Recently, my tort case was DISMISSED. Received a call yesterday. The company's lawyer stated I was liable for fee related to her defense of the company she represented. If I do not appeal the decision, she would not bill me. The judge mentioned nothing about attorney fees or court cost for being the plaintiff in the case. My appeal is due by September 3rd.
The judge said this was a very had case and he had never seen anyone come in with as much evidence that I had in all his years.
Did you not have an attorney? If not, go sit down with someone who has experience dealing with this sort of case so you can discuss things. Without understanding much more about your case and the viability of your own appeal, I cannot possibly give you much more thought than that!
Maybe so but your case was dismissed. I would be going down to the courthouse to look at the judgment entered to see if it even mentions attorneys fees and court costs.
If you were representing yourself in this case, then you need to contact a local plaintiff's attorney and discuss the case with him/her. If you had evidence and were still dismissed, then that's likely completely due to the fact that you were attempting to represent yourself against an experienced corporate attorney. You only get one chance at recovering in this case. Contact an attorney to help you ASAP. You're already up against the deadline here with an appeal date of September 3. Most attorneys will do a free consultation, and, depending on the case, you may not have to pay the attorney at all unless he/she helps you recover something.
David B. KarpDivorce / Separation LawyerMilwaukee, WI ·
If your case went to trial and you lost, you can be held for defense costs and fees. In order to avoid that, you could agree not to pursue motions after verdict and with a stipulation and order have the case dismissed, including any costs due. If the case was somehow dismissed prior to trial, usually the stipulation and order for dismissal would have contained some language about whether the dismissal was with or without prejudice and with or without costs to the parties. Did you not have an attorney on your injury case?
Most jurisdictions allow for limited costs against losing party. As defense lawyer is offering to waive those costs you should speak to your lawyer to consider same seriously if no appeal will be taken from the dismissal.
I agree with the previous answers. To answer your questions directly, Yes, it is a tactic to get you not to appeal your case. It is a common tactic and there is nothing shady about it. An attorney can help you decide if you have a decent chance on appeal. Appeals are harder for non-attorneys than trials. If you don't plan on getting an attorney to help you, I'd strongly consider the deal being proposed. Ask the attorney for the basis of the claim that you owe costs and fees. THe attorney should be able to point you to language in a judgment or order or in a statute. Ask the attorney how much money is at issue, if she did not already tell you that. Finally, just because the judge said you put on a good case does and just because it was close does not mean you have an appealable issue. That is where consulting an attorney will help. You can probably find an attorney who will provide you with a free consult to see if you have an appeal worth taking. Whatever you do, don't miss the appeal date. Those are usually set in stone the way many dates in litigation are not.
