rmcelwee |
09-14-2009 07:15 PM |
I won my small claims case today!
In '99 I sold my internet business (I was an ISP). The guy paid me for about 4.5 years (8 year promissory note) and folded. I sold the business to a guy who worked for him (he also had another internet company) with a 3 year loan. He paid me about $7000 total (out of $50K he owed me) and stopped. I filed a small claims case against him and the judge threw it out because "I" sued him and not my business. I refiled and he requested a jury trial. I took him and his company to court and the jury was given a form for each defendant. They found in my favor on both of the forms for $7350. I'm not exactly sure if that means I "won" $14K or not. In any event, I probably won't get any more money but it was still nice to win. I have been going after him for two years and it is party time tonight. I did find out that I really really suck at being an attorney. I am surprised that I won because I made a ton of mistakes (didn't even get the promissory note in as evidence <G>). I did have him read a certain section of it while he was on the stand and that was the only thing that saved my ass.
FWIW, before you ask, I talked to several attorneys and they all wanted a minimum of $5K up front before even taking the case. I did the small claims thing hoping to win $7500 (max in SC) for the Jan-Jun 2005 payments (just an example) and then sue him again for the July-Dec payments, etc until I had all my money back. I know the court will get tired of this (seems reasonable to me) but I can file for $80 a clip instead of getting a lawyer at $8K and suing for the entire amount (which I will never get).
After it was all said and done, I bought a power ball ticket (first one I have ever purchased). I figure my luck is running strong right now...
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