Legal Question in Civil Litigation in New York

Back in 2003 or 2004 I was involved in a car accident. The driver took me to court in Queens, NY and filed a law suit for loss of work and other items. I was never aware of this law suit nor did I ever receive anything regarding it prior nor after the court date. I came to find out about it at first a few weeks ago through my bank that had received an action to freeze my account for this judgmenet. I don't have a copy of the judgement nor ever received one. I call small claims court in ny and they said to re-open the case is free and I would like to know if it's possible to get free or low-cost legal help? The judge granted the other party $970 plus interest, which is now $1510 plus $100 lawyers fee. What are my rights and what can I do on my end?

Thank you.

Elaudy

I currently live in Miami, FL


Asked on 1/07/10, 7:42 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Kristen Browde Browde Law, P.C.

If you have a reasonable excuse for not having appeared AND a valid defense to the claim, you can move to have the default judgment set aside. You will not be able to do this without either appearing in court in Queens or having an attorney appear on your behalf. Thus it may not be worth it to fight this matter.

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Answered on 1/12/10, 8:56 am


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