Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: Failure to pay want to take them to court!

You do not mention how much we are talking about. This is a necessary consideration in strategizing a potential case.

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Re: Failure to pay want to take them to court!

It would be better if you can hire a lawyer in CA and try to contact the company and recover the money. If that does not work out...you should file a lawsuit in CA. Even if you file in NY....defendant can make a motion to move it in CA.

Re: Failure to pay want to take them to court!

Yikes . . . a lot of responses here. A couple of brief points, however. First, your statement that you do not have a "contract" is not true, you simply do not have a written contract. The fact that you provided to this CA company a CD ROM based upon the promise of payment constitutes a contract. Even if no contract existed, you would have a claim for "unjust enrichment." Therefore, I would not be so pessimistic that you do not think you will win.

In order to determine whether you have a legitimate basis to file suit in NY, you need to analyze the contacts that this California company has in New York. Does it have an office in NY? Is it registered to do business in NY? Does it regularly travel to NY and/or solicit New Yorkers for business? How did the company come in contact with you?

The answer to these and other questions will determine whether NY courts would have jurisdiction over the California company. If so, it is entirely permissible and proper to file suit in NY. If the California company does not show up, you could obtain a "default" judgment.

You would seek to enforce the judgment against the California company by filing it in California. The California company could try to attack the judgment on the grounds that the NY court lacked jurisdiction, but, if you've done your homework correctly, you would have arguments to counter that attack.

Finally, if your damages are greater than $75,000, you would be able to file suit in Federal Court -- a nice place to be.

-- Kenneth J. Ashman; [email protected]; 156 W. 56th Street, Suite 1902, NY, NY 10019; www.lawyers.com/alo

Re: Failure to pay want to take them to court!

If you want to file suit in New York, you should speak with a New York attorney to determine if New York has jurisdiction to hear such a suit.

You could definitely file suit in California since the company is located here. The procedure would be to file the complaint, serve the defendant, then there are various status conferences and other hearings before the final trial, which might be approximately a year after the case is filed. The great majority of suits filed in California settle before trial.