Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Re: Photo of a Horse and Rider

Probably he is bluffing to see what he can get out of you. Liability should rest with the photographer since you had the right to believe the he/she had permission of the horse owner to use the photo. contact the person who took the picture, find out if that is actually the woman's horse [there may be nothing that sets that horse apart from any of the same bred],was the picture taken on public property, etc. See if there is a local organization/trade group that you can go to for free legal advice.

Then contact the attorney and tell him you have no liability and he should talk with the photographer [he contacted you because the more defendants there are the more you can get as a overall settlement from lumping all the small amounts together]. If you honestly can, point out that no one can tell it is her horse, there was expectation on her part of being paid for letting the photo be taken and she gave the photographer permission to do so and you have the same rights as he, etc.

The fact that he wants you to contact his client directly means she hired him to write one letter to see if you would be scared and pay anything. An attorney hired by a client to handle fully a case does not tell you to contact his client directly nor say that he has yet to tell her what her rights are [first you determine if there is a case, then you contact the defendant, unless it is a one shot shakedown effort]. In the past,,there have been lawyer who send out a hugh number of letters threatening people with suit for "breaking the law" unless they pay, in the hopes that a small percentage hit a target of someone who may have done that type of activity and is afraid of a suit.