Does hiring attorney after being sued slow down anything.

[optimistic1]

I never hired an attorney, now I need one, but I am not sure if they can process the petition fast enough to beat a judgement. Does hiring one slow down anything at all? Im sure it doesnt, but I am wondering.

Has anyone here hired one after being sued, and they filed an answer for you to stall the process?

Weighing my options now, I have all paperwork ready to go so its up to them on how fast, I remember reading about rush filing fees and such, not sure if I have the cash to pay extra, I do to file an answer though.

[BKDefender]

optimistic - if you're about to file bankruptcy, just call the plaintiff's attorney and tell them you are about to. If you hire a bankruptcy attorney, have that attorney send a letter of representation stating that you have hired them to prepare and file your bankruptcy. When I do that, I also tell the plaintiff's/creditor's attorney that they're free to continue spending their time and their client's money to pursue a judgment that will be null and void as soon as I file BK. They usually withdraw any motions, vacate any hearings, and stop prosecuting the case for a few weeks. If you don't file by then, they may start back up though.

--William

[backtoschool]

I never hired an attorney, now I need one, but I am not sure if they can process the petition fast enough to beat a judgement. Does hiring one slow down anything at all? Im sure it doesnt, but I am wondering.

Has anyone here hired one after being sued, and they filed an answer for you to stall the process?

Weighing my options now, I have all paperwork ready to go so its up to them on how fast, I remember reading about rush filing fees and such, not sure if I have the cash to pay extra, I do to file an answer though.

It's a matter of timing of course. If you are planning on filing in the next 60 days or so, you probably could drag out the lawsuit process enough to file before your creditor wins a judgement. Anything more than that though is less certain.

If you answer your summons, that should buy you 30 days or so. If you answer your summons by requesting debt validation then that should buy you a couple of weeks to get the debt validation and then another 30 days or so for you to respond to that. At some point though, you are going to run out of valid responses and the court date will go forward.

[optimistic1]

optimistic - if you're about to file bankruptcy, just call the plaintiff's attorney and tell them you are about to. If you hire a bankruptcy attorney, have that attorney send a letter of representation stating that you have hired them to prepare and file your bankruptcy. When I do that, I also tell the plaintiff's/creditor's attorney that they're free to continue spending their time and their client's money to pursue a judgment that will be null and void as soon as I file BK. They usually withdraw any motions, vacate any hearings, and stop prosecuting the case for a few weeks. If you don't file by then, they may start back up though.

--William

Good technique, am I correct in guessing that all that needs filed is the petition itself, but all the legal doc's like bank statements, tax returns and such can be filed at a later date but prior to discharge? And would a filing of a bankruptcy stop the original lawsuit against the non-filing spouse, I live in a community property state. I am guessing that after the bankruptcy is processed, and it gets discharged, they can then go after the non-filing.

The local court told me if I file an answer it will get backed up for a year, of course the plaintiffs attorney could file the summary, I still think it would buy me more time.

How do I serve the plaintiff? I pay a process server? Or can I send it by certified mail?