Legal Question in Personal Injury in Wisconsin

Regardless of who was at fault, unless you also received a drunken driving ticket due to the crash, damages from a car accident are usually dischargeable in a bankruptcy and a bankruptcy lawyer may therefore be able to help you get the lawsuit dismissed and may also allow you to keep your driver�s license. I assume from your comments that you also lacked insurance, which normally also leads to a safety responsibility suspension of your driver�s license in addition to the money judgment which the insurance company is seeking, assuming that they win the lawsuit (or if you do not fight it). If you can get your bankruptcy case filed soon enough, before the scheduled revocation date, you can avoid the revocation, but bankruptcy may also work for you even after the revocation has gone through. Typically, when you lack insurance and are at fault in an accident, the DMV will send you a warning notice before they suspend or revoke you. That letter will provide you with an opportunity for a hearing where you could object to the revocation, or to post a deposit for the damages in lieu of insurance, pending resolution of liability issues in the courts. If you request such a hearing (or post the deposit), you may get enough additional time for you to complete your bankruptcy filing before you even lose your license. Of course, all of this assumes that there are not additional causes for your revocation, such as too many demerit points, mandatory SR-22 insurance requirements, unpaid fines, etc. I do not know of any laws creating special rules for liability in parking lot accidents; the normal rules of comparative negligence therefore apply. The statute of limitations is six years for suits relating to property damage; one year is therefore not an unusual delay. My comments in this online forum are offered for public educational purposes only and are not legal advice, nor do they create any attorney/client relationship between us. However, I may be able to formally represent you if you contact my Racine office and make arrangements to retain me. I also travel outside of Racine and represent clients throughout WI.

It is possible that because the accident happened on private property that an accident report was not filed with the State, therefore, the DMV may not take action against you under the Safety Responsibility Law. However, if you were at fault in the accident, you may wish to reach an agreement with the insurance company that sued you to work out a payment plan. If the facts of the accident would tend to make you less than 100% at fault, then you may also want to argue that with the insurance company attorney and get them to agree to accept less than 100%. I assume that the delay in suing you was that the insurance company paid for the other vehicle damage and attempted to contact you by mail to obtain payment. If you did not respond or if they did not have the correct contact information for you, then there may have been further delay before they decided to sue you. Depending on the amount of the claim being made against you, a payment plan may be better than considering bankruptcy at this time, as bankruptcy is something that I advise should really be a rather last resort, depending on other debts and your particular circumstances. I would urge you to first try the payment plan and/or lump sum reduced payment. You could make them proceed all the way to trial, especially if this was filed against you in Small Claims Court instead of Large Claims Court, as the Court may also determine that less than the full amount is owed by you. I would suggest that you speak with an attorney to discuss the facts and circumstances in more detail so as to obtain the best advice.