Fla. man sued for $15k over negative eBay remark

[the blob]

the guy hardly needed a lawyer to defend him though. show up in court, etc., if the judge is half decent he/she or his/her staff will provide a little bit of hand holding to the pro se defendant. let's see how the plaintiff does with a jury when the buyer/defendant explains the clock came in three pieces, etc. people are so terrified of the legal system, but it is not so hard to navigate. inmates with 6th grade educations manage to actively pursue lawsuits, sometimes successfully. granted, this all takes time and for some it would make sense to have a lawyer.

[the blob]

And you can depose the debtor to learn all of these things if you don't know them already.

 

if he's not responding to the lawsuit he's probably not showing up for a deposition

[Transplant]

And you can depose the debtor to learn all of these things if you don't know them already.

 

if he's not responding to the lawsuit he's probably not showing up for a deposition

If you subpoena him in his jurisdiction and he ignores, you can do the depo from his jail cell.

[NP_Gresham]

Dear emiller1313,

I was going to bid $15,001. on your (latest peice of ). But your negative feedback is very concerning... will you accept $1. instead?

Sincerely,

Client #9

[the blob]

If you subpoena him in his jurisdiction and he ignores, you can do the depo from his jail cell.

-------

 

if you get a judge willing to do that in this P.O.S. case

 

as judges are elected down there, this would make an interesting commercial for his/her opponent next election

 

but yeah, you're generally right

[Transplant]

The judge would only know that a default jgt. had been entered in another jurisdiction. He wouldn't know/care about the merits.

[3319comics]

Is there nothing else more important to tie up courts with than this?

[Wally's Comics]

[RockMyAmadeus]

don't see why the defendant would even bother with an attorney. heck, this isn't criminal. I wouldn't have even shown up for court.

 

Then you would have gotten a little thing called a default judgment rammed right where the sun don't shine.

 

What good is a judgement when the defendant has no intention of ever paying....?

 

well there is jail time...

 

Not really.

 

My choice is: pay more money, and have him arrested...if he can be found...and then released...or nothing. More money, more money, more money. Doesn't make much sense.

 

The guy flies under the radar. He even failed to tell the court that the address the court had was no longer valid on the day he showed up for court.

 

S'ok, I got what I needed out of the experience.

[RockMyAmadeus]

don't see why the defendant would even bother with an attorney. heck, this isn't criminal. I wouldn't have even shown up for court.

 

Then you would have gotten a little thing called a default judgment rammed right where the sun don't shine.

 

What good is a judgement when the defendant has no intention of ever paying....?

 

Some of the most entertaining moments I have had are dealing with judgment debtors that take this attitude - and then they finally return my calls after their bank accounts have been levied.

 

Thanks Sardo. That was the phrase I was looking for. I'm the judgement creditor, but throwing more money at a roughly $500 judgement doesn't make much sense.

 

If it was $15,000, I might be more aggressive.

[Ares]

Turns out this guy's lawyer is Judith Frankel, a longtime Miami Beach lawyer (and friend). She is the treasurer of the Miami Beach Bar Association and will see her at our meeting next Tuesday. I will get more info about this case then (where it stands, what he is really suing for, etc...).

 

By the way, he is likely siung for more than 15K. In Florida, in order to invoke the jurisdiction of the Circuit Court, you have to plead that your damages are at least 15k (exclusive of interest and attorneys fees). You do not have to state (and people rarely do) the actual amount you are suing for.

 

What a waste of time...he has less than 40 feedbacks as a seller in all of 2008 and 2009. And the item in question was some kind of alarm clock. So, $15K or more in damages from lost sales? Riiiigghhht

...this is the kind of stuff that gives attorneys a bad rap.

 

Must be related to the Judge who sued the dry cleaners for 10 million

[comicdonna]

Turns out this guy's lawyer is Judith Frankel, a longtime Miami Beach lawyer (and friend). She is the treasurer of the Miami Beach Bar Association and will see her at our meeting next Tuesday. I will get more info about this case then (where it stands, what he is really suing for, etc...).

 

By the way, he is likely siung for more than 15K. In Florida, in order to invoke the jurisdiction of the Circuit Court, you have to plead that your damages are at least 15k (exclusive of interest and attorneys fees). You do not have to state (and people rarely do) the actual amount you are suing for.

Thanks for looking into this Josh. I will look forward to any updates you might have.

[Sardo Numspar]

Turns out this guy's lawyer is Judith Frankel, a longtime Miami Beach lawyer (and friend). She is the treasurer of the Miami Beach Bar Association and will see her at our meeting next Tuesday. I will get more info about this case then (where it stands, what he is really suing for, etc...).

 

By the way, he is likely siung for more than 15K. In Florida, in order to invoke the jurisdiction of the Circuit Court, you have to plead that your damages are at least 15k (exclusive of interest and attorneys fees). You do not have to state (and people rarely do) the actual amount you are suing for.

 

What a waste of time...he has less than 40 feedbacks as a seller in all of 2008 and 2009. And the item in question was some kind of alarm clock. So, $15K or more in damages from lost sales? Riiiigghhht

...this is the kind of stuff that gives attorneys a bad rap.

 

Here's the kicker. In a defamation case like this, you aren't suing for the value of the "clock." In my experience, most defamation cases die due to lack of damages. Even if a false statement of material fact is communicated to a third person - without damages your case goes nowhere. However, there are several exceptions to this rule (which apply in Florida). These exceptions are known as defamtion per se, and if you can prove one of them then damages are presumed. These categories inlcude such things as falsely stating that someone has a "loathsome disease" (I didnt make that up ), falsely stating a person has committed a serious crime, or, more relevant here, falsely asserting something about someone's professionalism associated with their business. If the seller can demonstrate that the feedback statement amounts to a public communciation that falsely attacks the seller's reputation in his business, then he could be automatically entitled to damages. If he can then show that his reputation has been detrimentally affected by this, and might cost him business by other ebay buyers avoiding him, etc..., then the trier-of-fact (a jury or judge) will determine the amount of damages. The real fight here will be whether the statement is one of opinion or fact. It's a close call "in my opinion."

[Mr. Zipper]

falsely asserting something about someone's professionalism associated with their business. If the seller can demonstrate that the feedback statement amounts to a public communication that falsely attacks the seller's reputation in his business, then he could be automatically entitled to damages.

 

The plaintiff is making the assumption that being compared to a used car salesman is a derogatory remark and falsely attacks his reputation.

 

Can used car salesmen then sue the plaintiff for defamation?

 

 

[Sardo Numspar]

falsely asserting something about someone's professionalism associated with their business. If the seller can demonstrate that the feedback statement amounts to a public communication that falsely attacks the seller's reputation in his business, then he could be automatically entitled to damages.

 

The plaintiff is making the assumption that being compared to a used car salesman is a derogatory remark and falsely attacks his reputation.

 

Can used car salesmen then sue the plaintiff for defamation?

 

 

The implication that the plainitff is not ethical is what is at issue. The answer to your question is No; however, if he would have identied a person by name and said that the person is unehtical because he is a used car salesman, there might be a claim. Again, close call IMO.

[MK Ultra]

I collect on Judgments all day at work. We have services that provide place of employment and bank information. Kind of like shooting fish in a barrel. Don't think of buying a house either, title insurance will insist that you pay off the matter first.

[kagemusha7s]

 

I don't know how it ended, but there was a case a while back where someone sued a dry cleaner for thousands of dollars because they lost his suit. It cost the cleaner thousands. They offered to buy the plaintiff a new suit, but he refused.

[the blob]

I don't know how it ended, but there was a case a while back where someone sued a dry cleaner for thousands of dollars because they lost his suit. It cost the cleaner thousands. They offered to buy the plaintiff a new suit, but he refused.

 

i believe the guy who sued was some sort of administrative judge and he eventually wound up losing his $100K/yr job because his bosses realized he was a wackadoodle.

 

so, basically, he drove the dry cleaners out of business and pretty much ruined himself in the process. it's all right here on wiki:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearson_v._Chung

[JerryZ]

I collect on Judgments all day at work. We have services that provide place of employment and bank information. Kind of like shooting fish in a barrel. Don't think of buying a house either, title insurance will insist that you pay off the matter first.

 

It is NOT fish in a barrel

What if the guy has no job and income How do you collect off of that??

 

Kinda tough i think to collect from a guy with no money

[comics-rock]

So can we sue now for people who dont go thru on transactions ? :Shrug:

 

(thumbs u you always could...its a binding contract...just can't see it ever being worthwhile...