Legal Question in Personal Injury in California
Sold vehicle - now I'm being sued!
Sold vehicle.New owner never put it his name and his nephew got into an accident. Now I'm being sued - personal injury suit in excess of $25,000. I have documents from DMV (release,etc.)to clear me. I go to court, plaintiff's lawyer
is on telephone. He tells judge that the case would probably be dismissed within 90-120 days. Four days later I get another case management conference statement with another court date? What does this mean? I have spent almost $300.00 already trying to ger this cleared up. I'm starting to worry. Any help would be much appreciated!
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Sold vehicle - now I'm being sued!
Have you tried turning this over to your car insurance company?
If you have trouble with that, ask the plaintiff's lawyer to file a "Request for Dismissal" form with the court dismissing you from the case. If he/she refuses, you may need your own attorney to apply more pressure--the plaintiff and his/her counsel could be facing a malicious prosecution lawsuit if they continue to sue you with no legal basis.
Re: Sold vehicle - now I'm being sued!
The case management conference notice was probably in the mail before you went to court. I would suggest you wait for the dismissal and follow up with the plaintiff attorney, if it is not resolved by the date of the management conference, you may need to reappear in court to explain to the judge.
Re: Sold vehicle - now I'm being sued!
Thank you for your inquiry, and I am sorry to hear about your situation. Although the law states the person on title can be sued in an accident, if you have a release of liability form from the DMV, that will protect you. When you appeared in court, the judge may have set a case management conference, to clear up service of all the defendants and whether or not they are ready to proceed. The plaintiff then sent out a notice to all parties of this new conference date. Make sure that the plaintiffs attorney didn't say "we will decide as to dismissal in 90-120 days", or something similar. In this case, the ONLY thing that matters is a request for dismissal filed with the court. If I were you, I would prepare one yourself, send it to opposing counsel, with a letter confirming that they have agreed to dismiss you from the case, and have them sign it and file it, and provide you with a copy that has the court's file stamp on it. Only then can you not worry. A civil case is not only serious, but is stressful, so the quicker you get from point A to point B (dismissal), the better.
You also have other options, including bankruptcy, and hiring an attorney to bring a motion for summary judgment or negotiate with opposing counsel, and if you have questions as to any of these, or your situation in general, please feel free to email me at [email protected] anytime. I'm happy to help.
Also -- have a good New Year.
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