Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Minnesota

I hired an attorney in 2003 - 2005. While he was my attorney he filed summary judgment and punititive damage motions 3 months after the filing deadline and charged me for it anyway. I paid all of my fees except for those fees and requested credits several times. He would not issue a credit for these charges and said if i did not pay I would have to get another attorney to finish my case. He removed himself from my case and I hired another attorney to carryover on the damages portion of my case and I won the lawsuit on 5 counts of fraud in late 2005.

I moved to CA in 2006 permanently - all during this case my job required me to live two weeks in LA and two weeks in Minneapolis. I finally chose to live in LA in 2006 after the case was finished.

I received a summons from my old attorney seeking these disputed fees Feb 6, 2007. It had not been filed with the courts as no court file number had been listed or filed in the 4th District Court system, I responded to him with answers in time with a certified receipt.

I did not hear anything else on this case. In 2008 however we moved again closer to my job but still within LA.

He apparently filed this summons against me in September 2009 almost 3 years after I orignally answered -- and a judgment was issued on this case in April of 2010. I had not received anything on this. I suspect he knew my address forward ran out on the old address in August 2009.

I want to send a motion to vacate but I also want to know - I believe in Minnesota you can send a summons before you file with the courts however, however,it has to be filed within a "reasonable" time. I highly doubt this would be considered a reasonable time since there is no new developments or can be.

Also, the statute of limitations will now have run out on this case in June of 2010 as that was the date of the missed motions that he is trying to collect these fees from - so will he be able to start this case over? I own nothing in MN or no work related there. If he does file will it have to be in CA or can he continue to harrass me from MN?

I have the same cell telephone number, the same email address that he used for the 2 years we worked together on my original lawsuit so it is not as if I am trying to avoid paying.

Clearly he did not try to reach me.

Can I file to "vacate" based on improper service, and I have a letter from the Judge telling me the reason why he would not allow the motions because of the missed filing deadline NOT as my attorney had listed that "the judge would not hear the motions - which happen". I asked the courts why he would not hear and this is the answer I got - not at all as my attorney had detailed.

I have a meritorious case and I want to be heard. These missed deadlines cost me a lot of money.


Asked on 12/01/10, 9:21 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Daniel Reiff Reiff Law Office

You certainly have a lot of issues going on. I'm sure you're looking for a quick and easy answer, but this is not the kind of situation where I feel comfortable throwing an answer out there off the cuff. There are lot of facts I'd like to see clarified as well as your intentions. It may be that you have a counterclaim you could assert against your attorney, although you may have a statute of limitations problem. I think you need to retain an attorney to respond to this.

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Answered on 12/06/10, 9:32 am


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