My Court Case... The results

AirBaker

AirBaker

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AirBaker
As posted a while back, my wife and I had to go back to court for an appeal on our original case.

At our wedding, we had a few issues with our DJ that sparked several letters back and fourth and finally us wishing to invoke his 100% satisfaction guarantee.

To make the long story short, he said no.

We went to small claims and presented our case, which we won and his counter claim was denied. At that point, he appealed. Apparently, in CA a small claims appeal can then be argued by a lawyer. We decided against it, but he showed up with his.

Today we finally have the verdict which was the same as the first, but with an additional 20% awarded to us.

Through all of the various court costs, lawyer fees ($200 estimated), and our judgment, he is only left with roughly $100 out of the $935 we paid him originally. Since we had only asked for 1/2 back prior to court, it appears to have been a bad decision on his part.

The best part was being able to present our case and emerge victoriously.... Twice. :)

Thanks again to the various advice from folks here!
 
Rule #1 that your opponent didn't learn: "Sometimes it is better to settle and cut your losses".

Unfortunatly, a lot of companies practice that even when they have good cases.
 
Seems the best thing is that you managed to face his lawyer without your own and still win...nothing against lawyers (I was this close to becoming one myself once but decided to have more fun doing what I do now instead) but that has to be satisfying. Sometimes the system works.
 
Our biggest complaint was that we never got an appology. I've been working in a customer facing positions for a while now. We don't blame the customer for things not going right. ;)
 
Congrats and sometimes the law gods smile upon you. Hope he pays the money now. Still waiting for the 6 grand from my ex tenent.
 
Congrats, especially on the part about not using a lawyer. :)
 
Congratulations! Must feel good to have successfully represented yourself against a lawyer. I'd be afraid the lawyer would tie you in circles with legalese.

Good on ya!
 
It's good to hear that you won! It's great to hear that you won without an attorney! I like the idea that the "simple man" can actually navigate the legal system and emerge victorious on the other side.

Way to go!

--Matt
 
Ahh Chris. Thats great news. I was a bit concerned for the outcome and super glad it worked this way. Winning against an attorney is not necessarliy a big mystery when you have the facts on your side. I've seen it happen plenty of times. It usually the procedure that gets ya tied up in knots not so much the factual part. Sounds like you had a good judge and the legal system did exactly what it was supposed to do.

FWIW I find that a good number of cases would never be filed or would be settled early for less if the offending party just said " I'm sorry"

Congrats again.
 
AdamZ said:
FWIW I find that a good number of cases would never be filed or would be settled early for less if the offending party just said " I'm sorry"
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So sad. But our insurance companies tell us exactly the opposite advice.
I would like to know what Dr. Bruce's insurance attorneys (for physicians in general) have told them to say besides 'nothing'.
 
These guys get $935 for playing records?

Where do I sign up?
 
That's excellent news!

Now that the case is, I guess, finally settled - mind entertaining my legal rubbernecking and filling in on the details? I reviewed the other thread where you mentioned going to court but couldn't find the details on what actually happened to trigger the case... :)
 
wesleyj said:
I have a friend that does DJ work, usually works 3 or 4 time a week, made over a hundred grand last year,
Click to expand...
Have you listened to today's dance music? He/She earned it. :D
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
So sad. But our insurance companies tell us exactly the opposite advice.
I would like to know what Dr. Bruce's insurance attorneys (for physicians in general) have told them to say besides 'nothing'.
Click to expand...

Dave. You have hit the nail squarely on the head. A few short stories:

My Friend is a Physcian who was sued for Malpractice. He wanted to settle early in the litigation b/c he felt it could be argued that he had some responsibility, ( although as an attorney I felt he didn't have as much as he thought). Insurance co. said no way we don't care how responsible you are were gone to trial. Now watch them get wacked.

They are doing a study in some states that involve the Hospital or Doc meeting with the family or patient and accepting responsibility, apologizing and offering reasonable compensation. ( Sorry I can't remember where it is possibly Kentucky but not sure) Guess what . They are settling wrongful death suits for under 100K.

There will always be greedy folks out there. But it is amazing the power that the two words " I'm Sorry" have.
 
Greebo said:
That's excellent news!

Now that the case is, I guess, finally settled - mind entertaining my legal rubbernecking and filling in on the details? I reviewed the other thread where you mentioned going to court but couldn't find the details on what actually happened to trigger the case... :)
Click to expand...

Well, basically we had met several times with the DJ prior to our wedding. We went over what song was to be played when and so on. I think he got 2 of the songs right. :) The bridal party names were screwed up, and they weren't hard to say or spell. We wanted an 'anniversary dance' instead of the bouqet toss, but that got mangled. It went on and on. To a guest, it would have looked only disorganized, but to those that were paying the bill it was a mess. :)

I'm sure I mentioned it before, we tried to get ahold of him several times after the wedding and when he finally responed it was "I did the best I could given the situation and what happened was beyond my control."

And to answer the $935 question, he was the 'discount' one. I guess you get what you pay for. In hind sight, he mentioned how a Bride wasn't happy and wanted a refund to which he replied NO. We really felt like fools looking back on it all. :)
 
AdamZ said:
Ahh Chris. Thats great news. I was a bit concerned for the outcome and super glad it worked this way. Winning against an attorney is not necessarliy a big mystery when you have the facts on your side. I've seen it happen plenty of times. It usually the procedure that gets ya tied up in knots not so much the factual part. Sounds like you had a good judge and the legal system did exactly what it was supposed to do.

FWIW I find that a good number of cases would never be filed or would be settled early for less if the offending party just said " I'm sorry"

Congrats again.
Click to expand...

I guess we did have a little help from others. My wife helps find services for kids with disabilities. In one of her families, both parents are lawyers who fedex'ed a package of contract law to us.

But thanks Adam. :)

Another helpful hint: When you're arguing your case as the DJ for a wedding, do not play the "Women just get upset over nothing" card with a female judge.
 
AirBaker said:
Well, basically we had met several times with the DJ prior to our wedding. We went over what song was to be played when and so on. I think he got 2 of the songs right. :) The bridal party names were screwed up, and they weren't hard to say or spell. We wanted an 'anniversary dance' instead of the bouqet toss, but that got mangled. It went on and on. To a guest, it would have looked only disorganized, but to those that were paying the bill it was a mess. :)

I'm sure I mentioned it before, we tried to get ahold of him several times after the wedding and when he finally responed it was "I did the best I could given the situation and what happened was beyond my control."

And to answer the $935 question, he was the 'discount' one. I guess you get what you pay for. In hind sight, he mentioned how a Bride wasn't happy and wanted a refund to which he replied NO. We really felt like fools looking back on it all. :)
Click to expand...


"Talent".

Sigh.
 
AirBaker said:
Another helpful hint: When you're arguing your case as the DJ for a wedding, do not play the "Women just get upset over nothing" card with a female judge.
Click to expand...

Doh!:hairraise:
 
A new client had just come in to see a famous lawyer.

"Can you tell me how much you charge?", said the client.

"Of course", the lawyer replied, "I charge $200 to answer three questions!"

"Well that's a bit steep, isn't it?"

"Yes it is", said the lawyer, "And what's your third question?"

****
***

How many lawyers does it take to change a light bulb?

Fifty four. Eight to argue, one to get a continuance, one to object, one to demur, two to research precedents, one to dictate a letter, one to stipulate, five to turn in their time cards, one to depose, one to write interrogatories, two to settle, one to order a secretary to change the bulb, and twenty-eight to bill for professional services.
 
Two that have been appearing on billboards around town recently:

Why don't sharks attack lawyers? Professional courtesy.

How many lawyer jokes are there? Just two, the rest are true!

The billboards are for a law firm, the other half of the billboard says "It's funny until you need one!"
 
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