Complicated situation - who to sue?

[SharePointGuy]

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

Hey all, thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

I am trying to figure out who to sue, and if there are any gotchas i need to be aware of.

Here are the parties invloved:

Me - the one that did the contract work
Person A - the guy that hired me
company A - LLC that person A created (is president and ceo of 1 person company).
company B - LLC that half of work was done for (person A is major player in this company, which is a LAW FIRM)
company C - LLC that other half of work was done for (person A is co-founder and investor in this company)

I was hired by Person A to do work for company B. My contract for hourly rates that i generated was signed by Person A and Company B. I signed an NDA with person A as an agent of company A. Person A does not dispute my work, but always comes up with a reason he doesnt have any money to pay his 7 grand invoice. The invoices i have sent have been sent to person A / Company A. The work was initially performed for Company B and then my work was transferred to Company C and additional work was performed.

Do I name all three companies and Person A in the lawsuit? Should i first send invoices to Company B and C even though they still go to the same Person A? Person A has avoided paying me saying that Company B owes Company A money and that he is probably going to bankrupt Company A.

Hopefully that all made sense.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

As a lawyer is involved gratuitously as a defendant, you should hire a business lawyer to pursue this.

 

[djconklin]

As a lawyer is involved gratuitously as a defendant, you should hire a business lawyer to pursue this.

Agreed. Typically, from what I have seen, your lawyer will sue ALL of the parties involved and then, assuming you win, the one with the deepest pockets (even if they were minimally involved) ends up paying.

 

[BigMouthWino]

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

Hey all, thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

I am trying to figure out who to sue, and if there are any gotchas i need to be aware of.

Here are the parties invloved:

Me - the one that did the contract work
Person A - the guy that hired me
company A - LLC that person A created (is president and ceo of 1 person company).
company B - LLC that half of work was done for (person A is major player in this company, which is a LAW FIRM)
company C - LLC that other half of work was done for (person A is co-founder and investor in this company)

I was hired by Person A to do work for company B. My contract for hourly rates that i generated was signed by Person A and Company B. I signed an NDA with person A as an agent of company A. Person A does not dispute my work, but always comes up with a reason he doesnt have any money to pay his 7 grand invoice. The invoices i have sent have been sent to person A / Company A. The work was initially performed for Company B and then my work was transferred to Company C and additional work was performed.

Do I name all three companies and Person A in the lawsuit? Should i first send invoices to Company B and C even though they still go to the same Person A? Person A has avoided paying me saying that Company B owes Company A money and that he is probably going to bankrupt Company A.

Hopefully that all made sense.

One option that you have available to you prior to paying out attorneys fees is to retain a commercial collection agency to pursue your unpaid invoices. They will look over all of your invoices, contracts and documentation and pursue all the parties they believe to be liable to you. Depending on the size of your invoices you can expect to pay between 17-25% of whatever they recover; however, you have no upfront out of pocket expenses and if they don't recover your money you don't have to pay them anything.

If they are unable to collect without litigation they will also have attorneys they work with that you won't have to pay on an hourly basis. They will generally require you to pay the court costs (filing fees, sever fees, etc.) and will raise their contingent rate to 50% of whatever is recovered, again if they recover nothing you are only out your court costs.

You can also hire your own lawyer who will charge you somewhere between $150-250 an hour regardless of whether or not he produces a result for you.

 

[latigo]

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

Hey all, thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

I am trying to figure out who to sue, and if there are any gotchas i need to be aware of.

Here are the parties invloved:

Me - the one that did the contract work
Person A - the guy that hired me
company A - LLC that person A created (is president and ceo of 1 person company).
company B - LLC that half of work was done for (person A is major player in this company, which is a LAW FIRM)
company C - LLC that other half of work was done for (person A is co-founder and investor in this company)

I was hired by Person A to do work for company B. My contract for hourly rates that i generated was signed by Person A and Company B. I signed an NDA with person A as an agent of company A. Person A does not dispute my work, but always comes up with a reason he doesnt have any money to pay his 7 grand invoice. The invoices i have sent have been sent to person A / Company A. The work was initially performed for Company B and then my work was transferred to Company C and additional work was performed.

Do I name all three companies and Person A in the lawsuit? Should i first send invoices to Company B and C even though they still go to the same Person A? Person A has avoided paying me saying that Company B owes Company A money and that he is probably going to bankrupt Company A.

Hopefully that all made sense.

For starters Limited Liability Companies do not have stockholders, directors, officers, CEOs nor investors, per se.

What LLCs do have are one or more members and one or more managers, but you won’t find the designation “major player” in any of the various state Limited Liability Company Acts or any case law involving these legal entities.
_______________________

And for the sake of “gotchas”, the first that comes to mind is to ask how you intended to hold the individual identified to us as “Person A” in your anticipated lawsuit in view of the following:

(1) Section 33-44-303 of South Carolina’s the Uniform Limited Liability Company Act of l966 that affords members and managers qualified immunity from the debts of the LLC; and the fact that:

(2) Person A is obviously a member and/or manager of all three of the LLCs?
__________________________

What you need to do is to hire an attorney to keep you from self-destructing.

SECTION 33-44-303. Liability of members and managers.

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (c), the debts, obligations, and liabilities of a limited liability company, whether arising in contract, tort, or otherwise, are solely the debts, obligations, and liabilities of the company. A member or manager is not personally liable for a debt, obligation, or liability of the company solely by reason of being or acting as a member or manager.

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