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Missed response date after being served

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maclaw

Junior Member
After a Dispute between another company and my company ( California ) I'm being sued . The Summons have been placed in frond of my door ( apartment / also workplace ) .
Unfortunately I have been misinformed , that if I'm not handed the court papers correctly, I don't have to respond .

Sind the 30 Days of notice to respond have been passed , I would like to know what my options are . Does somebody have a good advice?

I'm posting the thread here and oder Business because the as a defendant I'm named as follows :

Company name , a California Corporation ,
My name , an individual and does 1 through 10 inclusive .

The Contract was between my company and t foreign company ( Free Zone Establishment ) , Name of the Company owner , An Individual

My next Question is, can they even sue me as an individual , since the contract was between the two companies?
 


quincy

Senior Member
After a Dispute between another company and my company ( California ) I'm being sued . The Summons have been placed in frond of my door ( apartment / also workplace ) .
Unfortunately I have been misinformed , that if I'm not handed the court papers correctly, I don't have to respond .

Sind the 30 Days of notice to respond have been passed , I would like to know what my options are . Does somebody have a good advice?

I'm posting the thread here and oder Business because the as a defendant I'm named as follows :

Company name , a California Corporation ,
My name , an individual and does 1 through 10 inclusive .

The Contract was between my company and t foreign company ( Free Zone Establishment ) , Name of the Company owner , An Individual

My next Question is, can they even sue me as an individual , since the contract was between the two companies?
Please use this thread for all of your legal questions concerning this legal matter. Do not start another thread as it will only be deleted. Thanks.

My advice for you is to seek out the help of a good attorney in your area to help you handle the legal action filed against you. Your failure to respond in a timely fashion to the complaint has already added complications.


Here is a link to information on how to name defendants in a lawsuit:

https://www.sanmateocourt.org/court_divisions/small_claims/how_to_name_a_defendant.php
 
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FlyingRon

Senior Member
As stated, your best bet would be to immediately obtain counsel. They will almost certainly immediately file with the court to put things on hold until they can review the case and try to undo any thing that happened because you stuck your head in the sand rather than doing something about it in a timely fashion.

They certainly can sue you as an individual. Whether they will prevail or not depends on the circumstances. What is the nature of your company? Is it a corporation, LLC, sole proprietorship? What do they allege you did?
 

quincy

Senior Member
... What is the nature of your company? Is it a corporation, LLC, sole proprietorship? ...
maclaw said his company was a corporation. He did not say whether he is the corporate officer or the agent for service of his corporation.

What does seem clear from his post, however, is that maclaw is fumbling with the lawsuit at its start (although the foreign company may not know what it is doing either) and now requires the assistance of an attorney to untangle the mess.
 

latigo

Senior Member
After a Dispute between another company and my company ( California ) I'm being sued . The Summons have been placed in frond of my door ( apartment / also workplace ) .
Unfortunately I have been misinformed , that if I'm not handed the court papers correctly, I don't have to respond .

Sind the 30 Days of notice to respond have been passed , I would like to know what my options are . Does somebody have a good advice?

I'm posting the thread here and oder Business because the as a defendant I'm named as follows :

Company name , a California Corporation ,
My name , an individual and does 1 through 10 inclusive .

The Contract was between my company and t foreign company ( Free Zone Establishment ) , Name of the Company owner , An Individual

My next Question is, can they even sue me as an individual , since the contract was between the two companies?
Are we to understand that you acknowledge being served with process and yet have filed to file and serve a timely written response to the complaint?

In the first place I don't see that the service was effective. Not if all that occurred was the leaving of a copy of the process on your doorstep. There is a statutory means of effecting service of process other than personal service, but this didn't cut it. (See: California Rules of Civil Procedure Section 415.20)

But assuming that you are not a proper party defendant to the lawsuit simply because the subject contract was between the plaintiff corporation and "your company/corporation" as reason not to respond is abject foolishness!

True, you might successfully move to quash the return of service and/or set aside a default judgment. But it would be troublesome and costly. and the probabilities are there. Plus it would be putting off the inevitable as for as the court obtaining jurisdiction over your person.


_________________________

As far as you "thinking" that you are not vulnerable to the plaintiff's claim(s), please understand that there is more than one means to hold the principles in a corporation personally liable for the business obligations. And it would appear that the plaintiff is well aware of one or more.

You need to lay all of this before an expensive lawyer. Not on your laptop! Comprender?
 
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maclaw

Junior Member
- Thanks for the good advice so far! .. and I do understand , that soon or later, I will have to hire a lawyer if I want to fit this case. With the help of this Thread I'm just looking for the best step to take myself on Monday!?

- is meant by " To seek council " .. to hire a lawyer or is there another entity I can consult before an expansive lawyer ? The Court Papers say I could obtain legal services from www.lawhelpcalifornai.org but like I said, I'm trying to find out
what I can do myself on Monday in person by maybe going to the Court and file some kind of extension?

- I'm the president of the inc. ( s-corp) from the notice to defendant I can't determine if I'm being sued as corporation or individual :

Company name , a California Corporation ,
My name , an individual and does 1 through 10 inclusive .

The Contract was between my company and t foreign company ( Free Zone Establishment ) , Name of the Company owner , An Individual
 

quincy

Senior Member
... I'm just looking for the best step to take myself on Monday!? ...

... The Court Papers say I could obtain legal services from www.lawhelpcalifornai.org ...
The court papers state that you could obtain legal services from http://www.lawhelpcalifornia.org/.

A step toward legal assistance in your area appears to be the best step for you to take on Monday.

Good luck with the lawsuit, maclaw.
 

FlyingRon

Senior Member
I misread your quote of the lawsuit thought the first line was the company that is suing you.

They are suing BOTH the corporation and you personally. Since it appears that you might be hiding behind the corporation to shield your improper behavior, it is entirely appropriate. You can certainly make a case that you were only acting as an employee and not personally responsible for the unspecified acts. Of course the plaintiff will argue your corporation is a sham and you ARE personally responsible.
 

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