U.S. legal system prevails

[Camman]

Some of you may have remember my very concerned post (http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8642) about a very frivelous lawsuit filed against my father.

Well, after having the trial pushed back because our lawyer was having a baby, it happened Mon/Tues/Wed of this week. I testified on Tuesday, and the opposing lawyer really grilled me for like an hour, trying to catch me on minute details (he asked me if I 'glanced' at something, my responsing being that I 'looked at it for a few seconds' at which point he pulled out my deposition and made me read the portion in which I said I "glanced" at the truck, oops I'm sorry, I figured "looking for a few seconds" and "glancing" generally was the same thing).

Anywayyyy, after much ridiculousness and the past 2 years of having to worry about this, the case is over, and I'm happy to announce that the dip**** who brought about this lawsuit and wanted to settle for $40,000 ended up with $0 as the jury ruled in our favor that this kids injuries had nothing to do with my father whatsoever. So his scumbag lawyer ("you dont pay unless we win!") receives nothing except for his lost time on this case.

I'm happy that it turned out this way, but, I can help thinking about the wasted time and resources of the court (taxpayers), our lawyer, our insurance company because these frivelous lawsuits. I heard somewhere that with courts in the U.K. if a frivelous lawsuit is brought and the plantiff loses then they are responsible for the court costs and/or the defendants attorney fees, is this true??

Also, I'm wondering, does anybody know how one goes about getting a copy of the court report? I figure it's publicly available info since the court is open to whomever wants to go in and watch, I'll have to figure out who to contact to get a copy of it.

[KingFish]

I'm glad it turned out well for you and that you all stood your ground instead of caving in at the thought of lawyers coming at you. I never saw the original post until now but I'll address one thing in it about why a citation wasn't issued for speeding. Oftentimes I encounter situations when I know very well in my head that vehicle A was traveling above the speed limit but without being able to provide empirical evidence in court it is fruitless to issue a citation for it. It'll be readily thrown out of court without the supporting evidence and then risk the future loss of credibility in court by trying to slide a citation such as that through court. Oftentimes another citation fits the bill such as careless operation that is more of a general "catch all" traffic citation and carries a similar penalty of speeding. To get an accurate accounting of the true speed that the vehicle that hit your fathers vehicle would require a certified accident reconstructionist to work. He would find values for the crumple zones of the specific vehicles and have to measure how far the vehicles were crunched in to derive a range of speeds that the vehicle would be traveling. It's empirical and would stand up in court. The problem is that accident reconstructionists charge on average $150 per hour for these types of problems. Figure four to six hours for the reconstructionist to take measurements and do the appropriate math. Also figure on paying him an expert witness fee of another $150 to $200 to testify in court. Generally accident reconstructionists are used only in fatalities or cases were high dollar amounts are being litigated. If it were my accident scene and, everything being told to me by you are correct, I were to make a decision on a citation to issue I would either issue one for careless operation, failure to maintain control, or following too closely, depending on the specific circumstances at the scene. Laws vary by state and municipalities although it's universal to have officer discretion when having to make decisions and judgement calls in these situations. Just because an officer doesn't issue a citation doesn't make one party any more or less culpable for causing the accident from a civil point of view. It is often a tool of anger and a source of venting for the party not at fault to get back to the one at fault (one that I totally support by the way as a sidenote). Again, I'm glad it turned out in your favor and got that weight off your chest.

KingFish

[Nomad]

It's that crap that pisses everyone off. Sorry to hear your time got wasted with some piece of ass-foam who felt he was entitled to someone elses money because he's a dirtbag.

[csimon]

frivelous lawsuits should be penalized to the party filing the suit.
Glad to hear your outcome went well Camman.

What can I say ...Justice is blind and your father and his family are the ones who suffered for it. It is ridiculous and a total pity ...but I'm glad it had some sort of positive outcome for you!

[pseudonym]

Congrats!! Its great to hear this came out ok. I hope you made that lawyer and his Grade A A-Hole client look like a total ass in front of everyone.

[Straight_Man]

I'm happy that it turned out this way, but, I can help thinking about the wasted time and resources of the court (taxpayers), our lawyer, our insurance company because these frivelous lawsuits. I heard somewhere that with courts in the U.K. if a frivelous lawsuit is brought and the plantiff loses then they are responsible for the court costs and/or the defendants attorney fees, is this true??

Also, I'm wondering, does anybody know how one goes about getting a copy of the court report? I figure it's publicly available info since the court is open to whomever wants to go in and watch, I'll have to figure out who to contact to get a copy of it.

Clerk of the Court (Court Clerk's office in some places) for the court that case was heard in can provide record copy if records are not sealed-- the judgement itself the defendant or defendant's lawyer should get as part of judgement record processes, but the trial transcript might be fairly expensive to get. Give them the case number, expect to pay a fee for copying paperwork or getting print from digital or microfiche records in the case of an older case, if you want a hard copy of more than the judgement itself. Judgement copy alone, court clerk certified, should be provided as part of judgement process within 30 days if Court Clerk is swamped with followup work or Judge has a very busy court schedule-- if not busy, ten days should suffice.


IF the plaintiff's lawyer was good, the person who sued will owe something for his\her lawyer's work, frequently some things are waived only on a win. And if the person who sued lacks money, the standard thing for use in US after that kind of thing is a countersuit-- but if the person who sued originally has no money to pay with, chances are you will get pennies on the dollar back in money actually received, and spend lots of time and money and trouble getting any countersuit judgement enforced.

If judgement got passed, why did your (Dad's???) lawyer not demand costs and fees for defendant's defense before final judgement, or has that not happened??? Some jurisdictions allow for that if a judgement of "no merit" to suit is actually made in court and plaintiff does not file an intent to appeal fairly quickly. Sometimes a court can be petitioned for this, citing judgement as part of reason for petition for a court order.

[Leonardo]

Camman, I'm so glad to hear this news. I am happy your family isn't being drug through the pain caused by that immoral, greedy family.

I agree, that there should be a greater risk for lawyers and their clients who bring highly flimsy cases against people or organizations that have done no wrong. The way the system is structured now, this is nearly every incentive to bring civil lawsuits against virtually anyone with a positive bank balance.

[keto]

I just sent $2500 worth of bills to my head office for payment today for THE OTHER SIDE'S lawyer's in a case we lost....and it had nothing to do with being friv'lous, it's S.O.P. in Canada from what I understand.

[profdlp]

I'm glad it worked out. I think if we had a system where the loser pays court cost, etc we'd see a lot less of this kind of attempted extortion.

[bothered]

Dead right prof, it's how it should be. The ammount of time and money wasted in courts would drop to almost nothing. Comparably.

[Clutch]

Glad to hear it is over and everything came out good. It is rare that the honest people actually win, congrats.

[primesuspect]

hahahah nomad said "ass-foam"

Good on you and your dad, Cam :)

[Camman]

thanks everybody!

I also forgot to mention something neat. A couple weeks ago I went outside and parked my car in the spot where my dads truck was and took a whole bunch of photos with my digital camera from different distances to show how visible it was. I sent them off to our lawyer just so she could have them to refer to.

Well, it turns out she sent my CD of photos to a printing place and had 6 of the better ones blown up to poster size, put on foamboard, and they were submitted to the trial as evidence while I was testifying! So I got to use my own photos to explain why it is easy to see cars parked on the road and such.

I didn't go to the "closing arguments' but my mother told me that the other lawyer really cut us all down calling us liars and referring to my photos as "cameron's little project because he likes to do things with computers" to which I laughed because the only thing that says to me is that my 'little project' was enough of a threat to his case that he felt the need to belittle it to a jury, and with them getting the $0 judgement, I like to think that my 'little project' had atleast <i>something</i> to do with the victory :)

just for fun, here's one of the pics that was used in the trial, you can see my red car on the right side parked where my dad was hit and the rest of the road with where they alleged was "not enough room to pass".

[Templar]

Wow, I'm glad I never had that boyhood fantasy of becoming a lawyer... Luckily he's just a sour one. I'm *sure* there has to be a few good lawyers out there..

Edit: Oh yeah.. /sarcasm


Cam, what's your position in Seacoast Elite?

[Camman]

Cam, what's your position in Seacoast Elite?


that would be "owner", ;)