Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: Time table in law suits

Dates in a lawsuit vary per county and per court. You must read the paperwork that was presumably served upon you with the lawsuit. If you make an appearance in the case, eventually, there will be dates for hearings, case management conferences, a mandatory settlement conference, and if necessary, a final status conference and a trial.

The remainder of your question is a little vague. If your corporation is suspended or otherwise not qualified with the Secretary of State, you must revive or be subject to a motoin to abate and/or strike your appearance. The court will almost undoubtedly not give you any additional time to revive.

Things can get complicated. Moreover, a corporation cannot appear in court except through an attorney. There are no exceptions. If you have been sued, you must immediately consult an attorney familiar with civil litigation. We are civil litigators, and if/when you are ready to proceed, please feel free to call or email us.

Re: Time table in law suits

I think Mr. Guerrini misunderstood what you said. You reserved the corporation's name in yourself -- in essence taking away the corporation's identity. You might have to sue yourself!

Re: Time table in law suits

I can't give you a law school education in an email. Your question suggests you are the plaintiff and that you are considering filing a lawsuit, or you have already filed suit. If you have drafted, filed, and served the lawsuit correctly, and the defendant does not answer within 30 days (you are correct that a suspended corporation has no authority to appear) you could then file a request to enter default followed by doing the things you have to do to get a default judgment. If you must do this yourself, and if you do you are at great risk of screwing it up beyond repair, go to the law library at your local courthouse and ask the librarian for the gray three volume loose leaf set, California Civil Procedure Before Trial. Look carefully at the parts about a) how you must serve a Statement of Damages or otherwise give the defendant notice of the amount you are seeking at the time you serve the lawsuit; 2) how to request entry of default; 3) how to get a default judgment, including how to schedule a default prove-up hearing; and 4) how to serve the summons, complaint, and statement of damages (if applicable) on a suspended corporation.

I can think of numerous potential problems you may encounter. What if the defendant files an answer (through an attorney) in the name of (suspended) XYZ Corp. Do you know how to draft, serve, and file a motion to strike the answer?

What if you are wrong about the suspended status of the corporation, or it is suddenly resurrected, or an insurance company appears on its behalf, and you receive not only an answer, but a big, thick envelope full of discovery documents from a big law firm that you have but a few days to respond to? What if the envelope contains a SLAPP motion demanding you pay thousands of dollars in attorney fees? You will lose the motion, and you will be the one paying a judgment, unless you know how to respond correctly.

The idea of reserving the defendant's corporate name as a stratagem to prevent their resurrecting the corporation is very creative, and maybe law school is for you, but I have no idea whether or not this will be effective or possibly even counterproductive.