I received a summons and I am being sued

You MUST respond to the complaint within 30 days after it was served on you. If you call the plaintiff's lawyer for a 15 day or 30 day extension of time to find a lawyer, he probably will give it to you. If you hire me to represent you, the lawyer probably will grant me such an extension. You can also go to the courthouse and ask for a form to request a 30 day extension of time, in order to give you more time to hire a lawyer. The clerk grants such requests routinely. We charge $300.00 per hour plus expenses. We bill monthly and expect you to pay it withing 10 days after delivery. We will want a deposit of $5000.00 which you will maintain by paying our invoices promptly. We will apply the deposit to any late payment and stop working on your case until you restore the deposit by making the late payment. At the end of the case, we'll apply the deposit to the last bill and return any balance remaining immediately. The deposit is our rough estimate of what the case might cost in any month. If we anticipate doing more work than that in any month, especially if we get to trial, we reserve the right to require an additional higher deposit. Your employer may owe you the cost of defending yourself and reimbursement for any judgment against you. If your employer agrees to has his lawyer defend you, too, which he should, you might want to hire us to just look over their shoulders to make sure they are really protecting you. Your company's insurance company and even your own homeowners insurance might owe you a defense and attorneys fees.  That's one of the first things we will want to check. Our goal representing you will be to get you out as quickly and cheaply as possible. As of now, my law firm and I have NOT agreed to represent you or your employer's company, and we are not representing you. We will not represent you until you have decided you want to hire us and you have told us more about the lawsuit, so that we can decide whether or not to represent you. Until you and I both sign a written attorney client fee agreement and you have delivered the negotiated deposit to me, my law firm and I are still not representing you.   Dana Sack 510-286-2200