Legal Questions: do not communicate with the demon at all except through your genie

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woozle wuzzle: Mar 10, 2012

joat mon posted:

But see Virginia Professional Guidelines and Rules of Professional Conduct "Scope"

words in italics are mine.

So it's probably not that simple, and you'll probably have an easier time showing no ACR/no expectation of confidentiality for discussions in an open, public forum than you would in your private (or at worst, semi-private) gloryhole of law.

Now you see why I said I still might have the duty of confidentiality. I think it is pretty simple though. 100% anonymous and zero discussion of future anything = no relationship, across the board. I could see where other locations would be different, but it's zero risk under VA rules. (For both the gloryhole and this thread. Now add anything else, like I start pm'ing or give the gloryhole patron my work number, and I'd change my tune.)

Macunaima posted:

With even a small shade of gray, I'm going to err on the side of caution.

Then my honest advice would be to not provide advice. I've been burned and I totally understand that your paranoia is justified. But I don't see how the disclaimer changes it. If there's the tiniest sliver of liability (which there may be in your location), then what is there to gain by posting? I don't say that to hush you, because you probably give better advice than me and the more the merrier. Go nuts posting with a disclaimer. I just wouldn't post if there was a cloud of doubt.

woozle wuzzle fucked around with this message at 17:32 on Jul 25, 2012

# ? Jul 25, 2012 17:18

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# ? May 15, 2024 22:50

TheImmigrant: Jan 18, 2011

woozle wuzzle posted:

Then my honest advice would be to not provide advice.

Thank you for your valuable legal advice, counselor. I'll expect you to appear at my malpractice hearing before the bar committee next month now. Don't bother billing me.

# ? Jul 25, 2012 17:22

woozle wuzzle: Mar 10, 2012

Holy smokes! OK, the summons should go to my dedicated process server:

Woozle Wuzzle, Esq.
c/o Richard "Lowtax" Kyanka
PO Box 997
Lee's Summit, MO 64063

# ? Jul 25, 2012 17:30

peengers: Jun 6, 2003; toot toot

Possibly quick questions, involving Florida red light cameras and tickets:

I recently got a letter from a company contracted with a neighboring city to handle red light cameras that claimed I had run a red light. It included a picture of a person on a motorcycle "running" the light, with a grainy picture of the tag that could be the tag for one of the bikes registered in my name.

The bike in the photo isn't mine and is of a completely different make, the rider pretty clearly isn't me, and if you view the online video for the infraction you see the guy stop, then hang a right, which is legal in this state. According to the letter, in order to get this addressed the only real thing I can do is go to court over it in a county that's 1.5 hours away.

For those of you in the know, what options do I have here?

edit: they also can't tell the difference between a moped and a gixxer

peengers fucked around with this message at 17:45 on Jul 25, 2012

# ? Jul 25, 2012 17:36

DOCTOR ZIMBARDO: May 8, 2006

Would it imperil my character and fitness hearing if I smash the guitar of one of the other bar applicants when he spends all the exam break time sitting outside playing white boy blues? This for the Maryland bar, if it matters.

# ? Jul 25, 2012 18:05

entris: Oct 22, 2008; by Y Kant Ozma Post

DOCTOR ZIMBARDO posted:

Would it imperil my character and fitness hearing if I smash the guitar of one of the other bar applicants when he spends all the exam break time sitting outside playing white boy blues? This for the Maryland bar, if it matters.

Rule 2:19 of the Maryland rules actually require you to break his guitar because holy poo poo playing awful guitar music during bar exam breaks is active warfare against other bar applicants, especially if he is crooning along.

# ? Jul 25, 2012 18:45

Kalman: Jan 17, 2010

Alchenar posted:

Because Supreme Court justices serve lifetime appointments, so having to give up financial independence for the rest of your life would mean that nobody in their right mind would ever agree to the job.

You could always step down from the Court.

And it's not like blind-trusting your assets is the only method of insulation available - a lot of firms require (because of insider trading concerns) that their lawyers clear many financial instrument trades through the firm's conflicts committee prior to executing the trade. If the Court actually acknowledged the authority of any other body to regulate it (see: Judicial Conference rules of judicial ethics not applying to SCOTUS) it would be easy enough to do something similar, allowing justices to manage their finances within constraints designed to minimize the potential for conflict.

That said, Ginny Thomas's political activities wouldn't actually be affected by a blind trust type situation, so you're fixing a different problem than the one you set out to fix.

# ? Jul 25, 2012 19:56

Doorknob Slobber: Sep 10, 2006; by Fluffdaddy

This is regarding debt collection in Washington state.

Today my employer was called and they threatened to my boss that they were going to garnish my wages for like $500 for some Verizon bill from a million years ago. My question is as follows: Before garnishing my wages don't they have to sue me first to prove that I do in fact owe them said amount? If they did sue me don't they have to serve me with papers summons/complaint and then assuming they did that wouldn't they have a judgement/order from the court that would also have to be served on me?

Edit - I'm a process server so this is sort of what I've pieced together from serving papers on people so its probably all just made up.

# ? Jul 26, 2012 03:16

ChubbyEmoBabe: Sep 6, 2003; -=|NMN|=-

Reason posted:

This is regarding debt collection in Washington state.

Today my employer was called and they threatened to my boss that they were going to garnish my wages for like $500 for some Verizon bill from a million years ago. My question is as follows: Before garnishing my wages don't they have to sue me first to prove that I do in fact owe them said amount? If they did sue me don't they have to serve me with papers summons/complaint and then assuming they did that wouldn't they have a judgement/order from the court that would also have to be served on me?

Edit - I'm a process server so this is sort of what I've pieced together from serving papers on people so its probably all just made up.

There's non-legal advice thread for this kind of thing:

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3234974

IANAL but I am pretty sure doing that is a huge nono, even if they had judgement in hand.

# ? Jul 26, 2012 03:45

Schitzo: Mar 20, 2006; I can't hear it when you talk about John Druce

GamingHyena posted:

Why would you not have an attorney-client relationship? You start off representing that you're going to provide them a legal service (free legal advice). Then, you listen to information about their legal issues and dispense advice based on their specific situations in a setting that creates the expectation of confidentiality. The fact that you don't have enough information about them to perform a conflict check or a plan to provide future legal services is irrelevant.

If you don't think they're your clients or potential clients, why would you get in trouble for breaching their confidentiality or for a conflict of interest? If they're not your clients, then what are they?

Agreed - a pro bono organization in my province has started organizing a volunteer duty counsel program for small claims court, basically sitting in an office in the courthouse and providing 20 minutes of free advice to whoever walks in the door. The biggest hurdle in getting it off the ground was that it actually required our law society to amend their rules regarding conflicts of interest, as an on-the-fly conflict check is pretty impractical, but you'd definitely be negligent under the old rules if you didn't make the effort.

# ? Jul 26, 2012 04:25

woozle wuzzle: Mar 10, 2012

Schitzo posted:

Agreed - a pro bono organization in my province has started organizing a volunteer duty counsel program for small claims court, basically sitting in an office in the courthouse and providing 20 minutes of free advice to whoever walks in the door. The biggest hurdle in getting it off the ground was that it actually required our law society to amend their rules regarding conflicts of interest, as an on-the-fly conflict check is pretty impractical, but you'd definitely be negligent under the old rules if you didn't make the effort.

Nope, not agreed. Apples and Asteroids.

The pro bono association is holding itself out as identified lawyers providing legal advice. They can see and identify the clients. An attorney/client relationship is established. The entire purpose behind the conflicts check is to cross-check identities and interests. Identities and interests are known in your example. But when 100% of that information is purposefully masked, then the conflict check is both impossible and unecessary. There can't be a conflict of interest when all information pertaining to the interest is unknown.

Move the pro bono group to another building, and they answer a phone. But the phone in the courthouse isn't marked, it's just a random phone on the wall. And half the calls and half the answers are junk, with no identities given or implied.

# ? Jul 26, 2012 05:22

nm: Jan 28, 2008; "I saw Minos the Space Judge holding a golden sceptre and passing sentence upon the Martians. There he presided, and around him the noble Space Prosecutors sought the firm justice of space law."

woozle wuzzle posted:

Holy smokes! OK, the summons should go to my dedicated process server:

Woozle Wuzzle, Esq.
c/o Richard "Lowtax" Kyanka
PO Box 997
Lee's Summit, MO 64063

Address sent to Jonathan Lee Riches.

DOCTOR ZIMBARDO posted:

Would it imperil my character and fitness hearing if I smash the guitar of one of the other bar applicants when he spends all the exam break time sitting outside playing white boy blues? This for the Maryland bar, if it matters.

Important. Is this the white boy blues as in lovely guitar mustic or White Boy Blues, the song on the subject by the Bottle Rockets? (Yes, there is a song about lawyers)

quote:

Got the best tweed Bassman that you ever saw
He's a down home, low down attorney-at-law
He knows his licks so don't you laugh
His beat to poo poo Strat cost ten grand and a half

Chorus:
Have you heard the news?
He's got the white boy blues
Bought himself a guitar that paid its dues
Jam a little when he gets off work tonight
Singing hey, hey the blues is alright

Now the boys from the office, they're really impressed
When he straps that Strat up across his chest
Stevie Ray videos parts one and two
Studied them both he knows what to do

Member of the local blues Society
Trying to work his way up to a 12 gauge E
His wife's so proud of how he made it sing
He drank too much but that's a bluesy thing
Wipes down his strings and what's left of his chrome
Throws it in his Turbo Volvo and he heads for home

You all know you know this guy. If you don't you will in 10 years. He'll be your boss.

# ? Jul 26, 2012 07:39

moonsour: Feb 13, 2007; Ortowned

I have a child support question. I'm now 25, and was born and currently live in Illinois.

My mom never received child support from my dad, and I don't know if a child support order was ever issued.

If one was issued, would I be able to still collect?

Talking to my half-sister, she says he owes her ~$40,000 still, but I don't know what her whole situation is, and she's in Mississippi anyway, so the law may be different there.

So my questions are:
1) Aside from obviously asking my mom, who do I contact to see if a child support order was ever issued?
2) I'm assuming that if one never was, we're SOL.
3) What would/could even be done? He's got 3, maybe 4 children including me, and I don't know if he owes the others support or not.

Why didn't I or my mom do anything about this sooner? To be honest I never thought about it growing up, and my mom never bothered. My grandma is the one who has started bugging me about calling a lawyer about it, so I thought I'd ask.

# ? Jul 26, 2012 08:13

Manwithastick: Jul 26, 2010

Uk Goon with a work related issue here:

My wife works in the technical training industry and she has done this for 2 years with no pay rise or boost in role/position. My wife has a lot of positive praise and success in her work and has lead to some very lucrative business for the company.

Recently, the company took on a new employee to work in a similar role (and cover the increase in business) but she has found out that the new employee is being paid over 5,000 more than she is. We arent living in th nicest of lives so obviously this was a bit of a headache (also it's against the company policy for recruitment)

The only difference between her and the new hire is that he has less experience, he's white and male (but lets ignore the obvious race/sex card for the mo). He has had to be trained completly on the job by my wife and isnt doing half as much as she does.

So being rational, she asked her boss what was happening, he said she was being silly and promised to review pay at the next performance meeting (said meeting never occured). After asking the boss what was happening, he again dismissed it and refused to explain what was happening (dont get me wrong we didnt need fine details or to be nosy but it was a massive difference in pay).

After escalating the matter to the boss's boss because the boss kept missing meetings to review her pay, he took it to the directors who after 2 months of diliberation rose her salary by 1000 (bear in mind my wife has worked at the company for 5 years without a pay raise).

In the interim, attitude in the office has been a bit sour (as you can imagine).
Since raising this concern, my wife hasnt been invited to meetings and is been ostracised by the office (being told off for not covering for the secretary when she wasnt asked etc)

Your probably thinking she's stiring up a hornets nest or being mean but she has never been told why the new hire has been paid well above policy, why her pay wasnt reviewed until she kicked up a fuss and why he role has increased but her pay didnt match it?

What's the legal implications/thoughts here?

# ? Jul 26, 2012 09:40

firehurts: Sep 3, 2011

I'm in Orange County CA. I'm in some bad legal trouble and need advice. Someone I know brought up false assault charges against me. I spent 3 days in jail and the DA refused to prosecute. The other person got an emergency restraining order against me when they made the charges.

Now they are trying to get a permanent order against me. If it goes through it would mess up all kinds of stuff for me. I'm going to file a restraining order against them for harassment. Because at this point it is.

What else can I do to protect myself. Can I get them in criminal trouble for filing false charges? I want to state right now that I am 100 percent completely innocent. This has already been a heavy burden on me physically and emotionally. I'm going to try to talk to a lawyer but I really don't have any funds to hire one.

Are there any groups for someone like me? Any lawyers out there that might help someone who is broke but wrongfully accused? What the other person did was not right and I really don't know what to do. What other criminal and civil avenues can I peruse against them?

# ? Jul 26, 2012 10:45

spog: Aug 7, 2004; It's your own bloody fault.

Manwithastick posted:

Uk Goon with a work related issue here:

My wife works in the technical training industry and she has done this for 2 years with no pay rise or boost in role/position. My wife has a lot of positive praise and success in her work and has lead to some very lucrative business for the company.

Recently, the company took on a new employee to work in a similar role (and cover the increase in business) but she has found out that the new employee is being paid over 5,000 more than she is. We arent living in th nicest of lives so obviously this was a bit of a headache (also it's against the company policy for recruitment)

The only difference between her and the new hire is that he has less experience, he's white and male (but lets ignore the obvious race/sex card for the mo). He has had to be trained completly on the job by my wife and isnt doing half as much as she does.

So being rational, she asked her boss what was happening, he said she was being silly and promised to review pay at the next performance meeting (said meeting never occured). After asking the boss what was happening, he again dismissed it and refused to explain what was happening (dont get me wrong we didnt need fine details or to be nosy but it was a massive difference in pay).

After escalating the matter to the boss's boss because the boss kept missing meetings to review her pay, he took it to the directors who after 2 months of diliberation rose her salary by 1000 (bear in mind my wife has worked at the company for 5 years without a pay raise).

In the interim, attitude in the office has been a bit sour (as you can imagine).
Since raising this concern, my wife hasnt been invited to meetings and is been ostracised by the office (being told off for not covering for the secretary when she wasnt asked etc)

Your probably thinking she's stiring up a hornets nest or being mean but she has never been told why the new hire has been paid well above policy, why her pay wasnt reviewed until she kicked up a fuss and why he role has increased but her pay didnt match it?

What's the legal implications/thoughts here?

I don't believe she has any rights to insist on a pay review, or to have a discussion about other employee's pay (except perhaps to make an internal complaint of racial/sexual discrimination)

She could resign and claim constructive dismissal:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/employment/redundancyandleavingyourjob/dismissal/dg_10026696

However, that is a) traditionally hard to prove b) a slow process and c) usually ends up with her having no job.

Personally, I'd suggest that she looks to moving to a competitor if she can show that she can bring them a lot of new business.

# ? Jul 26, 2012 11:33

Dogen: May 5, 2002; Bury my body down by the highwayside, so that my old evil spirit can get a Greyhound bus and ride

Little Miss RKO posted:

I have a child support question. I'm now 25, and was born and currently live in Illinois.

My mom never received child support from my dad, and I don't know if a child support order was ever issued.

If one was issued, would I be able to still collect?

Talking to my half-sister, she says he owes her ~$40,000 still, but I don't know what her whole situation is, and she's in Mississippi anyway, so the law may be different there.

So my questions are:
1) Aside from obviously asking my mom, who do I contact to see if a child support order was ever issued?
2) I'm assuming that if one never was, we're SOL.
3) What would/could even be done? He's got 3, maybe 4 children including me, and I don't know if he owes the others support or not.

Why didn't I or my mom do anything about this sooner? To be honest I never thought about it growing up, and my mom never bothered. My grandma is the one who has started bugging me about calling a lawyer about it, so I thought I'd ask.

It looks like from reading Illinois statutes about it that if the order was done before July 1997 there is a 20 year SoL. So, it might be possible that the limit has expired, or is close to expiring, depending on when the order was issued (assuming that it was). It is also possible that it was issued after July 1997, so there might not be a limit.

If there is an order and the SoL hasn't run you can do a motion for enforcement, I think? Someone who remembers family law better than me will probably know.

# ? Jul 26, 2012 14:22

TheFrailNinja: Jun 28, 2008; CAN'T SEE SCHOOL BUS, INSISTS HE'S AN EXCELLENT DRIVER

GET OFF THE ROAD SON

APPARENTLY SUCKS AT POSTING TOO

I think this is the right place for this question. I went to this huge banger at a friend's cabin about 2 weeks ago. First thing that happened was I pulled up the wrong side road (this is out in the sticks) and some redneck fired three shots at me as I was leaving. Then later on the night when I was drunk I went to my truck, unlocked it, and left it unlocked the rest of the night. Later, I found that all of my poo poo had been stolen. Probably less than $200 in stuff altogether, so no big loss. But I'm still pissed nonetheless. My favorite backpack, a climbing carabiner I got after an Outward Bound trip, my nalgene, my phone charger, my good flashlight, the case for my glasses, the faceplate to my stereo (yeah just the faceplate), my two good sleeping bags in waterproof stuffsacks and my good ground pad. So what (if any) legal recourse do I have? I thought about calling the cops and tipping them off to some nutjob over there who apparently shoots at people when they pull up the wrong road, and maybe reporting my stolen stuff if there was any point in it. I mean I posted on the facebook event about it to see if I could rustle up any leads, maybe dirtbag kids who steal stuff have dirtbag friends that rat on them, and yesterday I was surfing ebay and craigslist for any of my stolen stuff. The only thing I thought would be awkward would be explaining that I was on my way to this huge party in the woods that the neighbors complained about. The cops came by at one point during the night but they were just down on the road like half a mile away. The neighbors weren't happy about all the cars kicking up dust on their road, understandably. So is it worth it to call the police for either the crazy redneck or the stolen stuff? Besides that, does anybody have any tips for tracking down my stolen stuff?

# ? Jul 26, 2012 14:36

Alchenar: Apr 9, 2008

TheFrailNinja posted:

I think this is the right place for this question. I went to this huge banger at a friend's cabin about 2 weeks ago. First thing that happened was I pulled up the wrong side road (this is out in the sticks) and some redneck fired three shots at me as I was leaving. Then later on the night when I was drunk I went to my truck, unlocked it, and left it unlocked the rest of the night. Later, I found that all of my poo poo had been stolen. Probably less than $200 in stuff altogether, so no big loss. But I'm still pissed nonetheless. My favorite backpack, a climbing carabiner I got after an Outward Bound trip, my nalgene, my phone charger, my good flashlight, the case for my glasses, the faceplate to my stereo (yeah just the faceplate), my two good sleeping bags in waterproof stuffsacks and my good ground pad. So what (if any) legal recourse do I have? I thought about calling the cops and tipping them off to some nutjob over there who apparently shoots at people when they pull up the wrong road, and maybe reporting my stolen stuff if there was any point in it. I mean I posted on the facebook event about it to see if I could rustle up any leads, maybe dirtbag kids who steal stuff have dirtbag friends that rat on them, and yesterday I was surfing ebay and craigslist for any of my stolen stuff. The only thing I thought would be awkward would be explaining that I was on my way to this huge party in the woods that the neighbors complained about. The cops came by at one point during the night but they were just down on the road like half a mile away. The neighbors weren't happy about all the cars kicking up dust on their road, understandably. So is it worth it to call the police for either the crazy redneck or the stolen stuff? Besides that, does anybody have any tips for tracking down my stolen stuff?

Your stuff is gone and never coming back. Chalk it up as a $200 life lesson in being more careful with your property.

About the other thing: yes, you should report the guy who tried to murder you.

# ? Jul 26, 2012 14:56

entris: Oct 22, 2008; by Y Kant Ozma Post

Alchenar posted:

Your stuff is gone and never coming back. Chalk it up as a $200 life lesson in being more careful with your property.

About the other thing: yes, you should report the guy who tried to murder you.

I agree with both of these points.

# ? Jul 26, 2012 15:01

woozle wuzzle: Mar 10, 2012

Little Miss RKO posted:

I have a child support question.

Child support is typically only owed to the custodial parent. So your mom could go after him, and I guess give you the money. But technically your father didn't owe you the support, he owed your mother, so you don't have the legal standing to pursue it. (Unless illinois has something else going on)

# ? Jul 26, 2012 15:09

Incredulous Red: Mar 25, 2008

firehurts posted:

I'm in Orange County CA. I'm in some bad legal trouble and need advice. Someone I know brought up false assault charges against me. I spent 3 days in jail and the DA refused to prosecute. The other person got an emergency restraining order against me when they made the charges.

Now they are trying to get a permanent order against me. If it goes through it would mess up all kinds of stuff for me. I'm going to file a restraining order against them for harassment. Because at this point it is.

What else can I do to protect myself. Can I get them in criminal trouble for filing false charges? I want to state right now that I am 100 percent completely innocent. This has already been a heavy burden on me physically and emotionally. I'm going to try to talk to a lawyer but I really don't have any funds to hire one.

Are there any groups for someone like me? Any lawyers out there that might help someone who is broke but wrongfully accused? What the other person did was not right and I really don't know what to do. What other criminal and civil avenues can I peruse against them?

Get a damned lawyer. You could try calling LegalAid and seeing if they have a recommendation for you.

E: Try here: http://www.legal-aid.com/Home/LRS You may not meet income requirements, but they might be able to make a lawyer referral for you who might be able to do a free consult or give you an idea what it would cost to represent you

Incredulous Red fucked around with this message at 15:16 on Jul 26, 2012

# ? Jul 26, 2012 15:12

joat mon: Oct 15, 2009; I am the master of my lamp;
I am the captain of my tub.

TheFrailNinja posted:

The only thing I thought would be awkward would be explaining that I was on my way to this huge party in the woods that the neighbors complained about.

No, it won't be awkward. Dust and noise doesn't mean it's OK to be shot at or to have stuff stolen from you.

TheFrailNinja posted:

So is it worth it to call the police for either the crazy redneck or the stolen stuff?

Yes, both. On the theft, the police report will help if you find your stuff somewhere. ~~Also try your auto insurance if you have comprehensive coverage.~~ [see spregalia, below] However, what Alchenar said.

firehurts posted:

I'm in Orange County CA. I'm in some bad legal trouble

Take it as a comfort that you're not. You're frustrated and angry, but not in bad legal trouble.

firehurts posted:

Now they are trying to get a permanent [restraining] order against me. If it goes through it would mess up all kinds of stuff for me.

This is the only legal trouble you have. Take some deep breaths and settle down.
Show up to the hearing. Bring documentation. Bring witnesses. Bring some composure. You can bring your own attorney, but it's not required. There's a decent chance the other person won't show up.

firehurts posted:

I'm going to file a restraining order against them for harassment. Because at this point it is. ... Can I get them in criminal trouble for filing false charges?

Maybe, but are you sure there's not a pot/kettle problem with those courses of action?

firehurts posted:

Any lawyers out there that might help someone who is broke but wrongfully accused?

The DA didn't file charges. Legally, you're not accused. Have you been wrongfully accused in an emotional/ social/ moral/ psychological way? Maybe - but that's more E/N than legal.

GO TO THE RESTRAINING ORDER HEARING

\/ \/ \/ \/
e: Thanks. Learned something new today.

joat mon fucked around with this message at 15:49 on Jul 26, 2012

# ? Jul 26, 2012 15:28

Nickelodeon Household: Apr 11, 2010; I like chocolate MIIIILK

joat mon posted:

Yes, both. On the theft, the police report will help if you find your stuff somewhere. Also try your auto insurance if you have comprehensive coverage. However, what Alchenar said.

Comprehensive coverage wouldn't apply to any of this save the stereo faceplate (and only because a stereo is a permanent part of the vehicle. The other stuff would fall under his homeowners insurance.

# ? Jul 26, 2012 15:42

Arcturas: Mar 30, 2011

Reason posted:

This is regarding debt collection in Washington state.

Today my employer was called and they threatened to my boss that they were going to garnish my wages for like $500 for some Verizon bill from a million years ago. My question is as follows: Before garnishing my wages don't they have to sue me first to prove that I do in fact owe them said amount? If they did sue me don't they have to serve me with papers summons/complaint and then assuming they did that wouldn't they have a judgement/order from the court that would also have to be served on me?

Edit - I'm a process server so this is sort of what I've pieced together from serving papers on people so its probably all just made up.

You don't need a judgment to begin collecting on a debt. So no, they don't have to sue you to start bothering you. Suing you just makes it an awful lot easier to do so. For instance, it's much harder to actually get a garnishment if they don't have an actual judgment.

For the call to your employer, if they're a debt collection agency (i.e. a separate company, NOT Verizon), and they called your employer to tell them about your debt, that's pretty much explicitly prohibited by law, and you may be able to sue them directly. (for $1,000 in statutory damages plus attorneys fees & costs)

This behavior is covered by the FDCPA, and possibly some state statutes. There are a few things that matter: who called your employer? What did they say exactly? Have they contacted you? If so, how often, what time of day, what did they say, etc?

If it's Verizon calling, they're an original creditor, and not covered by FDCPA.

If it's a separate company, then the FDCPA applies, and they can't talk to your employer about your debt, they can't threaten you, they can't call too often, or too late at night, they're not allowed to lie, and there are all sorts of other restrictions. These rules are regularly broken, but only because most people let debt collectors get away with abhorrent behavior. You can read the statute here: http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpa/fdcpact.shtm , though it's going to be painful to figure out what that all means. If what you're mostly looking for is ways to push back, 805, 806, 807, and 808 are pretty good ways to complain about their behavior. If you want to drag things on, validation of debt is a good place to start.

# ? Jul 26, 2012 17:12

Dogen: May 5, 2002; Bury my body down by the highwayside, so that my old evil spirit can get a Greyhound bus and ride

woozle wuzzle posted:

Child support is typically only owed to the custodial parent. So your mom could go after him, and I guess give you the money. But technically your father didn't owe you the support, he owed your mother, so you don't have the legal standing to pursue it. (Unless illinois has something else going on)

I thought the money is owed to the child and that's why agreements that say 'no child support' that are only negotiated between parents are invalid, but family law was never my strong suit.

# ? Jul 26, 2012 17:14

woozle wuzzle: Mar 10, 2012

I know for certain that in VA it's to the custodial parent only, but I have no idea about other spots and I'm too lazy to engage google-fu. I had this come up in a case where I represented the father who just got a big SSI lump sum, and the mother and adult daughter fought over who got what from past debts/support.

The reason that many no child support agreements are invalidated is when the children's interests were not considered. Like if the child was living with grandma at the time, the separation agreement disclaiming child support my be invalid. So most agreements will now say "We have thoughtfully considered our children's interest and living situation, and now comes our dumb settlement:"

# ? Jul 26, 2012 18:03

xxEightxx: Mar 5, 2010; Oh, it's true. You are Brock Landers!; Salad Prong

Reason posted:

This is regarding debt collection in Washington state.

Today my employer was called and they threatened to my boss that they were going to garnish my wages for like $500 for some Verizon bill from a million years ago. My question is as follows: Before garnishing my wages don't they have to sue me first to prove that I do in fact owe them said amount? If they did sue me don't they have to serve me with papers summons/complaint and then assuming they did that wouldn't they have a judgement/order from the court that would also have to be served on me?

Edit - I'm a process server so this is sort of what I've pieced together from serving papers on people so its probably all just made up.

You need to consult an attorney experienced in these matters. I have dealt with this issue before (not in WA) and you need to understand that debt collection agencies rely on intimidating and harrassing people who are ignorant of the law and what their rights are.

ed: beaten, ^^^post above was right on,

# ? Jul 26, 2012 18:15

Skunkduster: Jul 15, 2005

What about a hypothetical situation where a guy gets a girl pregnant under the bleachers at a football game. They lose all contact after this, then she shows up 15 years later with a paternity test and a child support case. Would child support generally start at this point, or would he owe 15 years of back support?

# ? Jul 26, 2012 18:22

xxEightxx: Mar 5, 2010; Oh, it's true. You are Brock Landers!; Salad Prong

SkunkDuster posted:

What about a hypothetical situation where a guy gets a girl pregnant under the bleachers at a football game. They lose all contact after this, then she shows up 15 years later with a paternity test and a child support case. Would child support generally start at this point, or would he owe 15 years of back support?

It depends(TM) on the state, but the mother can ask the Court for retroactive child support.

# ? Jul 26, 2012 18:36

Abugadu: Jul 12, 2004; 1st Sgt. Matthews and the men have Procured for me a cummerbund from a traveling gypsy, who screeched Victory shall come at a Terrible price. i am Honored.

Little Miss RKO posted:

I have a child support question. I'm now 25, and was born and currently live in Illinois.

My mom never received child support from my dad, and I don't know if a child support order was ever issued.

If one was issued, would I be able to still collect?

Talking to my half-sister, she says he owes her ~$40,000 still, but I don't know what her whole situation is, and she's in Mississippi anyway, so the law may be different there.

So my questions are:
1) Aside from obviously asking my mom, who do I contact to see if a child support order was ever issued?
2) I'm assuming that if one never was, we're SOL.
3) What would/could even be done? He's got 3, maybe 4 children including me, and I don't know if he owes the others support or not.

Why didn't I or my mom do anything about this sooner? To be honest I never thought about it growing up, and my mom never bothered. My grandma is the one who has started bugging me about calling a lawyer about it, so I thought I'd ask.

I'd start off by calling your local county child support office.

If an order was ever issued, and Dad is in Illinois, you're probably good to go, as Illinois does not appear to have a statute of limitations on child support judgments, and child support payments usually become judgments as operation of law.

If Dad is not in Illinois, UIFSA (the laws governing interstate cases) comes into play, which muddies things up a bit. Usually it means you'd have to file the case in his jurisdiction, but you may be able to apply in yours.

But, if no order was ever issued, that may be problematic. The Illinois office would probably have a policy on this, as to whether your mom would be able to proceed long after you've reached the age of majority. I couldn't figure it out by skimming their laws, but any CS office in the state should know offhand.

If everything actually got through, what you're looking at is getting a judgment on arrears, and a payment plan. My guess would be that he'd complain to the judge about his expenses, and since you're not currently a minor, you'd be getting something like $100-$200/mo. And by you, I mean your mom.

This is not legal advice, I'm not barred in IL.

# ? Jul 27, 2012 00:51

Abugadu: Jul 12, 2004; 1st Sgt. Matthews and the men have Procured for me a cummerbund from a traveling gypsy, who screeched Victory shall come at a Terrible price. i am Honored.

SkunkDuster posted:

What about a hypothetical situation where a guy gets a girl pregnant under the bleachers at a football game. They lose all contact after this, then she shows up 15 years later with a paternity test and a child support case. Would child support generally start at this point, or would he owe 15 years of back support?

In my jurisdiction, the child support would start at that point, as the child is over the age of 6 and paternity had not already been established. If the child were under 6, or the GT were done early, dad would be liable for all the years.

I would guess that each state does this differently.

# ? Jul 27, 2012 00:59

Doorknob Slobber: Sep 10, 2006; by Fluffdaddy

Arcturas posted:

You don't need a judgment to begin collecting on a debt. So no, they don't have to sue you to start bothering you. Suing you just makes it an awful lot easier to do so. For instance, it's much harder to actually get a garnishment if they don't have an actual judgment.

For the call to your employer, if they're a debt collection agency (i.e. a separate company, NOT Verizon), and they called your employer to tell them about your debt, that's pretty much explicitly prohibited by law, and you may be able to sue them directly. (for $1,000 in statutory damages plus attorneys fees & costs)

This behavior is covered by the FDCPA, and possibly some state statutes. There are a few things that matter: who called your employer? What did they say exactly? Have they contacted you? If so, how often, what time of day, what did they say, etc?

If it's Verizon calling, they're an original creditor, and not covered by FDCPA.

If it's a separate company, then the FDCPA applies, and they can't talk to your employer about your debt, they can't threaten you, they can't call too often, or too late at night, they're not allowed to lie, and there are all sorts of other restrictions. These rules are regularly broken, but only because most people let debt collectors get away with abhorrent behavior. You can read the statute here: http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpa/fdcpact.shtm , though it's going to be painful to figure out what that all means. If what you're mostly looking for is ways to push back, 805, 806, 807, and 808 are pretty good ways to complain about their behavior. If you want to drag things on, validation of debt is a good place to start.

Awesome, this is what I was kind of hoping for. Its a collections agency that called my employer and I'm not sure exactly what they said, but when I got back to work to clock in my hours my boss said that "a collection agency called, said they were going to garnish your wages, they said they had been trying to get a hold of you but couldn't and if you don't call them soon your wages are probably going to be garnished."

I was going to check with him today to see if I could get more details while it was fresh in his mind, but he wasn't in the office while I was in. I've also gotten in contact with a local lawyer already and she said shes "interested in my case" so fingers crossed that these jerks leave me alone.

# ? Jul 27, 2012 02:13

Schitzo: Mar 20, 2006; I can't hear it when you talk about John Druce

Arcturas posted:

You don't need a judgment to begin collecting on a debt. So no, they don't have to sue you to start bothering you. Suing you just makes it an awful lot easier to do so. For instance, it's much harder to actually get a garnishment if they don't have an actual judgment.

For what it's worth, I have a feeling this is going to be jurisdiction-specific. Where I practice, you need a judgment unless the debt is secured. There's actually some pretty stiff penalties for trying the "self-help" approach instead of getting a judgment.

# ? Jul 27, 2012 06:31

Alchenar: Apr 9, 2008

Schitzo posted:

For what it's worth, I have a feeling this is going to be jurisdiction-specific. Where I practice, you need a judgment unless the debt is secured. There's actually some pretty stiff penalties for trying the "self-help" approach instead of getting a judgment.

It depends what exactly you mean by 'collect'. Obviously the vast majority of debts in society are paid without recourse to the courts.

# ? Jul 27, 2012 09:05

moonsour: Feb 13, 2007; Ortowned

Abugadu posted:

I'd start off by calling your local county child support office.

If an order was ever issued, and Dad is in Illinois, you're probably good to go, as Illinois does not appear to have a statute of limitations on child support judgments, and child support payments usually become judgments as operation of law.

If Dad is not in Illinois, UIFSA (the laws governing interstate cases) comes into play, which muddies things up a bit. Usually it means you'd have to file the case in his jurisdiction, but you may be able to apply in yours.

But, if no order was ever issued, that may be problematic. The Illinois office would probably have a policy on this, as to whether your mom would be able to proceed long after you've reached the age of majority. I couldn't figure it out by skimming their laws, but any CS office in the state should know offhand.

If everything actually got through, what you're looking at is getting a judgment on arrears, and a payment plan. My guess would be that he'd complain to the judge about his expenses, and since you're not currently a minor, you'd be getting something like $100-$200/mo. And by you, I mean your mom.

This is not legal advice, I'm not barred in IL.

It would be an interstate issue then, since I believe he now lives in Wisconsin, or did the last time I talked to him (about 20 years ago). It's probably past the statute of limitations, since my parents separated in 1989. I don't know their official divorce date, though.

You guys have at least provided enough information to shut my grandma up next time she blows up about it.

I don't especially want to pursue my dad about the issue, since I haven't really ever spoken to him aside from the one time 20 years ago. It is pretty frustrating that my mom seems to have completely let it slip by despite us living on food stamps and her two jobs most of my life, though.

# ? Jul 27, 2012 11:17

Arcturas: Mar 30, 2011

Schitzo posted:

For what it's worth, I have a feeling this is going to be jurisdiction-specific. Where I practice, you need a judgment unless the debt is secured. There's actually some pretty stiff penalties for trying the "self-help" approach instead of getting a judgment.

^ Mostly what Alchenar said, but also:

Are you sure? I mean, there's no way you can show up and just take someone's stuff without a judgment (and even then, get the sheriff to do it, don't do it yourself, etc etc), but on the other hand there's nothing stopping me (creditor) from calling you (debtor) up and saying, "Would you please pay your bill?" That's how 90% of attorney's fees get paid. Nor is there anything wrong with your cable or credit card company sending you a bill saying, "You have an outstanding balance of 100$. Please pay it or you will continue accumulating late fees of $10 per month."

Both of those are attempts to collect, but they don't fall under the classically prohibited "self-help" heading of showing up at your house with thugs to take your stuff and break your kneecaps.

# ? Jul 27, 2012 15:07

Alchenar: Apr 9, 2008

In other words, 'self-help' is not the same thing as 'helping yourself'.

# ? Jul 27, 2012 15:12

entris: Oct 22, 2008; by Y Kant Ozma Post

Arcturas posted:

Both of those are attempts to collect, but they don't fall under the classically prohibited "self-help" heading of showing up at your house with thugs to take your stuff and break your kneecaps.

I think all lawyers should be required to collect their bills this way. We would finally get the respect we properly deserve.

# ? Jul 27, 2012 15:36

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# ? May 15, 2024 22:50

TheImmigrant: Jan 18, 2011

entris posted:

I think all lawyers should be required to collect their bills this way. We would finally get the respect we properly deserve.

Sometimes you just have to write it off. A debtor client can cause a lot of trouble for a creditor lawyer who aggressively tries to collect. Frivolous bar complaints are still an enormous hassle for lawyers, especially solos like me.

That said, I'm all in favor of anonymous kneecapping of certain clients.

# ? Jul 27, 2012 16:11

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