This is my first time here. Hope someone can point me in the right direction.

This is regarding laws and rules of procedures in the state of Florida.

I filed a small claims action against a storage facility for conversion. (They locked me out without notice while all rent was current.)

I consulted a law firm about what to do to make them give me access so I could move my things out. The law firm prepared a demand letter stating the events that lead up to the lockout. The demand letter was typed on the law firm letterhead and stated that it was written on my behalf. It referenced my storage unit number, etc. It also had a demand for them to give me immediate access to my belongings and if they felt they had legal grounds for detaining my belongings, to please forward them in writing.

The storage facility ignored the letter. 2 weeks later the "Owner" (who I had never met) left a voicemail on the law firm's voicemail. The law firm sent him a letter advising him to contact me as they were not on retainer. (Law firm was part of PrePaid Legal Service) The "Owner" ignored this.

So I filed suit. The judge says that the letter does not count as an actual demand letter because it was not in my handwriting and was not signed by me. She also stated you cannot legally hire a 3rd party to write a demand letter for you. :eek:

Did you get that?? :confused::confused::confused:

I thought that that is one of the things law firms and attorneys were in the business of doing? :confused:

She also said that the storage facility was not required to give me anything in writing as to reasons for lockout because "they own the land, the building and the door on the front of the unit" .:confused:

I have done some research on the judge since the hearing. The local newspaper does a survey of lawyers every 2 years to rate their opinion of the local judges. This judge has been rated at the bottom of the list for the past 6-8 years. Her lowest score is in the category of legal knowledge. The judge did not actually practice law before becoming a judge. She was a legal researcher. And her father was a well known judge.

At any rate, I am appealing her ruling and would like to know if there is a statute or rule of procedure that states what you can and cannot hire a law firm to do?

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

I don't see what you did wrong here. I contacted someone before suing them, she had an attorney send me a letter demanding the return of her security deposit, I replied that I wasn't returning the deposit because of the circumstances, etc. I ended up suing her and she showed up without the attorney; nothing ever got mentioned about a 3rd party writing demand letters.

But that's Wisconsin; maybe your state has some type of crazy law.

I think the problem began with the "not retained" answer. It sounds like some friend of yours wrote a letter on your behalf and you can't do that, at least in NY. If the Attorney is retained, he/she writes the letter; if not, then you at least sign the letter. The firm COULD have said "we are NO LONGER" representing this person - but obviously it's too late to change things now. Did the law firm then contact you and advise you that they had been contacted? In NY if the client FIRES the Attorney the Attorney continues to send any correspondence they receive (which is now in error) to the client just to protect the Attorney from being sued.

I am personally surprised that the Attorney didn't prepare the letter for your signature. I have also heard horror stories about prepaid legal plans - there were just several threads on this exact subject.

I find nothing in Florida that specifically addresses this question.

The Judge's reputation has little to do with this - I've seen "good" Judges give bad opinions and the other way around. Sometimes the ratings boil down to politics and envy. I have no idea in this case.

I would be more than a little upset with the law firm. What exactly did they tell you? It seems that they are the ones that slipped up here. But the question is going to be exactly what they said to you. If I were you I would WRITE the law firm, let them know what happened, throw in my concern (how the question to them was answered), tell them your concerns and ask THEM for some law on the subject. You could also ask your Bar Association for their opinion/advice.

Again - prepaid legal plans scare me to death.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PhoenixDreams

At any rate, I am appealing her ruling and would like to know if there is a statute or rule of procedure that states what you can and cannot hire a law firm to do?

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Hello P:

Assuming your I's are dotted and your t's crossed, I think you'll win the appeal on its face.

I think the mistake, if there was one, was the attorney writing that he wasn't retained. If you paid pre-paid legal, then he WAS retained...

But, that's neither here nor there. The defendant should have acted on the letter and the judge should have accepted the letter.

I don't think you'll find a statute that defines what a lawyer can do for you... I would think it's common understanding that a lawyer can represent his client in ANY legal matter...

The question concerning the appeals court, isn't the judges reputation, it's a matter of law.

excon

Yes, the attorney should have worded the letter and gave it to you to sign.

The idea of the lawyer letter is to scare them to get them to do it, not an actual notice.

This is pushing the fine line of the law, I am surprised the judge is being that picky, esp in small claims. But then in small claims there is not lawyer representation so use of the lawyer may have made the judge mad.

In small claims court, unless this is a business with attorney on staff an attorney can't represent you in small claims. The judge sets the guidelines.

I guess the only thing not told, why did they lock the unit, if there was no rent due, rental places are not in a habit of stealing peoples things So why are they telling you the reason you were locked out

I have always dealt with an older woman who is the property manager. She said the "Owner" wanted to meet me face to face. I am a truck driver and out of town most days during business hours. The "Owner" owns several businesses both in and out of the state and is rarely there. The property manager said it was "out of her hands".

The law firm was part of my pre-paid legal membership. I cancelled my membership several months after this mess started because they were useless. (They said they could no longer give me advise since I filed the suit pro se. I tried to retain the lawyer they referred me to but none of th elawyers I spoke to wanted to deal with small claims court.

I did go to the office of the prepaid law firm in person after the judge's ruling and the law firm told me it was not their problem since I am no longer a member.

I have prepared the documentation to send to the Bar Association to report their activities.

In the meantime, I was just trying to look up statutes to support my appeal.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PhoenixDreams

I have always dealt with an older woman who is the property manager. She said the "Owner" wanted to meet me face to face. I am a truck driver and out of town most days during business hours. The "Owner" owns several businesses both in and out of the state and is rarely there. The property manager said it was "out of her hands".

The law firm was part of my pre-paid legal membership. I cancelled my membership several months after this mess started because they were useless. (They said they could no longer give me advise since I filed the suit pro se. I tried to retain the lawyer they referred me to but none of th elawyers I spoke to wanted to deal with small claims court.

I did go to the office of the prepaid law firm in person after the judge's ruling and the law firm told me it was not their problem since I am no longer a member.

I have prepared the documentation to send to the Bar Association to report their activities.

In the meantime, I was just trying to look up statutes to support my appeal.

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I find none because the law firm claims it was never retained. I would "assume" they are claiming they simply wrote a letter on your behalf, perhaps as a favor.

You claim they WERE retained and you expected them to represent you.

It's your word against theirs and a Judge will listen to both sides and decide which side is more believable. My impression from dealing with pre-paid services? They wrote the letter as part of your benefits but they did not represent you. Law firms write letters for a variety of reasons. That doesn't mean that they represent the party.

Do I think they should have told you that the storage "people" called them and they advised that they don't represent you? Definitely yes. But is it malpractice if they never represented you in the first place? Probably no.

I find no Statute nor do I think one exists. The Bar Association MAY have rules/regulations - but only the Bar Association knows that.

Another note:

This judge says that I can not testify about the conversation that took place between me and the property manager because it would be hearsay.

Then she says that the property manager is allowed to testify about those same conversations "if she wants to."

The "Owner's" attorney objected to her testifying.

So the judge ruled that the "Owner" could testify about those conversations even though he was not present and was not a party of those conversations on the basis that "the property manager was acting on the behalf of the Owner".

This defies logic and the definition of hearsay. Trust me when I say that I could tell you more that would have you questioning the legal system in this hick town. <Smile>

Fortunately I had a court reporter through most of the main hearing and all of the "Clarification Hearing" that the Defense attorney scheduled later. (The judge allowed the court reporter to leave early in the first hearing and told me that she would have her clerk take the notes for the remainder of the hearing. Of course, that is not proper and the clerk did not take any notes.) During the "Clarification Hearing" I addressed that matter on record as well as the fact that evidence is missing from the file, which by chance was found to be in the possession of the Defense attorney while we were on record.

Needless to say the judge is not happy with me at all. I have filed a motion to disqualify her however I expect she will deny that motion as she refused to even grant hearing time for my motion for rehearing.

First go to this site to get info about reporting the attorneys from your prepaid legal program:

Attorney Consumer Assistance Program (ACAP) Index

Next you should do a Google search for any articles that may have been written about the judge you're dealing with. Hopefully you'll find that someone has written some unflattering articles about her opinions. If you find anything, contact the reporter or newspaper that did the story and tell them about your situation.

If you can't find any articles about her then you can just try contacting your local "big" newspaper to see if they're interested.

I want to thank everyone who responded to me today. I will keep checking back for further responses. And I will let you all know how this is progressing.

I filed a motion to disqualify the judge yesterday. In all honesty, I expect her to deny the motion. She has refused to allow me to set any hearing time other than the trial date.

The defense attorney has been able to move my court dates and get additional hearings scheduled for clarification.

I am not giving up. Thanks again.

If you can afford an attoreny, move to have the case changed from small claims to civil court, and have the attorney do it, different judge and they will have to follow rules of evidence

You never came back with the "why" the lockout if you were paid up with the rent? Still don't understand the problem.

Chuck gave one of the best scenerios of all on this situation. And yes, the judge will happily deny your motion.

I hate prepaid legal as they are not really "there" for you unless it's something easy like will preparation or something along those lines.