What is the statute of limitations for an attorney to collect his lien

Questions

Injury date 12 1 2007 attorney worked on case 1 year obtained records. new lawyer filed suit settled in 2010 for 500,000. attorney has lien in contract. second attorney refuses to pay first attorney. can first attorney sue me?

Answer 1

Yes. The first attorney can file suit against both you and your new attorney to enforce his lien once he has complied with mandatory fee arbitration requirements.

The statute of limitations on a written contract is 4 years from date of breach, i.e., from when the case was settled in 2010 and the lien was not honored.

However, unless there is a disagreement between you and your attorneys regarding the total fee to be awarded all attorneys, the dispute between the attorneys should not impact your right to receive your contingency percentage of the settlement or involve you in fee dispute litigation.

In the event there is a dispute regarding the total fee, the attorneys' ethical responsibilities would still require that the undisputed portion be released to you. In a nutshell, the attorneys cannot hold your right to recovery hostage because they cannot agree among themselves regarding the division of the fee.

Your present attorney should hold all disputed funds in trust until the dispute regarding fees is settled. All undisputed funds should be released to you after all other liens are satisfied. Hopefully, there is no dispute as to the total fee to be charged so you do not have to be involved in fee litigation.

Answer 2

This should not be an issue that you should have to deal with. The second attorney should work it out with the first attorney, and if they cannot resolve it, they should find a dispute resolution process to work out their problems. You should demand that your second attorney turn over the undisputed client portion of the recover to you if that has not already occurred, and to resolve the issue with the first attorney so that you are not embroiled in a lawsuit.

Keep in mind that if you were sued, you would not face the liability, but you would need to be named as a defendant because the first attorney had the contract with you. Any recovery should come from the second attorney's trust account.

Mr. Daymude is correct that the statute of limitations for a breach of written contract (which is the basis for the lien) is four years. We are both assuming you had a written agreement with the first attorney because we know it would have been wrong for the attorney to not have a written agreement. If, in fact, the first attorney did not have a written agreement, the statute of limitations is only two year.

Good luck to you.

Why is it not a good idea for pro per to take deposition

Questions

Please give example how deposition testimony can be rendered useless. A lawyer who has no knowledge of my case can ask useless questions.

Answers:

With all due respect to you, it is generally not a good idea because you are not a trained attorney. There are procedural rules that need to be followed or you run the risk of having certain questions or perhaps the entire deposition being inadmissible. It can be done, but I can not think of an attorney who would recommend this course of action.

While you may know the facts of your case, unless you are an experienced attorney, you probably would not know how to properly frame a question so that it is not objectionable. If you persist in asking objectionable questions, it is possible that the deponent will walk out of the deposition.

Moreover, the main purpose of spending your money to take a deposition is so that you can use it at the time of trial for purposes of impeachment during your cross-examination. Even less experienced attorneys often do not know how to use a deposition transcript at the time of trial.

You have already received four responses that all agree that a non-lawyer may well render the deposition useless.

Your assumption is that some attorney would step into the deposition cold without knowing the facts of your case. That is not what is being proposed by anyone. Anyone who is going to take a deposition has to know the facts of the case, how the players all fit together, and the documents available. It takes time to prepare for a deposition, and whomever would would hire would need to be given time to get up to speed.

You ask about how a non-lawyer could render a depo useless. I will provide a few.

1. By asking questions that are of improper form, the testimony may be deemed to be objectionable at the time of trial or in a motion for summary judgment. Objectionable questions essentially render meaningless any answers given thereto.

2. Opposing counsel can relentlessly yet legally object and obstruct the proceedings which will, whether you believe it or not, place you on the defense and rattle you, thereby rendering your efforts far less effective.

3. Failing to properly set up an important question before it is asked can result in the ultimate answer being rejected at the time of trial or an MSJ because you did not lay a legally acceptable foundation for the answer.

4. By failing to properly instruct the witness at the commencement of the deposition, you may render a really good answer unuseful because you gave the witness the ability to wiggle out of it at trial.

5. By not having years of experience in asking questions, your questions may well be too obvious about where you are going and therefore lose the opportunity to get the information you need in the deposition. Even young, inexperienced attorneys with three years of law school and a year in the firm have problems with this.

6. By not being a trained listener, you may will not see the small changes in voice inflection, change in body posture, or the use of specific words that indicate you are in a good area. For instance, I have read perhaps 15 books on human dynamics related to prevarication, body language and communication as part of building my craft. A non-lawyer will not have the same sixth sense that an experienced attorney will have.

7. The best deposition testimony usually comes from the art of misdirection. You get a witness to think you are going in one direction when in fact you are going in another. This is a skill developed over a long time taking depositions. While have just described this to you, it is a very hard thing to put into practice without knowing how it works.

There are perhaps a dozen other reasons why it simply makes sense to have an experienced attorney perform a deposition. Perhaps my answer has given you an idea of the complexity of the deposition process. If you are going to spend over $1K for a day of deposition in court reporter fees alone, you should not be penny-wise but pound-foolish.

You can always consult with an attorney and pay for a couple of hours of his or her time to give you guidance about the general procedure for depositions. You will still be at a disadvantage but this might help if you insist on proceeding pro se ipso. Good luck to you.

Was I lied to on purpose

Was I lied to on purpose? Is it their fault if I took out a loan for 4k after being told I had payments & back payments coming?

Question

I have Sickle Cell disease and I was collecting benefits for 5 months until I got a letter stating I was overpaid in benefits for 40k 13+ years ago. I just found out about it a few months ago and this was never in my file at all but somehow it popped up and became urgent that I pay this money back. I was told I would collect benefits from SS & SSI plus back payments but was talked out of collecting on both because he said it would take the government too long to estimate what I would receive for all 4 payments, so I did. I was being evicted and hearing that was a blessing, but I ultimately ended up with nothing at all. Since 3 other people told me the same thing he had, I took out a loan for over 4k to keep our home and pay the bills, so now I owe 44. I went into the office to find out what I had done wrong and the lady snapped at me and told me that the government could do anything they wanted to because I had no proof!...? That didn't sound right so I asked her if she would show me their "proof" and she tried to talk me out of that, and wouldn't let me file an appeal. She finally agreed to send me their "proof" but it took months for me to get it. It was longer than the cut off time that I could ask for an appeal, but she demanded me to wait for their proof before she would let me file for one. When I got my statement it showed the year, month, and the amount they paid me.. that's it! I'm upset because I think I was talked out of collecting help from both, in order for them to not help me at all.
I have 2 girls who collect $156 through SS and I receive $96 through housing and that's all I have to use for eating, paying bills, and other expenses each month.

Answer:

You were most likely not lied to on purpose and no, it is not anyone else;s fault that you took out a loan.

Who is a responsible

Question

I financed a vehicle with some minor damage. I also paid for gap insurance through the same finance company. Later i wrecked the vehicle and it was totaled. My auto insurance payed the blue book value of the vehicle minus money for the existing damage. The gap insurance payed the balance of the loan minus money for the existing damage. Now the finance company is billing me for the existing damage. Do i owe this money or should the finance company owe who i bought the gap insurance from and financed the vehicle with the existing damage.

Answer

This is not an uncommon problem with GAP insurers. Here is how I would analyze the situation.

Your automobile insurance will pay out a maximum of the value of the vehicle (as measured immediately prior to the accident). The Blue Book value is not the value of your vehicle, but, rather, it is the value of your vehicle without pre-existing damage. Thus, your automobile insurance will pay out the Blue Book value minus any pre-existing damage.

Your GAP coverage covers the difference between what you owe to the lender and what your vehicle is worth (as measured at the time of purchase minus typical depreciation, wear, and tear). I assume that the only damage to your vehicle prior to the accident already existed at the time you purchased the vehicle. Thus, the car value as measured by your automobile insurer should have been equal to the car value as measured by your GAP insurer. What your automobile insurance paid out was what your vehicle is worth. Thus, your GAP coverage should be the difference between the amount owed on your loan and the amount paid by the automobile insurance company.

In short, your GAP coverage is the one that is likely shortchanging you under the facts as you describe them.

The reason your GAP coverage is saying that it must take an extra reduction for pre-existing damage is because, if the damage occurred AFTER you bought the vehicle, you should have had it repaired.

Imagine you buy a pre-owned but perfect condition car for $20K requiring a loan of $18K. Then, a month after buying, you make a payment of $300 and immediately sustain damage of $4000. You don't repair the damage and don't report it to your automobile insurer. Then a month later, you make your second payment of $300 and immediately total the vehicle. Now, you owe $17400 (ignoring the interest that accrued in those two months) on a vehicle that would be worth $20K but for the $4K in damage. Your automobile insurer says you waited too long to make a claim on the first accident and pays out only on the second accident. Your car's value at the time of the second accident is just $16K., and that is how much your automobile insurer pays You would hope that your GAP insurer would pay the remaining $1400. But it probably won't, because your GAP insurer will say that, had you utilized your automobile insurance properly after the first accident, the current car value would exceed the amount owed on the loan, and no payout would be necessary. Your GAP insurer is saying your car should be worth $20K but for your failure to fix it, and therefore the difference between the amount owed and the value of the car is negative, and you will get no payout. In other words, both companies are deducting the pre-existing damage from their payouts, and you are left footing the difference.

In your situation, however, the GAP coverage began after the damage already existed on the vehicle. Thus, the GAP insurer's logic that you could have had your automobile insurer cover you does not apply. You will want to provide evidence that the damage existed prior to purchase in order to move this dispute forward.

Depending on the amount of money at issue, it may be worth hiring an attorney, even if just to write a proper demand letter to the GAP insurer.

Immigration Correction in birth certificate

Questions:

I was born in 1975 in Mumbai. The last name in my passport (school leaving certificate, degree certificate etc) has the name used by all my family members but my birth certificate has different last name. My parents tried to correct it from municipality but they asked for proof of residence prior to by birth. We have no proof whatsoever. Our all efforts to convince the Municipal council has failed. What can be done to correct this difference and satisfy the immigration department's requirements to process my green card. Your guidance and help will be highly appreciated.

Answer:

Your question is not entirely clear to me, but if it is necessary you can likely hire a local attorney to guide you through the process of an official name change in state court and then submit a certified copy of the judgment that corrects your name to USCIS. If you are trying to change the birth certificate itself, you may have to do that in Mumbai. Best of luck

What criminal statute code would this crime be

If someone asks you for financial support because they claim they are poor, cannot buy food, clothes and are living off their credit card with no financial support from anyone else and you end up finding out that isn't true, what specific criminal statute code could they have violated.

Depending on the circumstances it might fall under some sort of fraud statute or it might not be criminal at all. It would seem as though morally, if not legally, there would be a "let the lender beware" obligation. But there is no reason for you to try to figure this one out for yourself, and you shouldn't. If you think that a crime has been committed, report it to the police. It is the job of the police and the State's Attorney to decide whether there is evidence of criminal conduct and, if so, whether and how to bring a charge. Report what you know and let them handle it.

More details are needed to determine whether the actual crime took place. But the actual charging is done by the State's Attorney after prior review and processing by the law enforcement agencies. If you feel that there is actual crime being committed, report that to the police, however, take notice that any false, frivolous or fabricated police report may have completely different consequences and may result in criminal charges against you.

If you go to The States Attorney Office they will make a decision on a charge. From the information you provided it doesn't seem there was a crime committed. The person asked to borrow money and you lent them money they did not defraud your or steal money from you. You may want to consider pursuing this person in civil court.

What does renters insurance cover exactly

Although this answer is subject to the actual terms of your policy, which you may wish to review with an attorney, typically a renter's insurance policy does protect your possessions against fire.

The part of your policy covering this will likely be a paragraph covering various forms of damage, including theft and vandalism. Again, I recommend checking your policy documents for this provision. You then can be fully informed when you contact your insurance company for coverage.

Note that I said the insurance policy likely covers your "possessions." It is unlikely--although possible--that you purchased a renter's policy that covers the dwelling unit. If not, any damage sustained to the actual unit (walls, floor, cabinetry, etc.) would not be covered. One would hope, however, that the landlord has a property owner's policy to cover fire damage to the unit.

Be sure to always have and test fire-safety devices, including smoke detectors and fire extinguishers. An insurance policy may very well deny coverage for failure to have such devices.