Legal advice needed

[HyPer50]

Ok first off not sure if this is the right section, but I guess it could be considered a "rant" so it belongs here...

I need some legal advice (dont worry, I'm probably going to have to see a lawyer too, just wanted to get other opinions first).

Anyways, situation is this. I was in an accident almost 2 years ago, in a company truck, covered by company auto insurance. As far as I knew, they had settled everything and it was in the past. I had paid my "failure to yield" ticket, and thought it was done with...
Skip forward to today. A guy gives my mom a summons for ME (not sure how that falls under protocol but whatever). Apparently this jack ass is trying to sue me personally for over $60,000.... He's got $2,*** in "medical fee's, $5,*** in auto repair, and $50,000 in (get ready for this one) "Emotional pain and suffering" Also on the summons, one of the lines reads "Plaintiff has sustained diminished earning capacity and loss of enjoyment of life" LMAO.... ya wow.. Dude was perfectly fine and had very minor damage to his car last I saw. The cop had even made sure he was ok..

Anyways, on to the point... Can this dick personally sue me for this crap? I should be double covered, I was driving a company vehicle with company auto insurance, and if that wasn't good enough, I am an insured driver myself... Please someone explain how this crap is possible.

[Scotsman]

not possible imo

[Juggernaut]

If the company did not have sufficent coverage and he won a judgement against them, they went bankrupt, then he could come after you. If he is filing with you first then the joke is on him. TV lawyers FTL.

I'm not a lawyer, but I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

[HyPer50]

If the company did not have sufficent coverage and he won a judgement against them, they went bankrupt, then he could come after you. If he is filing with you first then the joke is on him. TV lawyers FTL.

I'm not a lawyer, but I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

Is there anyway to fight this other than hiring a lawyer? I mean I guess I could file a counter-suit for any legal cost due to this ridiculous lawsuit.. Thanks for any advice.

[Halfwit]

ken nugent cant promise him 60 thousand dollars, but he will help him get the settlement he deserves.

[candy2082002]

If the company did not have sufficent coverage and he won a judgement against them, they went bankrupt, then he could come after you. If he is filing with you first then the joke is on him. TV lawyers FTL.

I'm not a lawyer, but I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night.


LMAO :lmfao:

[The_ CaneCorso]

The thing is and ONLY reason I know this is because I have been to small claims court with over 200 cases this year is that anyobdy can sue you. Now with that in mind what going on with the company you were working for?

[Juggernaut]

Is there anyway to fight this other than hiring a lawyer? I mean I guess I could file a counter-suit for any legal cost due to this ridiculous lawsuit.. Thanks for any advice.Let your company know, their lawyers should resolve this for you.:goodjob:

[HyPer50]

The thing is and ONLY reason I know this is because I have been to small claims court with over 200 cases this year is that anyobdy can sue you. Now with that in mind what going on with the company you were working for?

They are a still active company. I am going to call the main office on Monday to find out whatever happened to this. I mean cause he's trying to go at me for stuff that the insurance company should of settled with him about...

[Juggernaut]

As far as I know the summons has to be given TO YOU.

This sounds shady...

[HyPer50]

Let your company know, their lawyers should resolve this for you.:goodjob:

Thats what I plan to do monday morning. Although this is no longer my employer.. Hopefully they can atleast explain whether he settled with them or not.

[HyPer50]

As far as I know the summons has to be given TO YOU.

This sounds shady...


Thats what I was thinking. He didn't ask her to sign anything as well, and it wasn't in an envelope, it was just a packet of papers stapled together... And it was dated November 7th.... Hopefully the 30 day's starts from when I was "served"

[Juggernaut]

Thats what I plan to do monday morning. Although this is no longer my employer.. Hopefully they can atleast explain whether he settled with them or not.No matter whether they are your employer or not. They are still obligated and responsible to take action on your behalf to resolve this.

[Got Milk?]

They are a still active company. I am going to call the main office on Monday to find out whatever happened to this. I mean cause he's trying to go at me for stuff that the insurance company should of settled with him about...


Don't give them a call, if i were you i would take a lil trip to the company and sit down with the owner and discuss the situation.

[ALVIN]

I'm with Got Milk? you should go talk to the owner if you have time to do so.

[Juggernaut]

You owe me $32,000 in legal fees.

[ALVIN]

On another hand I have a pretty good lawyer/lawyers that deal with car accident...i guess that is their forte. If you need their number let me know

[HyPer50]

Don't give them a call, if i were you i would take a lil trip to the company and sit down with the owner and discuss the situation.

I can't exactly talk to the "owner" of the company lol. The company is national company with several hundred stores.. The closest thing to an owner would be the President, and they are in Canada... so ya.. can't talk to the owner.

[Kaiser]

Some short answers...


-Yes, he can sue you.
-Yes, you can countersue, but...really. It's not a bright idea. This isn't Judge Judy.

What you should do: Call your personal insurance company. Tell them what happened. If they give you a big "Sod off, not our problem" then consider switching insurance companies. At the very LEAST, you should get someone to at least tell you what they know about the situation. They have been through this kind of crap before, they have done it, they have experience, and you are paying them. They owe it to you to help you out. Again, if they won't, I'd suggest hopping insurance companies and letting them know why you did.

Next I would call the insurance company for the company you worked for. They were the ones directly insuring you and your activities in the vehicle, if the lawsuit does go to court, they are the ones that should be worried, because the very idea of insurance is to cover this kind of situation. If they refuse to help you, you need to get a lawyer. Lawyer should start with the company's insurance provider first, and will probably get them to help at that point, since they really are required to. Next if it ends up going to court against you, a lawyer is the only way you're going to duck any of this.

Ways this will go down: If he EVER ACCEPTED A SETTLEMENT from ANYONE for this accident, his case will drop dead on the spot. He's already received compensation at this point and has no legal ability to seek further. If he's NEVER accepted a settlement, but has been OFFERED a settlement by the company's insurance provider, his case will likely drop dead on the spot, because he is essentially barking up the wrong tree. If he's never accepted, and never been offered, then his case is legitimate to some degree but will probably get bounced. If this is the situation he is suing YOU because suing a big insurance company is almost guaranteed failure. What the lawyer is looking for in this case is for you to lose, get a judgement against you, and your insurance to pay for you. They aren't trying to dick you personally.

Now. I am gonna point out one thing that really makes me pretty certain that he's gotten an offer and refused to accept it. $50,000 in "pain and suffering" is a TV lawyer myth. That only happens when you have small children injured the accident and lots of medical fees and even then it's not typically more than twice what medical bills are. A realistic demand from this guy would have been his medical and auto plus $7k. Asking for just shy of $60k is ridiculous when the actual bills were $7k. That's a ridiculously huge percentage of the actual for pain and suffering, something like 850% or so. I'm thinking the guy turned down a settlement for $15k (What was reasonable) and hired a lawyer after that point and is looking for more. Also, with only 2k in medical he's going to have a hard time proving decreased ability to work. When me and Vayda where in our accident she had a broken collarbone and rode for free in my ambulance. I was uninjured except for a scrape, she had her broken collarbone. My medical was $1300 for, literally, nothing. Nothing but a bad abrasion. Her medical bills were $3000 for a broken collarbone. Neither of us were anywhere close to having suffered injuries that would have qualified as lowering our quality of life or ability to work. People who actually suffer those kinds of injuries have medical bills in the 15k and up range, especially since you're supposed to have physical therapy to prove that you're permanently limited.

[HyPer50]

Thanks very much for your input man. I am going to contact my old employer tomorrow and hopefully they will be very willing to assist with this. But ya I totally agree about the medical cost.. This was a pretty minor accident, I was T-boned and I had not even a headache nor any damage on the truck aside from a very slight dent on the side... So the $50k charge would make me laugh hysterically if it wasn't the fact that he was really trying to come at me with it lol.

I know for a fact that he was atleast offered a settlement, since it was turned over to the work auto insurance. So as far as I knew he had accepted it... I will find out tomorrow what happened with that. Thanks much.


Some short answers...


-Yes, he can sue you.
-Yes, you can countersue, but...really. It's not a bright idea. This isn't Judge Judy.

What you should do: Call your personal insurance company. Tell them what happened. If they give you a big "Sod off, not our problem" then consider switching insurance companies. At the very LEAST, you should get someone to at least tell you what they know about the situation. They have been through this kind of crap before, they have done it, they have experience, and you are paying them. They owe it to you to help you out. Again, if they won't, I'd suggest hopping insurance companies and letting them know why you did.

Next I would call the insurance company for the company you worked for. They were the ones directly insuring you and your activities in the vehicle, if the lawsuit does go to court, they are the ones that should be worried, because the very idea of insurance is to cover this kind of situation. If they refuse to help you, you need to get a lawyer. Lawyer should start with the company's insurance provider first, and will probably get them to help at that point, since they really are required to. Next if it ends up going to court against you, a lawyer is the only way you're going to duck any of this.

Ways this will go down: If he EVER ACCEPTED A SETTLEMENT from ANYONE for this accident, his case will drop dead on the spot. He's already received compensation at this point and has no legal ability to seek further. If he's NEVER accepted a settlement, but has been OFFERED a settlement by the company's insurance provider, his case will likely drop dead on the spot, because he is essentially barking up the wrong tree. If he's never accepted, and never been offered, then his case is legitimate to some degree but will probably get bounced. If this is the situation he is suing YOU because suing a big insurance company is almost guaranteed failure. What the lawyer is looking for in this case is for you to lose, get a judgement against you, and your insurance to pay for you. They aren't trying to dick you personally.

Now. I am gonna point out one thing that really makes me pretty certain that he's gotten an offer and refused to accept it. $50,000 in "pain and suffering" is a TV lawyer myth. That only happens when you have small children injured the accident and lots of medical fees and even then it's not typically more than twice what medical bills are. A realistic demand from this guy would have been his medical and auto plus $7k. Asking for just shy of $60k is ridiculous when the actual bills were $7k. That's a ridiculously huge percentage of the actual for pain and suffering, something like 850% or so. I'm thinking the guy turned down a settlement for $15k (What was reasonable) and hired a lawyer after that point and is looking for more. Also, with only 2k in medical he's going to have a hard time proving decreased ability to work. When me and Vayda where in our accident she had a broken collarbone and rode for free in my ambulance. I was uninjured except for a scrape, she had her broken collarbone. My medical was $1300 for, literally, nothing. Nothing but a bad abrasion. Her medical bills were $3000 for a broken collarbone. Neither of us were anywhere close to having suffered injuries that would have qualified as lowering our quality of life or ability to work. People who actually suffer those kinds of injuries have medical bills in the 15k and up range, especially since you're supposed to have physical therapy to prove that you're permanently limited.

[civic95]

Been in the same situation, when I was younger. My stepdad blew a red light, car pulled out from the side street, we braked but glanced the front of the other car and took the front bumper off. Almost no impact, lady got out of the other car and was completely fine. 1 yr later she was sued for the exact same thing. Claiming she has missed a lot of work (she was a teacher), and that the wreck ruined her sex life. There was no bodily damage, she claimed it was all stress from the accident. We called our insurance company, they said they would handle it. They had already settled for her car repair. They said they might call us back to appear in court if needed. We never heard anything else back about it. I don't think you have anything to worry about.