Legal Question in Personal Injury in Colorado
Thank-you.
In May of 2009 we lived in Texas, outside Austin. My wife was driving home from work in Round Rock (TX)when a BMW cut in front of her maneuvering for the left-hand turn lanes from the far right and she struck the right rear quarter panel, doing minor damage - which of course is major cost on that car. The driver, though understandably upset, appeared and stated he was fine. He is a Dr. of Optometry in that area, so though perhaps not a surgical expert, he does possess above normal knowledge of physiology due to medical training.
Except for some communications regarding exchange of insurance information that transposed over the following week, we never heard from him again.
In November of 2009 my wife moved to Colorado, and the rest of our family followed within several months.
Yesterday we received notice to appear to the municipal court in Round Rock, TX as defendant to suit with he as plaintiff.
I called the court and they gave me his attorney's phone number. They agreed twice to send me copy of the complaint. I then left message for them and still received no response hours later. Suspecting their commitment to send us this information was disingenuous, I called the court. They agreed to send me copy of the complaint AND our alleged response thereto.
The "response" was a patent fraud - a two line typewritten "We are in no way responsible" followed by our present address in Colorado and no signature - absolutely no handwriting whatsoever nor proof as to who received nor sent the item back.
The complaint is beyond belief claiming extensive damages including physical, psychological and damage to his married life, date January of 2011.
This really stinks, but when I looked up the attorney, he appears to have good credentials (Harvard, community service and so on).
We can't affor to get a good attorney to fight this and sure as heck can't afford to be travelling back and forth to Texas over it -heck, the complaint specifically states we live there and the fact is that we have not for well over a year! What do we do?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Dear Sir:
You raise a few issues, the first is service. Before a lawsuit may begin against you, the defendant must prove to the court by affidavit that you were personally served with a summons and complaint. The caveat is that this is a Texas court, and I am a Colorado lawyer. Texas may have different rules, but I think that to be unlikely.
The second is insurance. The case arises out of an auto accident, so I presume your wife had a liability policy. You need to notify your insurance company, and they will hire a lawyer to defend you, and indemnify you up to the policy limit.
Sincerely,
Evan Banker
Chalat Hatten & Koupal PC
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