Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Wisconsin

Your responsibility as a defendant is always to protect yourself rather than trusting others to do it, and particularly, to NOT trust the opposing attorney, to do anything for you, since his job is to obtain a default or other judgment against you on behalf of his client. If you fail to appear, whether that failure is via phone or via defaulting on a personal appearance, the outcome is the same; a judgment against you, by default. This judgment will waive any defenses which you may have had and allow the winner to immediately garnishee your payroll, etc., with very little chance that it can ever be reopened. My advice is therefore that you immediately retain an experienced attorney to handle this status conference as well as all other future hearings in this litigation. If this is a routine collection matter, you also owe it to yourself to consult with any attorney who has extensive bankruptcy experienced (preferably, one with experience as a bankruptcy trustee). A bankruptcy filing will stop this litigation and remove the need for you to appear at this hearing as well as all future hearing, since the case will be dismissed if it involves a dischargeable debt. A discharge in bankruptcy is a permanent legal forgiveness of the debt, combined with a federal court injunction against any collectors coming after you in the future for it. Most working class families can file bankruptcy for a fee relative to $1-2,000, depending upon what part of the state you live in, and all of your debts should be included for that same price. My comments in this public web forum are intended only for public educational purposes and are not legal advice specifically for you. Instead, you should retain a lawyer in order to meet your legal needs since I will be taking no action on your case. You are welcome to contact my Racine, WI office at 262-633-3090 or email me at [email protected] for further information if you desire it.