I worked for a company in CA which was sent into backruptcy several years ago. Recently, the debtor from Chicago has filed suit against me because I mistakenly signed on a certain contract.
I used a lawyer and he has responded to complaints against me. The other lawyer has made an offer – $ 500 or we are going to track the jury. That was in June 2007. Since then, I have not heard anything.
My question is ….. if the debtor does not reply, does the case go away automatically?
Responding or not responding to an offer will not affect the case proceeding, unless of course the offer is accepted. If all of the legal paperwork is timely filed, then the case goes ahead.
He did not accept your offer. Prepare for trial. It has not been dismissed.
No, it won’t get dismissed automatically. If they don’t accpt a settlement offer or don’t respond to it, then you’ll probably go to trial. Contact your lawyer again to contact these people to make sure they got the message.
the debtor is under no obligation to answer. if the offer was accetable, they would have responded, you can contact your attny and ask they check. maybe the debtor would be willing to make counter offer and have it negotiated thru. You making an offer does not stop the trial if they choose to proceed with it. I would contact the debtor and simply ask what would be needed to settle.
Case will not be dismissed automatically. Your offer is outside what the court can consider under the rules of evidence, ie irrelevant. Call the court ask what the last document filed was if it is yours, ask how long before the court will close a case. That means only that the plaintiff will need to refile, it is not a dismissal. A complaint and an answer make a live controversy, no default, but you need to be on top of things. The trial calendar will not be set without due process, but if your attorney is not acting on this or is not informing you adequately as to what is occuring, you need a new one.
When a party to a lawsuit does not respond to a settlement offer that does not mean that the case is dismissed. It means that they are not interested in your settlement offer, and the case proceeds. This is NOT an automatic dismissal. You really need to speak with your attorney about this.
Is your attorney and the debtor’s attorney in settlement negotiations? Has the debtor’s attorney communicated at all with your attorney? Has your attorney filed the request for a jury trial?
You are paying an attorney to provide you with these answers.
You signed – you’re technically liable. Debtor (person who owed the money?) sued you?
If you meant creditor then they sued you because you weren’t a named party in the bankruptcy, so you didn’t receive protection.
The attorney made and offer to settle at $500 and they have not responded. They can just let it go without doing anything further. They are the plaintiff and it is their obligation to pursue this any further. Frequently the response by your attorney is sufficient to make the other side decide that there isn’t going to be the financial rewards expected by going into the court room.
In order to deduct the debt from their taxes they have to make a serious effort to collect. So my advice is just wait and see what their next move, if any, turns out to be.