Legal Question in Civil Litigation in New Jersey
Default Judgment in NE against NJ resident (small claims)
I am a resident of New Jersey and was sued in small claims court in Nebraska. I could not attend and I wrote a letter to the court and left a message with the judge informing him of this but never heard back.
The case is about a defective laptop that I bought from a company online that is located in Nebraska. I was unhappy with it and returned it via UPS. While in the custody of UPS, the laptop was stolen. UPS took responsibility and paid out $100. I could not collect the full amount because UPS stated I did not declare the value, which I had and apparently did not go through due to an error with the website.
Long story short, even though the computer company was aware that UPS conducted an investigation and took responsibility, they sued me because they stated that I was instructed in an email to insure the package. They claim this is a legal contract even though I never agreed to insure the package, attempted to insure it anyway out of common sense and was not in the custody of the laptop when it was stolen.
How to I fight this situation? The company had me served with the summons by my County Sheriff�s department here in New Jersey. In the letter I sent to the judge I did argue Personal Jurisdiction, Undue Hardship and Lack of Claim. Again, the Court never responded to my phone message with the Judge or my letter. They simply ruled against me. Furthermore, I have severe medical conditions that prevent me from traveling long distances. This is not important because I did notify the court that I could not attend on the scheduled date.
On a sie note, under Nebraska electronic business and contract law, an email is not deemed a legal contract. Nor is it under the Federal ESIGN law. Also, how could I have had a contract if I was instructed to do something but never responded in agreemant?
1 Answer from Attorneys
If you did not appear in court, either in person or through counsel, you are in default. That means, among other things, that you waive your legal and factual arguments; they are not considered because they are not properly before the court. Had you answered the Complaint in writing and asked for a postponement, that would probably have been granted. "I can't make it," is neither an Answer nor a request for postponement. If you want to try to raise the issues again, you must apply to the Nevada court to have the judgment vacated. That said, from what you have told me, you don't have a good defense. Assuming that you could return the laptop, either as a right or because of a courtesy give to you by the seller, your responsibility was to return it. That didn't happen.
See also: http://info.corbettlaw.net/lawguru.htm
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