Something to keep in mind
May. 1st, 2009 12:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
muck_a_luckIf you are ever in a legal situation and thinking of taking someone to Court - or even fighting them in Court after they bring some sort of suit against you - keep in mind that going to Court is expensive.
Sometimes it just doesn't pay, even when you are going after money that is actually owed to you and you should be paid, or even when you are defending yourself against someone reducing payments to you, or even ending them. Sometimes when someone is even trying to MAKE you pay money you don't legitimately owe them.
My advice is, only to go Court on principle if you can afford it, because once you end up in a Court case, assuming you need a lawyer, then you will often pay so much in fees that you might just as well have paid or lost or whatever, because the amount you have to pay your lawyer can't justify your "win."
It sucks, I know, and it is totally unfair, but sometimes, it just doesn't pay to "win," even when you *should* win and the other party *should* lose.
And seriously. Don't assume that the judge will award you your fees, because a lot of times, they don't, even in egregious cases. If you are hoping for that, be *sure* you have a very thorough discussion with your attorney about how likely you are to win and always remember that you *could* lose, and you cannot rely on judges to do what seems to you to be the obviously fair and just thing. You have to go into the case assuming you will have to carry the entire weight of your atty fees. Any fee award is found money.
This has been one of those cases...
Sometimes it just doesn't pay, even when you are going after money that is actually owed to you and you should be paid, or even when you are defending yourself against someone reducing payments to you, or even ending them. Sometimes when someone is even trying to MAKE you pay money you don't legitimately owe them.
My advice is, only to go Court on principle if you can afford it, because once you end up in a Court case, assuming you need a lawyer, then you will often pay so much in fees that you might just as well have paid or lost or whatever, because the amount you have to pay your lawyer can't justify your "win."
It sucks, I know, and it is totally unfair, but sometimes, it just doesn't pay to "win," even when you *should* win and the other party *should* lose.
And seriously. Don't assume that the judge will award you your fees, because a lot of times, they don't, even in egregious cases. If you are hoping for that, be *sure* you have a very thorough discussion with your attorney about how likely you are to win and always remember that you *could* lose, and you cannot rely on judges to do what seems to you to be the obviously fair and just thing. You have to go into the case assuming you will have to carry the entire weight of your atty fees. Any fee award is found money.
This has been one of those cases...
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no subject
Date: 2009-05-02 04:19 pm (UTC)And what you say about the money is totally true. The judge said in his decision that it was obvious that the landlord had lied to the court in his statement, but still gave me only half of what I had asked for (which was a minimum to begin with). Fortunately after the court turned down the landlord's appeal, I did get the money.
Time, money, emotional toll--it's expensive on all counts to go to court. I have a real appreciation for the celebrities who will go through the hassle to fight the tabloids, because that's how the tabloids get away with their bs most of the time--it's generally not worth the hassle to sue.