Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

We both wrote out a written agreement and signed it. Defendants duties were never outlined in the written agreement. There is no lawsuit, or pending.

1.Duty:The documents that I am supposed to provide to him could all be different but, duty specific, I would have to download the documents from the PACER system as they would arrive (from the court) for him to respond back to the court. All documents that defendant needed to respond back to the court with were downloaded and given to him.

Although the written agreement does say: ALL DOCUMENTS FROM COURT, I MUST GIVE HIME ONE COPY OF EACH DOCUMENT, we were under the understanding that only documents needed were documents that needed a response from the court.

2.Duty: I must check e-file(PACER) at least three times a week. Which, I the plaintiff did, and I have a printout from PACER as proof.

HOPEFULLY THIS DOES NOT CONFUSE THE SITUATION EVEN MORE.

Michael Stone

Law Offices of Michael B. Stone Toll Free 1-855-USE-MIKE

3020 Old Ranch Parkway, Suite 300

Seal Beach, CA 90740


Asked on 12/20/11, 1:09 pm

5 Answers from Attorneys

You can't post follow-up questions here and expect what was in a previous question to be understood to be part of it. These get emailed separately to dozens of volunteer attorneys. This current posting doesn't even contain a question for us to answer.

Read more
Answered on 12/20/11, 1:42 pm
Edward Hoffman Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

Mr. McCormick is right. Making matters worse, the question looks like is was signed by attorney Michael Stone even though it wasn't. I'm sure this was unintentional and that the user instead wanted to direct his question to Mr. Stone. Still, I want any other users who see it to know that Mr. Stone was not the author.

Read more
Answered on 12/20/11, 2:20 pm
Michael Stone Law Offices of Michael B. Stone Toll Free 1-855-USE-MIKE

Thanks, Ed. Apparently the poster was contracted to download federal court PACER documents for someone (who I infer may be a pro per litigant in federal court). The problem is, by your agreeing to forward documents only if you think they require a response, you are rendering legal advice and therefore, you are practicing law without a license. This makes your contract illegal and unenforceable (and you have committed a misdemeanor crime). Am I understanding you correctly?

Read more
Answered on 12/20/11, 2:53 pm
Michael Stone Law Offices of Michael B. Stone Toll Free 1-855-USE-MIKE

One more thing. He can sue you, and collect extra damages because you practiced law without a license. You can't sue him.

Read more
Answered on 12/20/11, 3:07 pm


Related Questions & Answers

More General Civil Litigation questions and answers in California