Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

The time to file a cross-complaint was when you filed an answer to the complaint. Now you would have to file a motion for leave to file it. You need to look up the law on summary judgments as it is complicated. I doubt you can do much without an attorney. Can you try to reach an acceptable settlement with the County?

How do you know you can't afford an attorney? How many attorneys have you consulted? You can either afford an attorney or you can afford to lose the case.

Ditto to above comments.

Summary Judgment Motions, and Opposition pleadings, are detailed and subject to tight rules for content and construction. You should start at the Law Library and read the attorney practice guide books on Summary Judgment and Civil Procedure Before Trial for the rules and format. It generally takes attorneys substantial on job training and experience to be able to do a decent job. You are correct that attorney fees for doing so would be substantial, but how much is your case worth to you?

You have to effectively Oppose the motion with required pleadings containing corroborated evidence and facts, Points and Authorities, Declarations, etc. All that assumes you actually have legal and factual grounds to validly Oppose every point made in the Motion, sufficient to convince the judge to deny the motion.

If serious about hiring counsel to help in this, and if this is in SoCal courts, feel free to contact me to discuss the expected fees and costs, and your ability to oppose the facts of the motion.

Your opposition to the Motion for Summary Judgment ("MSJ") must be filed and served not less than 14 days before the date of the hearing. See Code of Civil Procedure Section 437c(b)(2).

I agree with the other attorneys' responses. Because the rules for MSJs are so complex, successfully opposing an MSJ without an attorney's help will be nearly impossible. MSJs and oppositions are most often handled by experienced counsel, and even within law firms, newer attorneys are rarely entrusted to prepare the pleadings.

Trying to prepare a proper opposition with no law background whatsoever is a disaster waiting to happen. Please understand that if the MSJ is granted (meaning you lose), you are most likely losing the whole case. Additionally, you could then be responsible for the other party's costs and maybe even attorneys' fees.

Attorneys Nelson and Stone are absolutely correct - you can either afford an attorney to help you with this, or lose the case.

Feel free to contact me for a free consultation. You can click on my name to view my contact information, as well as my website.