[sideoutshu]

I'm an independent liability investigator and work for more than a few law firms so, yes, I'm talking liability "cases." You asked if I'm talking collection cases - I own a process service company and we most definitely do not work pro bono.

I know exactly what you do. I have 4 different people working for me right now that do exactly what you do. None of them have the litigation expertise to argue with me about somethng like this.

You are incorrect when you say, "It isn't personal injury cases." I most definitely work on liability cases of all kinds from dog bites to motor vehicle accidents.

Actually, you are incorrect in more then one way. Motor vehicle accidents have absolutely no relevance to a discussion of cases where there is no insurance coverage because there is always coverage in MVA cases in NYS.

Perhaps you have never seen a law firm that doesn't front the money for disbursements - I most definitely have. Obviously it is different in your part of the Country. In some instances, yes, the law firm fronts the expenses; in others it does not. I don't think there's an "always" and "never" here.

No, I have seen firms that refuse to do it, but the REASON they refuse to do it is usually the small liklihood of recovery. Any law firm that can't afford to front the disbursements for a viable case isn't one that you want handling your case in the first place. An exception may be in the medical malpractice arena, where plaintiff's attorneys will ask the potential client to pay for repreoduction of medical records and films prior to be retained. This is because in order to know if a malpractice case is viable, we usually need an expert review, as we are not doctors.

I'd be curious where you get your statistic that 99% of injury cases in NYS require expert testimony - again, I do not see that. Perhaps you are only representing people in high end cases. I see a lot of cases where the medical evidence is brought in by stipulation.

A little bit of knowledge is dangerous sometimes Judy. Of course you can get medical records admitted into evidence by stipualtion. Heck, you could get a note from your mommy admitted via stipulation. There is eve and a recently enacted provision of the CPLR that allows certified records to be admitted without calling an authenticating witness.

Good for you. Now you have your evidence of say, a central disc herniation at C3-C4 with radiculopathy and cord inpingement. What do you do with it? Who is going to explain to the jury what that means? Are you going to ask the court to take judicail notice of an attorney's explanation of what that injury is?

Better yet... what happens after that? What are the damages from said injury, and how are they explained to a jury? How long does the injury last? Is it permanent? What is the long term prognosis? Does this injury excaserbate any other conditions? Is it possible that the injury pre-dates the accident? How do you know? What are these big blue and white images we have in front of us representing parts of the body? What do they show? How were they obtained? etc. etc. etc.

As you see, it is great to get your medicals "stipulated" into evidence. But there isn't a defense lawyer on the planet that is going to "stipulate" to you claiming that the injuries are (1) causally related to the accident; and (2) permanent; and (3) have led to disability from employment; and (4) will last for the next ____ years; etc etc.etc. You find me someone who does, and I will find you a lawyer that just committed malpractice.

Your "if you can tell me a way to get admissible evidence on damages to a jury without expert testimony, please tell me, it would help alot {sic}; I don't know many jurors who can read an MRI film on their own" is an unnecessary comment - I thought this was a discussion of experiences, not a slamfest..

It is what it is Judy. The tone of my statement derives from my general distaste for non-lawyers opining on legal issues without the requisite training and experience to be accurate. Much of what you say on these boards is helpful. But please steer clear of undermining the statements of people who actually DO what it is that they are talking about for a living. I watch a lot of NFL football, but I am not going to walk up to Peyton Manning and tell him how to read a Zone blitz package.

I said I work pro bono on some of these cases - I never said the law firm was working pro bono - please don't misread what I say to "emphasize your point." But, yes, some of the firms do work pro bono, particularly when it's cases involving children, dog bites and scarring.

So tell me how you are working "pro bono". In my experience, investigators are hired by law firms for the most part. Is the law firm hiring you saying "sorry, we just don't have the money to pay you"? Everyone in the field will do a favor for a friend once in a while, etc. But that is a far cry from the type of work most lawyers think about when saying "pro bono".

Your post concerns me because there are people with Judgments who will read your words and decide they cannot and will not collect and they will drop the matter or there are people with potential lawsuits who will make that same decision and in so doing shortchange themselves and the injured party.

My comments have nothing to do with enforcing a judgment you already have. Go toward whether it is economically viable to pursue a judgment in the first instance against a party that is insovlent. Anyone that has a potential lawsuit should speak to a lawyer. These are the types of determinations that lawyers make.

I am not saying that people with small lawsuits against insolvent parties shouldn't pursue an action. I am explaining why it is not economically viable for a law firm to do it. (read my original response.

[JudyKayTee]

I'm out of this - I never said I only work in NYS; and, yes, the law firm is asking me to work pro bono and I do; and, yes, I work for law firms that represent people and take exactly 0 percent; and no, I don't think you have 4 people with my experience and education, doing exactly what I do. This thread is about a person trying to collect a Judgment - it just went off base from there.

You have a distaste for non-Attorneys giving legal advice; I have a dis-taste for non licensed investigators giving investigative advice.

I guess we're even.

[JudyKayTee]

What I don't understand about this entire case is why was the school NOT brought into this lawsuit in the first place if the attack happened at school? Am really mystified that the attorney did not go after the "deep pockets" of the school and went after the parents instead? It really makes no sense to me..... or did the attorney go after the school and you got some sort of a settlement from the school and are now trying to get the rest of the settlement from the parents?

Right, it went way off track here - started with trying to collect on a Judgment and now I don't know what the discussion is about -

Good question, though - is there a school involved, were they sued?

[excon]

Hello again:

What I think everybody is missing (except me), is this ISN'T a lawsuit. This IS restitution (or it appears to be). They ain't the same thing.

excon

[JudyKayTee]

[QUOTE=excon]Hello again:

What I think everybody is missing (except me), is this ISN'T a lawsuit. This IS restitution (or it appears to be). They ain't the same thing.



Well, that takes the wind out of the argument - you are 100% right.

Back to write the Judge a letter.

Meanwhile the OP has given up on receiving an answer -

[JimGunther]

It seems that the answers have strayed quite abit from the original question. When you say "The probation department" and "the recovery department" have not helped you, this tells me that the person who caused the injuries was placed on probation and that a condition of the probation was that the money be paid.

If this is correct, the probation officer should have set up a payment plan to recover the money in reasonable increments. If the person on probation is a juvenile, this could be a real problem in that a juvenile is obviously going to have a limited income and cannot make payments until they have some sort of job.

I was a probation officer in MD for 7 years, supervising adult offenders. If the person is an adult, and they don't pay, they will go to a violation of probation hearing. Depending on the judge and the circumstances, various things will happen, but I will guarantee you that the person will never get an income tax refund until the money is paid or the payments are current. We have a state agency called the Central Collections Unit that is great at this kind of stuff.

I have seen cases of this type go on for five years or more before the money is paid. People come up with all kids of excuses and some of the judges buy them, some don't. You can always bring a civil action against the person, but if people have no assets it is difficult to collect. You said they have 2 houses, I assume you mean the parents of the person, if the person who actually did the harm has two houses you should be able to get some sort of judgement against the person for the amount. I had one probationer who was a crooked accountant and she lost her house, car and boat!

Between the probation department and other civil remedies you should be able to work this out. In my state, one does not exclude the other. But it can take time and effort. If you cannot afford an attorney call the local bar association office and explain your situation, they may be able to work something out.