Fight The Collection Lawyers - When On Defense Remember Some Offense!

Hello Bloggers - Welcome to Fall in the City!  What a beautiful day. 

I have spent the week fighting some pretty nasty fights.  When at one time I could have easily called myself a Plaintiff's lawyer, most of my work this week has been playing D-E-F-E-N-S-E!  And wow, am I tired.  Tired of dealing with nasty attorneys from big firms who have NO idea how to play by the rules.  Tired of protecting clients from would-be-experts who bribe judges, play games at their campaign parties, and spend more time kissing judges asses than they do practicing law.  Why, I even got a call from a lawyer's boss twice this past two weeks, and presumably she was not going to agree with me when I gave him a piece of my mind.  So what did I do?  I told her to fly a kite in many many words, and now I am here to remind you, my flock, of various strategies you can do, when the collection snakes are at your door.  A few bits of News You Can Use, from the Trenches. 

When Things Are Looking Down at Trial:  Be Sure You Have a Court Reporter and Obtain Transcripts
I cannot explain to lay people how important a transcript is.  You have to hire court reporters for your cases.  The judges, the written documents, are NEVER (I repeat - NEVER!) enough to show an appellate court what happened.  Remember this if nothing else:  Court-Reporter-Must-Do.  When the case is over, if there is any appeal (and remember time limits are sensitive for these things), the Appellate Court must have a transcript of the trial.  Must. Do. That.

In Collections, State Law Provides for Exemptions - Not Everything is Up For Grabs
If you are a Defendant/Debtor -and a collection firm, lawyer or court is chasing you down, do not forget that you may have some very simple things you can do to protect some assets.   Most states provide for a personal exemption.  In Illinois it's known as the "wild card" exemption and you can claim $4000 of value - of anything - to protect in the face of a creditor claim.  There are also claims like pensions, IRAs, funds allocated for child-support or dependent support, and others.   Check your state - but know this:  You have some options.  Never let a creditor take your last dime, even if you owe them.  You have rights - exercise them.

If You Can Get a Bond, Insurance Policy or Put Up Collateral As Security to Stay Enforcement During Appeal - Do That
In most circuit courts and state Appellate Rules, there are provisions that can help stop dead in their tracks, a collection case, while something is pending in court.  This is called a "stay."  A "stay" simply put, just means a stop-order.  A court, a person, a law firm must stop, and wait.  As such, stays are important tools in the Debtor's arsenal - but they have rules, and state to state, they must be respected.  In many jurisdictions, to get a stay, you need to put up security.  This is money you put up, or security, so that the creditor is protected during appeal and it prevents the Debtor from getting rid of assets.  A good idea, but hard to do sometimes.   Any time you are in litigation, and especially if you are in a bad situation that might not go your way, you must anticipate the appeals process, and in so doing that, you need to know that you can stop enforcement, garnishing of wages, freezing bank accounts, repossession, etc - but you need to use the state rules to do so.  Time limits are sensitive, and courts have to approve a stay.  When indoubt, ask and get legal counsel.  It's important enough to appeal?  Then it's important enough to try to get a bond.  The term you need to research is "Appeal Bond" or "Supersedeas Bond".  

Overall - you need legal help any time you are not familiar with collections rules, courts and legal terminology.  Hire competent counsel in your area, and do not forget, these are just a FEW IDEAS you can use.  Your state may have additional methods to stop creditor action (and to be sure, this list does not include bankruptcy - even though that does work to stop creditors!).  You have options.  Be sure to explore them.  

Levin Law, Ltd. is a full service appellate, plaintiff-defense-everything-for-justice kind of law firm and we help individuals, businesses, and all-around good people, fight the fight, in Chicago.  We serve many kinds of clients and we do national trial consulting and we aim to serve law firms around the country with seasoned litigation consulting, trial consulting and second-chair trial assistance and we do guest lecturing, speech writing and public speaking.  We even have a tv-show in Chicago called Chicago BarTalk.  Come check us out!

www.levinlawltd.com or see us on Yelp under Levin Law Ltd in Chicago.

Happy Day!
- Alisa