you no longer work at is not the same as verfied employment. There is no question that they can repo the vehicle under most RISC sales contracts. Worse, is it seems you destroyed the engine, and now are likely to have no vehicle AND get sued for the damages to it when they recover it. YOu need to retain a lawyer ASAP to damage control this as you have made a series of very poor decisions. ... Read More

It is likely that the firm you hired is no longer in business.  Attorney's that receive funds on behalf of their clients are required to hold them in a Trust Account referred to as an IOLTA account.  If the funds are not disbursed to a client and the Law Firm can't locate the client to disburse the funds to, after a period of time the funds will escheat to the State.  This means the funds will be sent to the State to hold for a period of time to see if someone claims those funds.  These time periods can vary from State to State.   First you should see if the Law Firm still exists and if it does request the funds from them.   If they don't exist or are no longer holding your funds then check your States Unclaimed Funds website under your name and your parents names to see if the State is holding your funds.  If you are still unable to locate the funds you may need to retain an Attorney to investigate what happened to the settlement proceeds you are entitled to.  ... Read More

You may be covered under your employers automobile liability insurance policy. You need to contact your human resources and explain what happened and ask them if you would be covered. Additionally, you may be covered under your own insurance policy if not covered under your employers insurance policy. ... Read More

There is no information here with which to create an answer. How do you know the cause of action is baseless?  Are you an attorney also?  How is an attorney supposed to answer this?  If you have counsel, they should file a Motion to Dismiss since the breach "according to you is baseless"... Read More

To answer your questions: 1) Yes, the ADA places the legal obligation to provide services on both the landlord and the tenant. The landlord and the tenant may decide by lease who will actually make the changes and provide the aids and services, but both remain legally responsible. 2) Since she is on the lease, then yes she is jointly responsible. 3) See 1 4) The insurance coverage will depend on the terms of the insurance policy, but I doubt ADA compliance will be covered, since liability insurance is there to pay on claims of injury (e.g. if someone falls and gets hurt on the property). It doesn't matter than the plaintiff has filed so many lawsuits for ADA compliance.  It's a legally required obligation and there's no way around being compliant when someone challenges the store's non-compliance.  You can avoid the lawsuit (i.e. make it moot) by complying with the ADA requirements asap and negotiating a dismissal with plaintiff. Contact me if you would like to retain my services to advise with this issue or defend you in the lawsuit.... Read More

OK so in the state of Florida, if a property manager knows or should know that a tenant poses a dangerous risk to other tenants And fails to take measures to evict the tenant, then any person that is assaulted by the problem tenant could bring a case against the property manager for his negligence by not evicting that tenant. You did not say what your injuries were, but the value of your case would depend on both how much notice the landlord or property manager was on about the danger that this tenant posed, as well as what injuries you suffered as a result of the attack. You should retain counsel here in the state of Florida on contingency fee, which means you don't pay anything unless you win the case. I have done many of these cases, and they always turn on the notice that the landlord was on about the problem tenant, in addition to the damages that you suffered. You should take photographs of your injuries before they heal, and also seek immediate medical attention so that you can document and corroborate your injuries.... Read More

If she came here on a K fiancée visa, then she will not be able to get married to another person other than the one that she was sponsored by. If you are a US citizen, and she entered the country legally, and NOT on a K visa, but for example like a visitor visa or a student visa, then you can still sponsor her for her green card, despite that she's in overstay status. You should retain counsel to process your case. Some of us charge a very affordable flat fee and take the case from start to finish. This is done by entering a G 28 notice of appearance of attorney of record into the case. As far as the 864 affidavit of support, if your income is insufficient to financially sponsor her, then you can enlist the help of a joint financial sponsor who does meet the minimum income threshold.  ... Read More

So yes you can file a defamation lawsuit against somebody who publishes false defamatory information about you to a third-party. But the larger question is how are you going to recover any money from her? Typically, homeowners insurance policies or renters insurance policies do not protect their insured against what is known as advertising injuries. That is a fancy way of identifying defamatory slanderous remarks. However, most businesses that have liability coverage do cover these types of torts. But I seriously doubt that she made these remarks in her capacity as an employee of a business. So by all means file a lawsuit against her in small claims court, and then you would limit your recovery to the jurisdictional amount of the small claims court. But at least it would force her to have to defend a lawsuit and to be exposed possibly to a small claims judgment. Good luck! ... Read More

Normally, the answer is that you need to appear in person -- but because of the pandemic, this isn't a normal time.  Contact the chambers for the judge that is participating in the MSC and find out what the judge's procedures currently are. Many courthouses are still closed to the public, and even those that have opened again are allowing people to appear by video. Do it as early as you can... Read More

Too many facts are missing here to take a guess at an answer.  In order for the complex to be responsible for damage to the vehicle, they must have breached some duty they had towards you.  Why was the vehicle damaged, what happened? You need to sit down with an attorney for a full consultation before anyone is going to be able to tell you whether or not you have a viable cause of action. Best of luck.... Read More

At the risk of stating the obvious, use lawyers.com to find a lawyer in your area that has experience in this business/technology area. Find at least three, if you can, and contact them to find out if they are available, have the experience, and are willing to do it at a price that is acceptable to you. Most lawyers in private practice in California are listed on lawyers.com, and most of those have specialties that you can see. Good luck! ... Read More

Your question is a little confusing.  How can there be three partners and two shareholders of a corporation?  Why did 3 officers sign a loan agreement if it was on behalf of the corporation and not in their personal capacities? For purposes of this answer, I will assume that (a) you are asking about the personal liability of corporate shareholders for the corporation's obligations; and (b) the agreement was signed by the officers on behalf of the corporation, i.e. they signed "XY, CEO of ABC Corporation", and not simply "XY".  I will also assume that no individual personally guaranteed the corporation's obligations.  If anyone signed in their personal capacity and/or acted as a guarantor for the corporation, that person would be personally liable. Shareholders are normally not responsible for the obligations of the corporation.  This is one of the main reasons that people incorporate.  If anything, llc members are more likely to be personally liable than are corporate shareholders, although the rules are generally the same.  Moreover, the loan agreement was between the programming co and ABC Corporation; creating an ABC LLC does not change that.  You can't unilaterally change the obligor on the agreement after the fact.  ABC Corporation would remain liable on the agreement and changing to an llc would not affect any personal liability that its shareholders might have. There are exceptions to the rule that shareholders are not personally liable for the corporation's debts.  In addition to certain statutory exceptions which don't seem to apply here (for example, there is a NY statute that makes the top 10 shareholders of a corporation personally responsible for some unpaid wages of corporate employees), claimants can "pierce the corporate veil" to hold shareholders personally liable where, generally, (a) the shareholders completely dominate the corporation and fail to operate it as a corporation (e.g. by failing to have shareholder or board of director's meetings, etc.) and (b) utilize the corporate form to commit a fraud or other wrongdoing (such as where the shareholders use the corporation's assets as if they were there own, by, for example, commingling funds, paying personal bills out of the corporation's bank accounts, etc. I don't see why you would dissolve the corporation, and I think dissolution would make things more difficult for the shareholders, not necessarily create any personal liability but create a hassle by the creditor asking what happened to the corporation's assets when it dissolved.  Also the agreement may have a provision which creates consequences if there is a dissolution.... Read More

One possibility to think about is an involuntary dissolution, as allowed by Cal. Corp. Code sec. 1800 et seq. This allows people without a majority interest an "out," and it could be good leverage to an orderly sale of assets or stock. Check with a business lawyer in your area as to what is best for you. Lawyers.com can help you do that.... Read More

What you have described is very serious, and you need to contact legal counsel for the LLC immediately. At the very least, I see claims for breach of fiduciary duties, breach of the operating agreement, unfair business practices, possible misappropriation of trade secrets and Lanham Act violations, conversion, and unjust enrichment, among others. Every day only increases the scope of damages to the LLC. Please do not wait.... Read More