DO YOU NEED TO SUE SOMEONE?? (Oregon & Washington)
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Are you in a situation where you need to file and serve a lawsuit on an individual or business? Maybe they just owe you some money? Or perhaps they've got a piece of your property and they won't give it back? Were you in an accident which was the other party's fault, but they - or their insurance company - simply refuse to pay up?
Unfortunately, it's all too common for people to fail to pursue judgments and awards to which they are entitled, just because the expense of hiring an attorney to prepare and file the suit would end up costing as much - or more - as the amount they're trying to sue for. After all, it doesn't really make much sense to pay an attorney a $5,000 or maybe even $10,000 up-front retainer (with no guarantee that's the end of the bill) just to try to collect a bill for $5,000 or $10,000. That's especially true if - as is often the case - there's no clear contractual or statutory right to recover attorney fees, even if you win, so you might end up paying more in attorney fees than you get back.
On the other hand, since Oregon (as well as Washington) is what we call a "specific pleading" state, there's usually not going to be a "fill-in-the-blanks" form, that you can file with the court, to start the complaint process, and have the defendant served (except, of course, for small claims). Now, that means that your complaint normally needs to be prepared "from scratch", it needs to follow a very specific format, and then, it has to specifically allege each and every aspect of your right to recover damages. So the reality is, that even if you try to prepare and file your own complaint, there's a good chance that the lawyer for the defendant will be able to use the court rules (and your unfamiliarity with them), to run roughshod over you, to the point where - even though you have a legitimate claim, and you should be entitled to a trial - you might never even get to argue your basic case to a judge or jury, and the defendant will end up getting the case dismissed on a technicality!
However, you have another option. I can help you prepare and file a complaint, without it having to cost you an arm and a leg. In many cases, this alone may give you the ability to negotiate a settlement with the defendant, who probably isn't going to be all that thrilled about having to come up with their own substantial up-front retainer, in order to hire their own attorney to defend against your complaint. On the other hand, if they do decide to defend themselves without a lawyer's help, then in many cases it may even be possible to get the defendant's response completely thrown out, or get a judgment, without even having to go through a trial. Remember: the defendant's response has to meet the basic formatting and pleading standards as your complaint. But, because many responses and answers that are available to self-represented defendants tend to be "boilerplate" documents, they can often be thrown out, using the same court rules that I mentioned earlier.
Even if you are nearing your statute of limitations to bring a complaint - in fact even if you only have a day or so left, before your time to file an action expires - I can still help you get your complaint filed in time.
Drop me an email and give me a brief (maybe a couple of paragraphs) description of your situation, and a phone number and/or email where I can contact you. I'll write or call you back as soon as I can.