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Being sued for hospital bill

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tmtids

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Tennessee

I have a sizable hospital bill from 2/2001. An attorney filed a lawsuit against me on 8/2007.
I went to court and the lawyer pulled me aside and tried to get me to setup a payment plan. I don't even believe the balance of the bill is correct. So, I denied the payment option. They set a trial date.

Before the trial date I did some research and found that the 6 year statute of limitations had expired. So, I didn't feel I needed an attorney to argue that at trial. When I went to trial there was a judge who was sitting in for a sick judge. He called my name and case number and asked me if I had an attorney. I told him "no" and that I wanted the case dismissed due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. He said I had a legal argument and that he was going to reset the trial date and let the original judge hear it.

So, I showed up for that 2 weeks later with the same defense. But, before the trial the lawyer approached me and said that they were going to file a non-suit and that I was free to go.

What is a non-suit and what are my options?
 


mlane58

Senior Member
a nonsuit is a motion taken by the plaintiff to release one or more of the defendants from liability.
 

Indiana Filer

Senior Member
What is the name of your state? Tennessee


So, I showed up for that 2 weeks later with the same defense. But, before the trial the lawyer approached me and said that they were going to file a non-suit and that I was free to go.

What is a non-suit and what are my options?


Filing a "non-suit" means that they are going to file a document with the Court to ask that the suit be dropped. They are basically admitting that you are right and the SOL is expired, and that they realize they would (probably) lose.

Good job!
 

Dandy Don

Senior Member
Was the attorney an attorney representing the hospital or representing a debt collection agency perhaps who acquired the debt from the hospital?

At any time did the attorney produce evidence of the amount you owed, such as a printout or copy of the hospital bill?

What is your reasoning for questioning the correctness of the amount they were asking for?
 
Ignore Dandy Dan's questions - they are irrelevant.

Make sure the Non-suit actually got filed with the court (go look at the court file). It should have been a "non-suit with prejudice", which means they can't ever sue you again for the same debt. You might want to get a certified copy while you are there for future use.

Your experience highlights what senior members here post all the time:

You stayed on top of the proceedings, you didn't miss a court date, and you knew what legal defenses were available and articulated them when you needed to.

Good job!
 

tmtids

Junior Member
Ignore Dandy Dan's questions - they are irrelevant.

Make sure the Non-suit actually got filed with the court (go look at the court file). It should have been a "non-suit with prejudice", which means they can't ever sue you again for the same debt. You might want to get a certified copy while you are there for future use.

Your experience highlights what senior members here post all the time:

You stayed on top of the proceedings, you didn't miss a court date, and you knew what legal defenses were available and articulated them when you needed to.

Good job!
Thanks for your help everyone! You all have helped confirm what I thought to be true. I checked out the status of my case online. It states that it was a voluntary non-suit at Plaintiff's cost.

So, I'm assuming that the case is essentially dismissed. But, will the lawyer try to do anything else? I mean, what are his options now? Will he most likely drop this? By the way...the lawyer was representing the hospital. This was never turned over to collections.
 
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