Civil Litigation Legal Questions

The dent you caused reduced the value of your friend's car, and you are liable to your friend for those damages whether she chooses to repair the car or not.  If the dent caused less damages than $2,035, or if hte entire car was only worth less, then you would only be liable for the lesser amount.  Yes, her insurance could pay the claim, minus the deductible, and you would then only owe your friend the amount of her deductible, but the insurance company could (it might choose not to) come after you for the amount that your negligence caused it to have to pay out. ... Read More

Assuming that this person knowingly made false and derogatory statements of fact (notopinion) about you, you can sue him/her in civil court, but you have not mentioned sustaining any damages.  Depending on what the lies were,you may not be requried to prove damages to win (some lies,including lies about your competentce in your job, are consdered defamation per se and damages are presumed), but since you apparently came to no harm from the defamation, you probably woulnd't be awarded much money even if you won.... Read More

I'm very sorry for your loss.  A power of attorney gives an agent the power to act for a living person.  it has no effect after death.  The power to act on behalf of your wife's estate would be determined by her will and by the court in a probate proceeding or, if there is no will, by the court in an administration proceeding (those are the names in NY, they might be different in Dalaware, but whatever these proceedings are called, they will determine who can act on behalf of your wife's estate, not a power of attorney).... Read More

Yes.  Your daughter's ex appears (based on your account) to be a bad person.  Your daughter may have claims against him for property damage arising out of his tearing up the house.  But (assuming that his claim that you disposed of his property without his permission is true) none of that gives youor your daughter  the right to take and dispose of his personal property, unless he gave you permission to do so or unless he had abandoned it.... Read More

You can certainly enter into a settlement agreement without any need for involving the civil court, but any agreement to forego criminal prosecution as a consideration for settling civil claims would likely be held unenforceable.  However, if the other party gets its money back it may keep it private, even though not legally obligated to do so. ... Read More

Statute of limitations, which differ depeinding on what claim is assert4ed (i.e. the stattue of limitations for breach of contract is different from the statute of limitations for defamation, is different from the statute of limitations for negligence, etc.) relate to the time for commencing the case, not the time for going to trial.  Once a case is commenced before the statute of limitations expires, it can get to trial six months later, two years later, ten years later, etc., dependfing on the complexity of the case and how busy the court is.  There are some rules requiring that a case must be prosecuted diligently once filed, but no hard and fast deadlines and, moreover, those rules require notice ot be effective, i.e. you would have to notify the plaintiff that, if he doens't place the case on the trial calendar within a month, you will move to dismiss it for failure to prosecute.  Such notice generally wakes the plaintiff up and he/she does something to avoid dismissal.... Read More

The answer to "can I sue" is always yes,the question is whether you can win.  It's not clear to me how strong your case is.  What do you mean that you "voluntarily repossessed the car?"  Do you mean that you took possession of it from your co-signer with his permission?  If so, might he claim that he allowed you to take the car with the understanding that he would have no further responsibility for payment?... Read More

The answer to "can I sue" is always yes, but that doesn't mean that you would win.  From what you've written, your contract seems valid, but it appears that there is a dispute about how much you paid and how much he still owes.  He may claim that you advanced less than what you claim; he may claim that the $10,000 he gave you was accpeted by you in full settlement of all claims; he may claim that he  paid you more than $10,000.  There is no way to predict who the court will beliwve..  Also, I'm not sure how you're going to justify taking all that stuff from the home which, according to the facts you've recited, were his under the contract and he was supposed to repay you for it.  At the least, I think the value of what you took would be deducted from what he still owes you. ... Read More

You can see if the DA's office is willing to press charges.  Whether it chooses to do so is up to the DA, not you.  Here's an article I found online which discusses the legal consequences of filing a false police report (usually a misdemeanor).  https://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-charges/filing-a-false-police-report.html  As for bringing a lawsuit against your drunk neighbor, that might be more of an uphill battle, especially if you were not arrested or imprisoned.  In other words, apart from the inconvenience of having you gun temporarily taken away, what are your damages?  In any type of defamation / slander case, you need to have suffered damages in order for there to be a viable lawsuit.  Here's another article I found online that discusses these types of lawsuits.  https://injury.findlaw.com/torts-and-personal-injuries/defamation-libel-slander.html Hope this helps. Jonathan R. Ratchik, Esq. Kramer, Dunleavy & Ratchik, PLLC 61 Broadway, Suite 2220 New York, NY  10006 (212) 226-6662 www.kdrpilawyers.com... Read More

The short answer is both.  Your employer does not decide whether to pursue the criminal case, the local prosecutor does, although your employer can certainly urge the prosecutor one way or the other, and the prosecutor would probably not pursue it if your employer didn't want to.  Whether or not you make the payments, the prosecutor can pursue a criminal claim, but it is likely that he/she would not (and probably would never know about the crime) if you made the payments.  If you don't make the payments, it is far more likely that your employer will go to the prosecutor and seek to have you prosecuted, and far more likely that you would be.  Your employer can also sue you civilly  for damages.... Read More

and there is the problem - proving accusations of forgery, in the midst of the corona virus issues where tenants can't make rent in droves. Hopefully you have a written copy of the original lease signed by the LL that supports your claim. Otherwise, if the only lease copy available is a 12 month lease, you are running up a steep hill. ... Read More

Assuming that your father did not die mysteriously from a blow to the head and you did not find your father's body, you might, to the extent that your brother was implying to others (it doesn't matter what he said to you) that you may have had something to do with your faither's death, have a claim for defamation.  However, statutes of limitations for defamation are generally short (1 year in NY, don't know about LA), and it sounds as if most of this took place quite a while ago.... Read More

If the negligence of a Jiffy Lube' franchise caused your friend damages, she would have a civil claim against that franchise.   She might be able to concoct something against the franchisor, but, unless her contract was with the franchisor itself, the claim would be very weak and probably not worth pursuing.  Moreover, any claim she might have against the franchisee would be affected by the provisions of her contract, which might very well have provisions limiting liability.  For esxample, it might say that any recourse for negligence is limited to return of the amount paid for the services.  Such clauses are enforceable to different degrees in differenct states.  For example, in NY, the clause is enforceable for ismple negligence, but would not preclude recovery of actual damages if the plaintiff could show some culpability beyong simple negligence - gross negligence or intentional wrongdoing, for example.  I don't know what Tennessee law provides, or even if Tennessee law governs, since the contract probides otherwise.  It also may provide for arbitration.  The first step your friend needs to take is to read her contract (or hire a lawyer to read it for her).   P.s. I felt compelled to edit this to add that you will need an expert to testify that the cause of the problem was the failure to drain the used oil.  Your video can be useful for showing the condition of the car, but the part showing the goy from Pep  Boys opining as to what he thought the cause was failure to drain the oil will probalby be considered inadmissible hearsay (hearsay is an out of court statement offered in evidence to prove the truth of what the person said).  He was not under oath when he said it, he was not subject to cross-edxamination, and he had not been qualified as an expert (only experts are allowed to testify to their opinions, as opposed to facts of w hcih they have personal knowledge).... Read More

So you took your dog to the vet, tried to tell the vet what to do, then when the vet said the charge for what YOU wanted to do the charge was $1,400.00 and  that you refused to pay? Not sure what you are expecting here, if the proper procedure WAS to adminster Lasix, and  you refused to authorize and pay for it, and your dog passes, how is that the vets fault or subject them to being sued?... Read More

While the story is tragic from several angles, if the son is an adult not sure how you or your wife get involved because of his criminal conduct unless there are some facts missing. You generally would need to retain a civil trial lawyer to address any claims made against you or the wife and possibly an asset protection lawyer immediately to assess the extent of your exposure. ... Read More

I'm so sorry to hear you're having to deal with this.  Cerainly in these difficult times the last thing we want is for our mail delivery to stop.  That said, a civil lawsuit might not be the most practical way of addressing this.  The cost of bringing and prosecuting a lawsuit would likely outweigh any damages you could recover.  You'd be better off contacting the post office, in writing, and explaining your situation.  And perhaps take a trip to your local post office and speak with the supervisor about getting your mail reinstated (and your old mail delivered).   Hope this helps. Jonathan R. Ratchik, Esq. Kramer, Dunleavy & Ratchik, PLLC 61 Broadway, Suite 2220 New York, NY 10006 (212) 226-6662 www.kdrpilawyers.com  ... Read More

Nothing effective. You have no title which is dramtically different than merely having a lien in the title. Check with DMV for options but generally you end up with a junker car you can't insure nor drive if you have no title in your name. You could also contact the lender and see if they will take a small payment to give you title. ... Read More