I’m currently in a labor dispute civil lawsuit and there will probably be a judgment against our side since we don’t have the money to continue to defend ourselves for another year against their attornies on our own, despite having done nothing wrong, and we can’t afford an attorney.

5 related QUESTIONS if you would please take the time to number your answers the same (thanks):

1. Current civil case for injuries/money owed. What happens to the case if I file Bankruptcy during the case? For example, does it "end" the case, does the case get "suspended" while/until the b/k is processed? Or does the case just continue simultaneously with the b/k processing?

2. Do I "have" to wait til the END of the civil case until after the official judgment (the actual amount has not yet been stated)…or can I file the b/k and STILL INCLUDE the case on our list of creditors even though there’s no official number yet (something like "amount pending")?

3. Ideally, I’d like the b/k filing to STOP the case itself so that I don’t have to continue wasting our time fighting it when I don’t have the resources. We’ve heard:

"If they haven’t gotten judgment against you, then your bankruptcy filing can and will stop the case.” Is this true or is this possible? For example what happens to discovery and subpoenas? Do they just continue?

3. Also, if I file b/k, will the opposing counsel still continue the case?

4. Is there any ADVANTAGE to filing b/k before the amount is entered in the judgment?

5. Is there some law that allows us to tell the judge "we do not have the money to continue to defend ourselves"…without the opposing party just being awarded whatever amount they state by default?

Please number your answers. No smart allics or "just get an attorney dumbey" answers. We can’t afford an attorney.

Technorati Tags: attornies, bankruptcy filing, civil case, civil lawsuit, creditors, discovery, judgment against, labor dispute, money, subpoenas, wasting our time

My husband and I were just awarded K in legal fees from an arbitration board of our county’s state bar because our family law attorney was completely inept. She never filed for Discovery from his ex wife but charged us for it, lost subpoenas and never filed them, forgot to tell my husband about a crucial court date so he was fined $ thousands in sanctions, ever provided a statement in 8 months, etc. So the arbitration board ruled overwhelmingly in our favor to get all fees paid to her returned. If she doesn’t appeal the decision in 30 days it’s binding.

She just sent us a backdated bill with ridiculous made up fees totalling more than the K, so we think she’s going to appeal and fight us into a legal malpractice lawsuit.

My question is, if we win a malpractice lawsuit against her and then she files bankruptcy, will she be exempt from ever returning any of our money or paying what we win from the lawsuit? Or would this be one of those exempt bills she has to pay??
We’re in CA but bankruptcy law is federal. I’m wondering if this would be looked at a the type of court fine that still has to be paid even if she files bankruptcy, like traffic tickets, child support, etc or would she be able to bankrupt everything and leave us out in the cold?
I’m afraid she’ll file for bankruptcy because she’s done it before and it’s been over 7 years so she can do it again. Our current lawyer (who’s very sharp) believes she isn’t paying us because she doesn’t have the money. She promised my husband back in July that she’d reimburse him the thousands he had to pay in sanctions for her error yet she never did.
Also, the CA State Bar is doing an investigation to go after he license now b/c she was so blatantly neglectful, it’s unbelievable, plus she lied under oath in the arbitration and the State Bar picked up on that from our transcripts that we submitted to them in a complaint. I’m afraid if the Bar revokes her license she’ll just file for bankruptcy and never pay us. She’s 65 so maybe she’ll retire.

Because of her inactions, the other side won everything and we have to pay over 0K in child support over the next 3 yrs plus my husband lost all contact with his daughter.

Technorati Tags: arbitration board, bankruptcy law, child support, discovery, family law attorney, lawyer, legal malpractice, malpractice lawsuit, money, s 65, sanctions, subpoenas, traffic, transcripts