Texas Civil Litigation Legal Questions

If the judgment is against you, as opposed to a corporation or other legal entity you own, you have the right to represent yourself in legal proceedings.  The clerk of the court can help you with the procedures you will have to follow, both to file a motion or petition (depending on the rules in your jurisciction) to vacate the judgment, and a stay of your time to respond to the interrogatories pending a decision on your application to vacate the judgment.  Now that you know about the judgment, however, the longer you wait without doing something about it, the worse off you'll be.... Read More

I'm a bit confused about your story. Did you ask for him to have your cars towed to the gas station? Was this something you agreed to do? If the answer to this is yes, then no, you cannot report the car stolen because you gave him permission to move your vehicles. If the answer is no, and he moved the vehicles without your consent, then yes, you can report the car stolen. ... Read More

Your parents allowing you to drive the car is legally known as a bailment. A bailment is a temporary placement of control over personal property to another person by the owner for a specific purpose. Your question implies that your parents anticipate only you driving the car. If they were to find out about your boyfriend driving it as a pizza delivery vehicle, that is very likely outside of the purpose of their allowing you to have possession of the vehicle. If your parents knew your boyfriend was driving this car, they could potentially report the car as stolen because it is no longer in your possession or theirs as your boyfriend has not received permission from your parents to drive their car. ... Read More

Yes, but technically "theft" is not a crime or a tort (a civil wrong).  Crimes, at least in the U.S., are no longer common law, but rather codified in the criminal statutes of the applicable jurisdiction.  The acts you've described would all be crimes, but the particular crimes they would constitute depends on the particular laws of the applicable jurisdiction.  Just by way of example, the acts which may constitute larceny in the third degree in Alabama may constitute theft by trick in the second degree in Texas.  You can rest assured, however, that they would all be crimes (likely more than one crime), but it is likely that the hacking would violate different statutes than would the vandalism.  Civilly, the hacking you describe would probably constitute the tort of conversion (wrongfully exercising dominion and control over the property of another) and possibly other torts (for example, there is a New York criminal statute prohibiting hacking; the violation of that statute, in addition to being a crime, may give rise to a civil cause of action); the vandalism might also constitute conversion and would probably also constitute trespass and other torts.... Read More

You may need to have a demand letter written to your boyfriend requesting that he return the car by a certain date or you will have the car reported as stolen. If he complies, you get your car back. If he doesn't, you take the proper steps to alert the police of his taking your car without your permission. Also, he can't sell your car without your consent because the loan is in your name. If he found someone able to take over the payments, they would have to make that agreement with you. ... Read More

You can send a cease and desist letter to the amicus attorney instructing him or her to remove the notes containing your personal information. If he or she does not comply, you have a potential claim against them for defamation and breach of fiduciary duty due to his or her role in your divorce in which they were supposed to keep their findings confidential. ... Read More

If the funds were never sufficient to cover the checks, then writing and delivering them with the intent that they be cashed is a crime.  It is not, however, a crime against the elderly, but, rather, it is a criminal offense to write "hot checks" if there was and is never any intent that the funds be sufficient to cover the face amount of the check.  You will need to contact your local district attorney to discuss the situation and see if that office is interested in prosecuting. It is, however, also a civil matter.  You would have a claim against the person writing the checks for repayment of the money he received from you, assuming you have properly documented the loans. Unfortunately, while $38,000.00 is a lot of money, it is not a lot in the context of litigation, so you may find some difficulty in finding an attorney to assist you.... Read More

Did you have any kind of written agreement with your roomate about him taking care of your possessions during your incarceration? Whether you do or not, you may have a claim against him for conversion (the civil version of theft). To get your possessions from the storage facility, you'd need to make sure to explain the situation to them so that they do not put your unit up for auction to the public. Make sure they know the items within the storage rightfully belong to you, were effectively stolen by your roommate during their absence, and therefore illegally placed into storage without your knowledge or consent. ... Read More

Did you actually receive an invoice or were you simply threatened with one?   I would recommend taking pictures in situations like this. If upon move in you had taken pictures of the premises and brought them to the owner's attention, this misunderstanding could have been avoided. As it is, it is going to be your word against the owner's unless you have witnesses who can corroborate your story about the condition of the rental when you first arrived.... Read More

How much money did you loan your friend? If it was less than $5000 you can sue her for the amount due in small claims court. The fact that you have some evidence of the debt should help you prove your case. Her bankruptcy filing does not change the fact that you made a personal loan to her unless she specifically listed you as a creditor from whom she sought bankruptcy protection (which she probably didn't).... Read More

Assuming the house is neither one of your homesteads and there are no other exemptions available, then most likely, they can force the property to be sold.  They can levy upon your 1/2, then they would have to have the property partitioned before they could collect. While it is possible for them to levy upon the house, it is unlikely given the amount of the judgment versus how much it would cost to exercise upon the judgment.   The can also abstract the judgment in the county where the property is located and that abstract will be valid for 10 years.  Should the property be sold during that time, they could exercise their rights on your 1/2 of the property at that time.  There is a way for them to extend the abstract for another 10 years, although it is a difficult and technical process.... Read More

the short answer is yes.  The more practical answer is that it might be very difficult.  Proving the illness came from the restaurant is hard.  Even if you cna prove it, your damages are limited to the medical expenses, lost wages, etc. you experienced as a result of the illness and any pain suffering and mentakl anguish experienced during the odeal.  Obviously the worse it was the more damages you can recover.  Assuming the effects were temporary, these cases aren't usually worth that much on a single case basis.  That makes it hard for the injured party to find a lawyer because it usually isn't worth paying an attorney on an hourly basis and most lawyers won't take a case like this, again assuming the effects were temporary, on a contingent basis.   These cases are most often successful when multiple people become ill from the same establishment.  They are easier to prove and the damage model greatly increases.... Read More