Civil Suit Pro Se

[tony101010]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida

I do not have the money to defend myself in a federal court civil suit. I am looking for resources to help me with self representation. Where can I go to get guidance on how to proceed and free advice and or information.

 

[FlyingRon]

Try here: http://floridalawhelp.org/

If you want further help from this site, you'll have to explain what you're up against.

 

[adjusterjack]

I wonder if this might explain things:

https://forum.freeadvice.com/starting-operating-business-3/liability-reference-expired-corporation-627868-post3431989.html#post3431989

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida

I do not have the money to defend myself in a federal court civil suit. I am looking for resources to help me with self representation. Where can I go to get guidance on how to proceed and free advice and or information.

tony101010, is the suit you are having to defend against the copyright infringement suit you were asking about earlier? If it is, you might be limited in the free legal help available to you. Do you live near a law school?

Here is a direct link to the thread mentioned in the post above: https://forum.freeadvice.com/starting-operating-business-3/liability-reference-expired-corporation-627868.html

If this is the copyright infringement suit, answering the questions asked of you in your previous thread could potentially help us help you a bit.

 

[tony101010]

Yes

Yes it has to do with copyright infringement. Thanks in advance for your help. And yes I live near a few law schools.

 

[quincy]

Yes it has to do with copyright infringement. Thanks in advance for your help. And yes I live near a few law schools.

The legal aid link FlyingRon provided to you earlier could lead you to some help on the basics of the civil action (e.g., what to expect). Finding free legal advice and direction on defending against a copyright infringement suit, however, will be more difficult. The typical legal aid clinic will rarely if ever handle intellectual property issues.

That is why I suggested a law school.

Although not every law school has a legal clinic, you might find an IP law professor (or a law student under the IP professor's guidance) who is willing to assist you for free. You should call the law school and ask for their IP section.

I have a link for you to try, which has some pro bono IP resources in Florida. Unfortunately, the pro bono services are generally made available to copyright holders and not to those who have infringed on the copyright holders' rights. But it could be worth it for you to see what these groups advise (scroll to Florida): http://www.americanbar.org/groups/intellectual_property_law/resources/probonostates.html

You might have some defense in the statute of limitations (the fact that your corporation has been inactive for years), but whether this is enough to get the action against you dismissed is a question mark. As I said in your other thread, although there is a statute of limitations for the filing of infringement suits (3 years), the limitation depends on when the infringement was discovered. But, if the infringement was not discovered when the material was first infringed, the delay in discovering the infringement and filing suit must be a reasonable (understandable) delay.

Good luck.

 

[quincy]

tony101010, I generally do not respond to private messages from posters. If you have additional questions to ask about your infringement suit, you can add them here or to your other thread (preferably here, since this is your most recent thread).

You asked in one of your private messages about "willful infringement."

Willful infringement is the intentional infringement of a copyrighted work - a knowledge that the work is rights-protected, that your use infringes on the rights of the copyright holder, and you use the copyrighted work despite this knowledge.

If the copyrighted work has been federally registered (registered with the US Copyright Office), a copyright holder is eligible to collect statutory damages. Statutory damages can be awarded if actual damages (profits/losses) cannot be proved, which is the case in many copyright cases. Statutory damages awarded a registered copyright holder against an infringer can be between $750 to $30,000 per infringed work, or as little as $200 for innocent infringement (this at the judge's discretion). Damages awarded against a willful infringer can be as high as $150,000 per infringed work.

Again, if you have additional questions, please ask them here. Thanks.