Thursday, April 14, 2011

TNJ........... So What's This?



Part One

So there it was staring up at me, another one of those envelopes from BG and WF's attorney. Dave had come straight to me when he'd retrieved this thing from the mailbox. Even though it's addressed to both of us, he would never think of opening it. This thing was mine to deal with....... whatever it was.

Dread filled my heart as I stared at the manila envelope in my hand. It was easier to look at it and speculate than open the thing. So much of my heart was wrapped up in this case, anything new from them felt like an assault on my very being. No matter how prepared I was, their denials and counterclaims felt like a huge burden weighing heavily upon me.

I had an idea in my mind at where I was in this process. I figured right from the start I was going to have to put enough pressure on WF for her to realize it was going to cost her to get my horse. Only if she knew she really had to pay what the horse was worth, would she back off. This had been, after all, about getting something for nothing, or nothing to her anyway. BG has been the one doing the work, what work there was done.

To my way of thinking, I had not done that yet. I expected we would not reach that point until they had my discovery in their hands. Only when they knew I was prepared and really had a case I could prove would they do the right thing. I figured once their attorney got the chance to look over all of the material, that my attorney was now studying, would she understand the magnitude of this case. Then I expected things would change, but not until then.

That left this envelope screaming at me. It must be their discovery requests, or maybe something resulting from that phone conference with the judge which would still be discovery related. I could deal with that. I just didn't want anymore curve balls thrown my way.

I took a deep breath, braced myself and opened the envelope. I was not prepared for what I read. "I write to propose an immediate settlement of all claims outstanding in the above case."

Scanning down the page I read the expected disclaimer "While my clients continue to dispute that you are entitled to the horse, and you have admitted to receiving the boxer puppy and several thousand dollars worth of services from BG for which my clients will receive nothing if they give the horse back to you, they desire an amicable resolution rather than protracted litigation.

While my clients are confident they would succeed in their claims and defenses, I assume you have the same confidence in your position. We will most likely have to go to trail to resolve the outstanding issues and there is risk to all parties in proceeding further. For you, as plaintiffs, if my clients succeed, they have requested their attorney's fees.

I understand you claim that you have been damaged monetarily, but return of the horse should be more than sufficient as a compromise of that claim.

Please give this settlement proposal your immediate consideration and communicate your acceptance, or rejection, by phone to myself, at ---, or in writing to my office on or before close of business on September 7, 2010 After that time my clients will have to pursue their own discovery requests, responding to yours, and additional costs will be incurred which will of course be avoided if the case settles........"

There it was including all the usual BS. I can't even tell you how many buttons all that manipulative bunk pushed for me. If they wanted me to relax, all they did was fire me up. As long as they continued to take no responsibility for their actions, I wasn't buying anything they had to say.

Then there was that deadline, just one more manipulation. The letter arrived late Friday afternoon and the deadline was for the following Tuesday. It didn't even dawn on me until Sunday that Monday was a holiday and they had given me exactly ONE business day to respond. How's that for sincere and amicable?

To be continued................

A Little Weekend Stewing...

This is another picture of Reflection. Looking at it, I should probably be running some kind of a contest for a caption. Maybe I will save that for another day.

Visit Blog Village and vote daily for this blog Here They are now measuring the rankings by votes out, so if you find my blog on the site, please click that link too to improve my rankings. TY

16 comments:

  1. Oh my god I love the picture! Too too cute! I agree that deserves a caption. What a character, and he's looking right at you too.

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  2. I thought this was where the story was. Boy I bet you were mad. I was seeing red just reading what you posted! Oh boy, cannot wait til tomorrow!

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  3. It does sound like they were putting the pressure on big time with only one day to respond. I guess we'll see how you responded soon enough.

    He's adorable. A caption contest would be fun.

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  4. So, were they asking for a settlement where they give back Storm and you give back the pup plus pay for services? I can see why you wouldn't do that.

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  5. Holy crap! One day???? I sooo cannot wait to read the next instalment. Even knowing where Storm is now I still want to read more!!

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  6. Only the attorneys win... :/

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  7. One day? It would be so tempting to send a piece of scratch paper that said, "Are you out of your -blanking- mind? Take a wild guess."

    I'm sure there isn't a clause in the law books for that particular response. :/

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  8. Great picture, what a cute little foal!!

    I bet it was some sort of reassurance to receive that envelope and offer. To me it says that BG, WF and their attorney were not feeling very confident in their case. If they were, they probably would have been proceeding full steam ahead!

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  9. Hmm seems to me they were getting worried you might actually have a case!

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  10. I just wanted to say that your determination in these stories is inspirational to me. I'm at a point in my problems where I may need to hire a lawyer to get me past the bottleneck at the coroner's office. I always said that if I could make it through my life without having to be involved in any lawsuits, I'd consider that a huge accomplishment. My goal is always to avoid headaches, but sometimes you have to stand up for your rights.

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  11. I stick my tongue out when I'm concentrating too ;)

    As far as I know , with my limited knowledge, lawyers don't want to settle on cases they know they can win. So that says something, yet her offer was not much more than a slap in the face. Very odd.

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  12. Lawyers will always go for fees. Right before they lose. Hope I'm guessing right.

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  13. @Amy: I've read a few court documents where there were various phrases that worked out to "Are you out of your freaking mind?"

    My most recent favorite was a motion to dismiss a case that started with "This is a lawsuit by a frustrated spammer to attempt to force Defendant Yahoo! Inc. (“Yahoo!”) to deliver millions of Plaintiff’s mass marketing emails each day to Yahoo! customers..."

    It then ended with "For the reasons stated above, Plaintiff’s Complaint should be dismissed in its entirety without leave to amend. Amendment would be futile in this case."

    Yeah, that's the lawyerly equivalent of "Are you out of your freaking mind?"

    (The judge granted the motion, but did allow for amendment.)

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  14. I have to admit, I could sense the amount of tension just having the envelope in hand, the relief of reading the proposed settlement offer and the feeling of being ticked off at what it all meant. The nerve of some people!

    Sounds like the attorney got a good look at everything and knew exactly where she stood. Shaky ground at best.

    One day to respond? Tell me that wasn't planned...

    So what if they asked for attorneys fees? Don't most people?

    Somehow the attorney didn't place any value in the time or effort you had put into all of this or into the agreement with getting the horses worked.

    How nice of them for that?
    *in my most sarcastic voice ever*

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  15. Nicole, I was thinking maybe it would be good for a coffee mug pic or something. LOL

    The manipulations really p*ss me off, that's for sure.

    Arlene, stewing about it over the weekend didn't help either.

    I will have to see what I can come up with for that contest. It would be fun to see people's interpretations.

    Linda, they had already offered to return the puppy in exchange for the horse. I'd turned that down months before. Sure wouldn't have gone for that AND paying them.

    fern, it was an interesting process for sure.

    Beth, I do think that's the case sometimes. I was definitely ahead of the game with everything I'd done myself.

    Amy, I would love to have just said, "Take a flying leap!" I know thinking it was good for me. LOL

    JJ, I think you're right. They wouldn't have been wanting to settle if they felt confident.

    Crystal, that's probably true but it still seems strange to me they would think they could get away with this scam in the first place.

    NuzzMuzz, I'm so sorry you're having to deal with that now. The loss is hard enough without all the legal crap.

    I've spent a good part of my life avoiding the headaches. I finally learned that line of thinking was really costing me. Standing up for myself has been harder for definitely more satisfying.

    smazourek, me too, sometimes. LOL

    I doubt that's how they saw it as a slap in the face. She certainly tried to paint it like I had everything to gain while they got nothing. Funny how they kept forgetting when you default on a contract, that's what happens.

    Breathe, I've heard so many different things about lawyers, I couldn't tell you for sure but I do think this was because they didn't want to go to court.

    laura, I think her response to my request for verified admissions was a form of "are you out of your freaking mind" at least in her eyes.

    Boy, that was some lawsuit. Just goes to show how far out there some people really are.

    CNJ, I do think this was about shaky ground and she was sure trying to bully me into it. Funny thing was I didn't feel pressured by that stuff. All that one day did was make me mad. The last thing they should want is to make me mad.

    As for "nice" that's what I think about "amicable" what a farse! I've been expecting you to bend over so I can screw you but since you insist on resisting, I'll be a nice guy and quit. WTF

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  16. I think they were scared you would win, and big time! I think they thought they would "settle" with you and be safe from paying any "damages". Can't wait to read more!

    I just adore all the baby pics!!!

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