Litigation Legal Questions

Standard-Operating-Procedure would be to have a lawyer send him a cease-and-desist letter. I have never heard of one working in this situation. The most you might get would be some excuse, like these were not clients of the company or had already decided to leave the company, because they did not like working with you or the third partner. The lawsuit will take at least a year and be very expensive. You will spend $20,000.00 or more before you are at the stage where you can have a meaningful mediation or settlement conference. You should start by contacting all the clients directly, on the phone, to explain what has happened and get them back. If that doesn't solve the problem, then all you can do is sue. Just the fees to the court and the services to get the complaint filed and served will be about $600.00. Preparing the summons and complaint will cost $1500-$2000. A very aggressive approach would be to seek a temporary restraining order that he stop doing business with the company's clients and stop soliciting its clients. The chance of success is better than fifty percent, but not much better. You would be asking to give you now the remedy that you aren't really entitled to until after a trial. That motion would cost $4000-$6000. However, if you won that motion, it would likely lead to a quick negotiated settlement. Dana Sack... Read More

Adverse possession is a way of acquiring property, generally real estate, without a voluntary transfer.  Although the rules vary by jurisdiction, and there are a lot of nuances and technicalities, basically if someone openly occupies property for many years (how many varies by jurisdiction, but generally at least 10) without the true owner's permission, and the true owner takes no action to claim the property in all those years, it becomes the property of the person who has occupied it.  In some jurisdictions the occupier must have acted under claim of right, in other words they must have had a reason to believe that the property was theirs and they weren't just trespassing.... Read More

The answer to your question is yes: you can sue anyone for anything in this country; Just because you can, however, doesn't always mean one should. If the damages are under $10,000, file a small claims lawsuit against the body shop for the shoddy work done. You probably will need a repair report from an indepdendent repair shop indicating what work needs to be done on your vehicle to make it correct and what the cost may be. If the case goes to trial, someone from that body shop would have to testify in court in your behalf.... Read More

I'm not an Ohio attorney,and it is possible that Ohio law is different in this area than where I practice, but I would say no.  First, as to suspension, I see no basis for suspending someone's right to practice his/her profession simply because he/she owes money.  Your judgment gives you the right to collect money, not to impair someone's right to make a living.  As to attaching the license, while it can be considered an asset, it is not assignable; a doctor or lawyer can't sell his license to anyone.  Normally if a judgment creditor attaches an asset, it is sold, and the creditor receive the proceeds of sale (after deducting fees of, for example, a marshal) up to the amount of the judgment.  Here, there can be no sale, so I don't see how you can attach the license.  Of course, you would still have the ability to collect from the revenues generated by the licnese, e.g.you should be able to garnish the fees paid to the debtor, attach his/her bank accounts, etc.... Read More

Not sure what the question or the issues are. Being autistic does not inherently render one legally incompetent and your factual statements seem some what incredulous. Presumably your sibling or thier legal guardian will need to hire counsel, and unless thats you, you, you have no say in the issue. You can assist them if you want by usuing the find a lawyer feature on this site. ... Read More

I can not tell from your summary if the mortgage is still open or has been foreclosed on? If still open, then you are still liable on the mortgage until he gets it refinanced in his own name or it is foreclosed on. If closed and there is a deficiency, then you (and he) are liable for any deficiency.... Read More

You don't say which county you filed in. And in small claims court, an attorney may often cost you as much as the case is worth. I think you might need an automobile repair or auto body repair person and documents showing the frame damage. If you still think an attorney would be helpful and your case is in northern New Jersey, you can contact me at 973-665-6367.  Anthony Van Zwaren, Esq.... Read More

Law suits are very fact specific and it is not really possible to state what his chances of success in sucyh a suit might be, but he has the right to file a suit. I recently settled a case against a county jail and their private infirmary service for an unprovoked attack by other inmates against my client. But every case really depends upon whether you can show that the jail was negligent, that they were aware of the possibility of an attack and that they failed to protect him, whether negligently or intentionally. You should have the case reviewed by a civil rights attorney.... Read More