Legal Question in Personal Injury in California
I am potentially being sued for a dog bite that happened to a postal employee on a property I rent. I DO NOT have renter's liability insurnace. He has retained a high priced dog-bite lawyer and is posturing to sue for many erroneous claims and, most likely, and exorbitant amout of money. I am not trying to absolve myself of liability for any truthful damages (mind you, the bite was not at all severe or vicious...and there was no negligence on my part), but I need to defend myself of ridiculous claims. I don't have money to hire a lawyer to defend myself, let alone pay for things which I shouldn't be paying for. I live paycheck to paycheck. What should I do at this point in time?? HELP!!
Thanks,
NeedAdvice101
2 Answers from Attorneys
Best bet is to tell the atty, that you are so poor, that you do not have a pot to piss in and that even if he gets a judgment against you, you can never pay anyway. Unfortunately if he gets a judgment against you, it will mess up your future financial affairs for a long time. You may consider bankruptcy to wipe out the judgment.
Stop whining. You're an adult, and it was your decision to save $150 on renter's insurance. The insurance company would have given you a free lawyer to defend the "ridiculous" claims and would have paid the victim's damages. Now you'll be sued, unless the lawyer buys your story about how poor you are. If you want to defend the charges in court you'll have to pay thousands up front for a lawyer. If you lose in court and can't pay the judgment, you'll have to go bankrupt.