More details to this question:
My daughters car enjine seized up after getting an oil change at a local oil change franchise.The drain plug fell out after a few days as it was not tightened up properly.Spent 350 dollars to file and the companys attorney had the case tossed out because of the way the name of the defendant was written on the filing.The attorney also threatened to sue us for all legal costs should we re-file the case.They fired the young man whodid the oil change and they have a video of him doing the job and it clearly shows him talking on his cell phone while hand tightening the drain plug.He has agreed to testify on behalf of my daughter. The lawyer also made crude remarks about the car being a cheap car bought at a buy here pay here type of car dealership which it was not.It was a good little Nissan Sentra with 117 K miles on it. The franchise had it towed to a local garage who told them that they were at fault and the enjine was ruined. They are clearly trying to make us spend more than we can
1 ANSWER
Michael H. Fayard
Just because the case was "tossed out" for the way you named the defendant does not mean that the case is over. The judge could have dismissed your complaint, and not the case. More detail as to what was filed and the order from the court is needed to determine what your next step should be. For instance, you may be able to amend your complaint to add additional parties or substitute defendants. If that is the case, then you would not have to pay an additional filing fee. Be mindful, however, the court may have given you only a short time to refile (10 through 30 days in some cases).
And the threat from the other attorney that he will seek fees and costs may be a hollow threat. Typically, in Florida, a party is only entitled to attorney's fees by contract or statute, and they must be the prevailing party before they are entitled to get the fees. Being the prevailing party can be difficult to ascertain in some cases as we do not have a "loser-pays" system.
This is how big companies protect themselves from wrongdoing. They try to price injured parties out of court. Don't just throw the towel in and walk away from your case because the opposing lawyer threatened to counter-sue you. That lawyer is doing his job trying to protect his client's interest. That does mean the attorney or the company is right. The company took your hard-earned money, they failed to provide you the service they should have, and you have been injured as a result. You may be entitled to damages. At least you should have your day in court.
Answered on Aug 17th, 2016 at 12:34 PM