Being sued in small claims by Capital One for a credit card debt. While waiting for mediator to call my name attorney for Capital One called my name told me he represented Capital one and I owe them. My response was I'm there to answer a summons from them and disputing. Attorney became aggressive tried to intimidate me. Told me he handles many cases for Capital One and they never lose. This attorney was out of line to approach me. I felt like I was being bullied. Do I have any options. I need an attorney. I want to sue for his aggressive unprofessional behavior, lost wages to be there, etc.
I'm afraid you don't have a case based upon these facts. Attorneys are supposed to zealously represent their clients, and you are not his client. You also don't have any damages, and without damages, nobody has a case.
The lawyer is correct. You were there over a disputed debt. Capitol One thinks you owe them. You don't think you do. You've both expressed your positions.
Our courts would collapse under our collective angst if we could successfully sue for hurt feelings. Can you imagine how crowded our court's hallways would be if every person who thought someone was rude could win a judgement against those people?
If it means anything, I apologize for my brethren, but attorneys are competitive and we signal our willingness to litigate in many ways.
I respectfully suggest you hire a lawyer today. You will not make a good witness for yourself if this attorney can so easily upset you, and we do try to rattle witnesses when they testify. You likely cannot win this case pro se, assuming you can win it at all.
If you were unrepresented, opposing counsel is permitted to directly correspond with you. If you were represented, it is highly improper for opposing counsel to address you directly, especially outside the presence of your attorney. Unfortunately, when a party is unrepresented, intimidation tactics are often employed to coerce the other side to their own benefit. His actions as you listed, however, do not rise to the level of compensable "injuries." I suggest you seek counsel to help with your legal needs.
Mark Theodore TischhauserLitigation LawyerTampa, FL ·
Oh my little snowflake.......SMH.......you DO realize you are BEING SUED right? This isn't grade school or some hyper liberal college environment with safe spaces, crying towels and people that actually care about triggering you with micro aggressions or god forbid, "bullying." Its an ADVERSARIAL dispute resolution system and 50% of the people involved in it are "offended" because they are deemed the losers. From a starting point, YOU are the "bad guy" and the lender is the victim if ......for what ever "wha ha happen whuz" story......., you simply did not pay your debt racked up on a credit card, your "dispute" all aside. This is important to understand because indignation, and actually expecting that YOU should be compensated for "being there" is at the classic height of misplaced snowflake entitlement, if you essentially stiffed the credit card companyout of any money at all..
Now, that doesn't mean you might not have legitimate legal defenses, or that there may be any number of flaws in Capital One's legal claim, or better yet if its actually debt buyer collecting on a distressed account they purchased. However, you need to focus FIRST on the real issue about whether or not you actually owe the lender some money, because if you do, you may find that quibbling over a small dispute may cost you more in the end, especially if you lose and get a judgment and then seek some payment plan from them as a courtesy. The part we can all agree on is that you will likely need to hire a lawyer to represent you and defend the lawsuit, if nothing else than to make sure you don't make foolish decisions or the bank lawyer takes advantage of you. IF YOU decide to invest in defending the case and win, THEN and ONLY THEN you can cry foul and seek reimbursement of legal fees, counter-sue etc.
There are two questions here: what kind of lawyer you need, and whether you have a case against Capital One's lawyer. The first answer is that you need a civil litigator--whether that means a general practitioner who litigates, or a litigator with a focus on debtor's rights and consumer transactions (use 's "Find a Lawyer" feature as a vetting resource). The second answer is that the opposing lawyer's conduct as you described does not give rise to a counterclaim or cause of action. Opposing counsel is empowered to play hardball, within certain ethical parameters. Once you retain litigation counsel, you can explore not only whether you have potential defenses to the suit, but also whether the opposing lawyer went beyond the ethical parameters in dealing with you up to this point. It does not appear to be so, but you and your lawyer can discuss this in more detail. Best wishes in your litigation matter.
If you were there for mediation then that's all that you should have done in front of the mediator. Since you don't have a lawyer, it is your responsibility to talk to the other side's lawyer and they have a right to talk to you, so stop complaining. Hire a lawyer to represent you.
A solid consumer protection attorney can make it very difficult for Capital One to obtain their judgment. These cases are handled "in bulk" and the lawyers only make money when they are able to open and close them quickly and enforce the judgments. My office handles credit card defense and, believe it or not, we have never had an adverse judgment entered against one of our clients. Most of the cases wind up dismissed or settled for pennies on the dollar.
You see, there are clauses in the credit card agreements (such as "arbitration clauses") that you can use to bully and badger the credit card company back. An arbitration demand requires them to re-file the case, pay substantial additional fees, at great cost and inconvenience. Filing discovery requests and scheduling depositions also increase the cost to the credit card company and their lawyers and will pressure them into settling. In addition, credit card companies frequently are subject to defenses and counter-claims under consumer protection statutes such as the Fair Credit Reporting Act and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
These cases often never get to that point before they cry uncle and settle for grotesquely reduced numbers. This avoids an adverse judgment against you, as well.
Speak to an aggressive consumer protection attorney and you will find out just what can be done in your case.
The comments of my colleagues are dead on accurate, and I hope you heed them. You brought a knife to a gunfight & you got dominated. Hire a consumer lawyer who probably will be able to stop the bleeding.
It is tough being in non lawyer in the strange and intimidating world of the legal system.
But I'll grant you, the other lawyer was trying to intimidate you, but that's how it works in most courtroom hall ways, basketball courts, and in Congress.
You stood your ground, and good for you. I mean it.
If you win, he will eat his words, won't he? That's the only satisfaction you are likely to get, but first you have to win.
If you believe you don't owe the money, present your side to the judge. You have no case to sue anybody for anything at this point. If you win, and if Capital One had no reasonable basis whatsoever to sue you, (such as, you never had an account with them, or you already proved to them that you paid in full the amount they are seeking), then you "might" have a case for malicious prosecution.
