You Got Served
OK, before you get too excited, this blog post is not about a breakdancing competition. I had some friends in middle 
school who could probably write volumes on that topic, but I was never that coordinated. Rather, this post is about what you should do when you’ve been served with a lawsuit. Although service of a lawsuit can be accomplished using certified mail, service most often occurs when a Sheriff’s deputy arrives at your home and hands a summons and complaint (a lawsuit) to you. First of all, don’t get frightened or upset about the officer arriving at your house. The deputies are professionals who do this every day – they are not there to upset or judge you, they just have to hand the paperwork to somebody and then they move on to the next address. A couple of tips if this ever happens to you:
Read the Paperwork
I’ve had lots of clients over the years who got served with a lawsuit and never bothered to even read any of it. Many clients have even thrown the paperwork away without looking at it. Here’s a general rule of thumb: Whether it’s Luca Brasi handing Johnny Fontaine’s contract to the bandleader or a Deputy Sheriff handing you a summons, when somebody with a gun puts a stack of papers in front of you, you really should at least take a look at it. Something delivered in that fashion is almost always going to be something important and you should take the time to read it.
Luca says always read your legal documents.
There have been countless occasions where the wrong person is being sued in a lawsuit, either by accident or on purpose. For example, there are many lawsuits that should legally be filed against a corporation, but the case gets filed against the owners of the corporation instead. There are many others where a debt is owed by only one person, but the lawsuit is filed against both that person and his/her spouse. I have even had to ask judges to sanction plaintiffs (the person suing you) and/or their attorneys because they have knowingly sued the wrong person, hoping that the defendant (the person being sued) won’t read the lawsuit and just allow a judgment to be entered against him or her. Even if the right person is being sued, a lawsuit could be asking for more money than is really owed, and if you don’t read it, you may end up paying a lot more than you should.
Don’t Miss the Deadline to Respond
From the time you receive the summons, you only have 30 days to file an answer to the lawsuit. If you don’t respond, you lose. That’s it, case closed. There will be no hearing scheduled and you will not get your day in court. After 30 days, a judgment will be entered against you and the person who sued you will begin the process for having the Sheriff’s Department collect the amount of the judgment from you. I have received many phone calls from people who tell me that they can’t possibly have a judgment against them because they never received notice of any court date. Unfortunately, those folks found out too late that this is not true. Failing to respond makes you liable for anything contained in the lawsuit, whether it’s true or not, and you may have no opportunity to defend yourself if you don’t respond within the 30-day time limit. So, do yourself a favor – read the paperwork, and if there’s anything untrue in there, make sure you or your attorney file a response on time.
The Garner Lawyer 