Colorado Litigation Legal Questions

In general, your daughter should handle a case this small on her own in small claims court.  The cost of an attorney would be more than the case is worth, and, unless the parties' contract provides for the losing party to pay the winner's attorneys' fees, or unless Colorad has a statute which allows the winner to collect attorneys' fees in these circumstances (I doubt it but I'm not a Colorado attorney), each side would pay its own.  Moreover, they may allow certain liberties and informality in small claims court that would neer fly with an attorney representing you, such as using an email as testimony without the mechanic actually testifying under oath and subject to cross-examination.  Your  daughter also has a problem if she cashed the $100 check, as the mechanic will almost certainly make a very credible claim that he gave her the $100 in full settlement of her claims.... Read More

Yes you can sue a company from another state, the question is where, e.g. does the company have sufficient contacts with your state for the courts of your state to exercise jurisdiciton over it relating to this dispute or do you have to sue it in its home state?  In this case, because the company solicited you (presumably in your home state) I think you could probably sue it in your home state except that it is likely that your contract will have either an arbitration clause (requiring you to litigate any dispute in arbitration) or an exclusive forum clause (requiring you to litigate any dispute in a particular court of a particular jurisdiction).... Read More

Of course, but you may not be able to file it in small claims court, which in some jurisdictions only handle suits between locals, and may h ave to sue in a higher court, which will have higher fees.  Also, if you sue in your state, you may have to show that the Court has personal jurisdiction over the defendant, i.el. that the defendant has sufficient contacts with your state to make it fair that he/she be sued in that jurisdiction.  Since this suit arises from the defendant's breach of a contract which was to be performed in your state (i.e. to repay money to you in your state), you should be able to meet this requirement.... Read More

You need to find out the status of the case that was commenced 8 years ago.  The statute of limitations is the time you have to commence an action.  If the action was started and you were properly served within the statute of limitations, it doesn't matter how long it takes to litigate the case.  If a judgment was entered against you in the case, the statute of limitations to collect on that judgment has probably not run (in NY it's 20 years, but it may be a different period in Co).  If the case was discontinued or dismissed, whether the plaintiff can bring another case, and if so his time to do so, would differ depending on when and for what reason the case was terminated.  ... Read More

I recommend you contact an attorney to discuss the facts of this in detail.  There are several issues here, I suspect that you have a remedy to recover your damages whether against your sister or her child.     Call 303-688-0944 and ask for a free consultation as a referral from Lawyers.com.... Read More

The estate needs to be probated.  This will get a Personal Representative appointed who will then have the authority to bring suit on behalf of the estate to recover the funds which were obtained in appropriately. I would be happy to help you with this.  Call 303-688-0944 and ask for a free consultation.... Read More

You have a lot of questions and many issues that will need to be discussed beyond the scope of this forum.  I recommend you contact an attorney and ask for a free consultation to discuss your issues.   The primary issue here is that chances are because your insurance company got involved, the insurance company and not you now has the right to sue to recover damages.  But, you may be able to bring suit to recover for the damages which are outside of the scope of the insurance coverage, i.e. lost rent.  On a simple negligence claim, I would not count on recovering attorney fees.   Good Luck.  ... Read More

It is not ludicrous.  The employee owes you no duty in his/her personal capacity.  It is the bank, on whose behalf the employee was acting when he/she acted negligently, which owes you a duty.  The bank, in turn, can, if it wishes, seek to recover from the employee if it has to pay you, because, as its employee, he/she owed a duty to it. ... Read More

The issue of severing your attorney/client relationship is easy.  Send a letter telling him he is fired and alert the opposing party. The issue of future proceeds is more difficult and will depend upon the contract that you have entered into with your current attorney.   You may want to consider contacting an attorney to help you with this issue and to complete your current case.    Good Luck,... Read More

It is not required that your wife be listed as a Plaintiff, the defendant may join her but you are not required to initially list her.  Even if she were listed as a Plaintiff, she is not required to be present. Without knowing the facts of your claim or the potential Defendant's it is impossible to tell you who to name.  But it is safe to say that the shelter itself should be named.  If you choose to send a demand letter you can send it to anyone you want, it has no bearing on the suit.   Good luck, Don Eby  ... Read More

You are obligated to take whatever course of action you reasonably can to reduce your damages.  From your question, it seems that you are in a position where you can reasonably trade in your car and get a replacement.  Thus, if the $6,000 of repairs would add less than $6,000 of value to the car, you should trade it in as is; if it would add more than $6,000 in value, you should get the car repaired.  In other words, if the car is worth 2,000 as is, and $7,000 after repairs, don't do the repairs.  If it is worth $2,000 as is, and $9,000 after repairs, do the repairs.  If you do the repairs, your damages should be the amount it cost you to repair the car, plus incidentals (towing, hotel room, whatever), perhaps minus some amount for the mileage you put on after the transmission was drained.  If you trade in the car, your damages should be the amount the car would have been worth if the differential fluid had been changed minus the amount you sell it for (assuming you sell it in a commercially reasonable manner and don't just sell it to your brother for $10), again with some incidental adjustments.... Read More

It is likely you are going to need to respond in Colorado. However, you need to be personally served first. Her calling you does not count. For now, you could call the clerk at the court and let them know that you have not been served and that you just were notified of this hearing and you live out of state and it will need to be reset. The hearing is likely an Initial Status Conference, which is an informal meeting with the court to discuss the status of your case.... Read More

You can file a lawsuit for almost anything. The real question is whether it's worth it to file a lawsuit. You'd need to look at what your claims are, whether those claims would succeed, and what type of monetary damages you can expect to receive. I'd suggest talking to a plaintiff's attorney about these issues, but from what I've read thus far, this is not a lawsuit that would be worth pursuing.... Read More