What is a notice of Trial/Hearing.. Mann Bracken

[gyno]

I will 100%

[gyno]

To those interested, here is what happened....I still don't understand completely what happened maybe someone can enlighten me..

I arrived there on time and was waiting outside the courtroom with about 30-40 other people half of them were lawyers.. There was a sheet in front of the door with all the days cases, I looked at the paper and saw my case on there. So anyway they open the door and we all signed in with the clerk and lawyers were calling out names and taking people outside for settlement discussions, no one ever approached me or called my name.. .

So soon after the judge came in and the first few cases were conference calls with lawyers of Banks/Insurance Co's, they were on the phone and all the calls were very brief, lasting probably about 15 secs each. Then he started calling names and was hearing cases, now we get to the part I wasn't expecting and still do not understand, after about 4 cases some guy I will label him "this guy" came forward I think he was some kind of lawyer anyway he was answering questions and giving the judge brief updates on many, many different cases. At first I thought he was the lawyer for Citibank, cause the first 5 cases Citibank was the plantiff but then he was discussing cases that had other plantiffs, after about 25 mentioned cases, my case and name came up (Me vs Discover Bank) and "this guy simply said dismissal without prejudice. I didn't know what happened, so I went up to the clerk and he said my case was dismissed and for me to go home, there was nothing left for me to do..

So after hearing me out, what happened?? Who was "this guy" how come he was in charge of telling the judge about a ton of cases???

Well anyway I didn't have to be there obviously but it was good to hear the immediate decision on today's proceedings.

I know that dismissal w/o prejudice means I'm not out of the woods yet, but what happened today was a success, right?

[HHM]

This is what happens when people actually make a little effort to defend the lawsuit. When the firm is simply going for defaults, the case will often be dismissed, by that firm, at the pre-trial conference.

[OHBOY]

'gyno': hmmm... while I too ( of course, because this is 'knownothing'...)don't know what happened and who this 'guy' was, I do think it sounds as though you had a very good outcome ! Congratulations! and.... from my perspective...if somebody 'dismisses a case without prejudice' does that not mean that you are d-o-n-e with that case ?...meaning Discover Card discovered that they lost ?

[treehugger1]

Mann Bracken is not going to be paying their service attorney firms due to the BK filing of Axiant. So, attornies under MB around the US will be closing cases since they won't get paid. A friend of mine just received a letter in the mail that the MB attorney suing him on Discover's behalf has moved the court to withdraw as an attorney for his Discover case. The dismisal without prejudice will potentially lead to Discover hiring a new legal firm/entity to deal with their suits. On the other hand, this process could take a long, long time before Discover can find enough attorneys to take on all of their debt cases.

I believe NCO might pick up Axiant, and I think we can all expect to see MB return to business in the future. However, their credibility (any that they had)has to be shattered.

In my friends case, the MB attorneys simply have moved the court to remove themselves as the attorney for the plaintiff. My advice to him is to immediately file a motion to dismiss the suit WITH prejudice. I suggested he serve the motion (certified mail) on the MB attorney firm, discover, and the local arbitrator the case was assigned to. I have no idea if this would work, but I would give it a try. I'm guessing the judge would assign a hearing date to consider the motion for dismisal and the only one who would show up would be my friend. This entire cluster-screw is not going to be good for Discover or any creditor caught up in the Axiant-MB issue. Ah, too freakin bad...

Just my opinions.

[gyno]

This is what happens when people actually make a little effort to defend the lawsuit. When the firm is simply going for defaults, the case will often be dismissed, by that firm, at the pre-trial conference.

EXACTLY, its crazy to ignore it.. I heard 90% of summons are ignored, Im not gonna lie I was going to ignore it, until I read this site and got good advice.

[gyno]

'gyno': hmmm... while I too ( of course, because this is 'knownothing'...)don't know what happened and who this 'guy' was, I do think it sounds as though you had a very good outcome ! Congratulations! and.... from my perspective...if somebody 'dismisses a case without prejudice' does that not mean that you are d-o-n-e with that case ?...meaning Discover Card discovered that they lost ?

They can still open a case against me I understand, not out of the woods yet.

[gyno]

Mann Bracken is not going to be paying their service attorney firms due to the BK filing of Axiant. So, attornies under MB around the US will be closing cases since they won't get paid. A friend of mine just received a letter in the mail that the MB attorney suing him on Discover's behalf has moved the court to withdraw as an attorney for his Discover case. The dismisal without prejudice will potentially lead to Discover hiring a new legal firm/entity to deal with their suits. On the other hand, this process could take a long, long time before Discover can find enough attorneys to take on all of their debt cases.

I believe NCO might pick up Axiant, and I think we can all expect to see MB return to business in the future. However, their credibility (any that they had)has to be shattered.

In my friends case, the MB attorneys simply have moved the court to remove themselves as the attorney for the plaintiff. My advice to him is to immediately file a motion to dismiss the suit WITH prejudice. I suggested he serve the motion (certified mail) on the MB attorney firm, discover, and the local arbitrator the case was assigned to. I have no idea if this would work, but I would give it a try. I'm guessing the judge would assign a hearing date to consider the motion for dismisal and the only one who would show up would be my friend. This entire cluster-screw is not going to be good for Discover or any creditor caught up in the Axiant-MB issue. Ah, too freakin bad...

Just my opinions.

If Discover does hire a new legal firm, what time frame should I expect being sued again, and will they have to send me another summons""?

Anyone know?

[gyno]

Does anyone know who "that guy" was? He obviously wasn't with Mann Bracken, how come he was able to tell the judge my case was dismissed?

Who was he? He was talking about a ton of cases, did MB tell him to say that? Im confused.

[treehugger1]

In my state, once the dismissal is signed by the judge, a new case must be started. It is my understanding that you would have to be served again. As to the timing, there is no way to know. The case will probably be reviewed by Discover and a decision rendered. I would guess that this will take some time. Discover probably has/had 1000's of cases being tried by MB service attorneys. I doubt you replace all of these overnight.

[flyinbroke]

Well, I checked out small claims court in my county. Mann Bracken handles GE Money a lot; at least this is the name on the 25 dollar check to file suit. Almost all the judgments were defaults; it would appear the summons went unanswered in most of them. Those that were dismissed showed up. They don't expect you to show up and fight it; I suspect in many cases they are not really prepared to fight at all. They base things on intimidation and fear and showing up means you are neither intimidated or afraid (even if you are.) They bank on people paying over the phone via abuse and, if not and they have to go to court, they bank on people not responding and not showing up.

[treehugger1]

Gyno, what do you mean "that guy?" You said Discover had sued you. MB is just the legal firm representing them. How do you know he wasn't working for Mann Bracken? If your case was dismissed and the clerk acknowledged so, then obviously he was an attorney working for MB.

[walkthaplank]

He was likely just an appearance attorney that a few different law firms hire to show up and handle the day's cases. He isn't there to litigate, he just is there to ask for default judgments, continuances or dismissals. I'm sure he had his marching orders for the day and any MB cases where the defendant actually showed up he was going to ask for dismissal w/o prejudice.

[gyno]

He was likely just an appearance attorney that a few different law firms hire to show up and handle the day's cases. He isn't there to litigate, he just is there to ask for default judgments, continuances or dismissals. I'm sure he had his marching orders for the day and any MB cases where the defendant actually showed up he was going to ask for dismissal w/o prejudice.

This makes a lot of sense.. I think you nailed it..

Any advice as to what to do from here?

[walkthaplank]

Wait until they pass your case off to another lawyer and go through the process again.