Oh Brother

[fomocoguy]

Yeah, I'd say that sounds real. Unfortunatley I think your gonna need an attorney.

[woods]

Or a gunny sack and a lead pipe.

[70 ranger]

I don't think that you can counter sue for time missed from work but I would keep all your legal receipts because if the judge decides the case is frivolous you may be able to claim them.
So let me get this straight, yesterday you broke your arm. today you get summoned. If these things happen in three, you might want to stay in bed tomorrow!

[Madman]

I know it is heartless, but I will say what I typically say to myself. We have impeded natural selection waaaayyyy toooo long! In nature, the dumb and weak die first! Sounds like this arse is a prime candidate!

[thrush544]

Crazy .... I'll pray for your dog, I hope he's doing all right!

[crazyhorse]

This is a good case for Judge Judy.
When she gets through with him, you might just get paid for storage.

No good deed goes unpunished.
Good luck.

[DuckRyder]

Does your state have a frivolous lawsuit law?

Do you have a PLUP (Personal Liability Umbrella Policy)?

Unfortunately, anybody can sue anybody else for just about anything...

[onetuford]

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. If he would've had the tires from you and then crashed, he could/would have sued you anyway (that's cuz he a douche). I will say, however that it is a serious deal for you. If you go to court unprepared he could just very well win some money from you. If you hire a lawyer it will cost you more to defend yourself than the potential lawsuit, and in a sense, he wins! You need to do some research on the laws in your state or, at the very least, seek some legal advise. You should be able to subpeona the accident report and that could help you out. You could also subpeona the police officer that was present at the time of the accident. I would find out how much it costs to file a suit and would surely counter-sue. He was not man enough to own his actions, or is otherwise in a bad way at this time in his life, and I would never tell anyone to file suit so quickly, but in this case you probably should sue back. Best of luck and God Bless.

[Mancar1]

This sucks, the guy sounds like an idiot out to get something for nothing.
I had a stupid one against me years back. Sold a car to a guy for his 16 yr old. Kid wrecked the car a couple months later and the guy wanted me to pay.The case went nowhere, but I had to spend the $$$ on a lawyer. Our system could use some fixing cause parts of it suck.
When a case gets thrown out due to being stupid the party that brought it should face at the least a stiff fine, as well as all lawyer and Court fees.

[ccryder2011]

you can counter sue for storage and your legal fees but it might not take place at the same time or even may not be in the same court,depends on your legal system locally,had a land lord sue me for unfinished work on a house he was foreclosed on...i rented the house and took repair cost out of the rent when a tree fell on the house,when he was served with forecloser papers i moved out and he sued me,put half my stuff out in the bulk waste pickup pile of trash by the side of the road,he won his lawsuit!?! but i was able to countersue him and won 3/4 of the amount back,go figure,if everything got settled in one room it probably would have been a wash cause they never took int account his actions reguarding the disposal of my stuff when he sued me, so all im sayin is talk to a laywer,most offer free consult. good luck,
cris

[Bob]

A term that was used a lot in the series "Deadwood" comes to mind when I read this. What would Al Swerengen call that guy...?

A counter suit is probably gonna be chasing good money after bad. If he's trying to scratch up 5 grand what are the odds he's gonna be able to come up with much of anything for you anyway. I can feel for you as far as how the principle of this thing would make you want to thump him... both figuratively via his wallet... and literally. You might be better off focusing your energy toward being prepared to defend instead? Tempting as it might be it'd sort of be like stooping to his level. Pulling the same crap as he has pulled might appear just as frivolous to a judge.

Myself... I wouldn't waste the money on an attorney. If you're just defending and not counter suing you won't need one. In the unlikely event you would lose you can always appeal and then hire the suited one.

I very much doubt that the issue of the winter tires will be a factor at all. If neither of you has a copy of a bill of sale that says anything about extra tires then... "What tires?" Can't speak of tires that there's no record of other than the obvious "your word against his..." Any sensible person will conclude that the truck obviously had tires on it for him to be able to drive it away. If need be you can ask the guy if he drove the truck out of your driveway on bare rims. Maybe ask the judge if any vehicle sales agreement exists that requires the seller to follow the buyer around to make sure his tires are holding up or that they're using the appropriate tread design for the current road conditions and driving in a safe manner? Course you could get a retarded judge... Could happen since most judges are failed lawyers that were public defenders cause they couldn't make a good go of it as an attorney. (my apologies to any good judges out there... just had a bad experience with a moron judge in the past)

You'd be better situated with some papers in your hand. You need to get his phone number so you can get a copy of your phone records showing the times and dates you called him about the winter tires. Maybe scribble down some of the details you recall about the truck and what was paid etc. and a bill of sale if you have one. Have extra copies of anything you take there. If it even makes it to the point where you tell your account of the situation you can hold up a copy of your phone record with highlighted numbers when you mention how you tried to reach him. Having extra copies of the stuff lets you give the judge a copy and still have one to follow should he question anything. Besides that, some papers will make you "look" like you've come prepared. Could be your wife's grocery list for that matter just don't want to walk in with your hands in your pockets. You need to appear loaded for bear.

Oh... and I'm sure you know this but remember to stay cool. Being anything other than neutral in the emotion department will work against you in a courtroom. Either way... anger or grinning like a Cheshire cat won't make the right impression with any judge.

[UNCLE BOO]

Sorry to hear about your predicament, woods. That really sucks!

The only thing I can think of is that maybe what you were served with is a summons to appear at a "hearing" to determine whether or not the case should go to trial, rather than an actual court trial on the matter. Don't know if that helps you out, though.... Can you check with a Clerk of the Court beforehand? They may be able to give you some free advice.

I am a firm believer in Karma. Regardless how this plays out, you just know that guy is going to get what deserves...eventually.

Good luck!

[drivendaily]

Another good reason to never sell split rims. Just think of the chaos that could cause. Use um for paperweights!
DD

[Ranger72]

Dayum!

I had to look again to make sure you weren't a fellow Californian!

Sorry that you have to deal with this. I have a feeling in our litigious society, and with the recession and unemployment, that these situations will become far more commonplace.

[basketcase0302]

I have a feeling in our litigious society, and with the recession and unemployment, that these situations will become far more commonplace.

Absolutely right Steve. They're all crawling out from under their rocks in these hard times. Lower than whalesh@t as far as I'm concerned, (and that's pretty low down) these type of folks are! They have some real bad fate come along-and they try to "pass the buck" to someone else.

Good luck Woods.