rant follows below. this is what the other, volunteer, attorney friend said. if you have a klew, is our attorney friend accurate? i don't know anymore. i don't know who to trust.
------------------------------ Ask Blanketty and Blank:
1) Why do you need or want an extension if you have not received a summons that requires you to answer the complaint. What deadline is he proposing to get extended.
2) Why does your acknowledgement of service of the Notice of Hearing which didn't happen require you to do anything if you have not received a summons or the original complaint.
3) Why do you want to be in federal court. What's the advantage? What's the expense? Why in hell would you want to "confess" personal jurisdiction by filing anything when you haven't received a summons.
4) Why isn't it unethical to "serve" an amended complaint, application for TRO, and notice of hearing, without even attempting to serve a summons and the original complaint. Why isn't it unethical to demand that you file an answer to the amended complaint and a consent to judgment, with opposing counsel instead of the court, in a case in which you have not been served.
5) Why shouldn't we just ignore this guy until we're subject to the court's jurisdiction after service of a summons; and then tell him that he has 48 hours to dismiss the case before you file a misconduct complaint with the bar association.
Make sure you tell Blank that he is NOT authorized to accept service.
Call me after you talk to him.
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From everything we understood, we were NOT served with a summons. It was an elaborate game to make it appear so, to spend the least amount of money to make sure we pulled the stuff down as quickly as possible, and scare the willies out of me so i'd turn tail and run because he knew we didn't have money. he's seen my house, my car. it's plainly evident.
So, we've talked to the circuit court people. Three different clerks there said: there is no summons on record. There's a return of service, signed by the process server, stating that he provided us with notice of an injunction hearing and an amended complaint. the complaint was originally filed pro se, then ammended by an the plaintiff's attorney. it was printed off the plaintiff's attorney's inkjet printer. there was NOTHING in anything we rec'd that said that there was any official representative of the court to whom we should answer. there was no state seal, no coutny seal, no nothing. there was a case number.
three different clerks said: thee's no summons. one even went so far as to say that it was the fishiest damn set of documents she'd ever seen. red flags all over.
What we rec'd was a _letter- from plaintiff's attorney stating that we had twenty days to answer _him_. not the court. him. We talked to our attorney who told us to ignore everything and wait. We did. We asked, "Shouldn't we just respond and get the ball rolling?" No, wait. It's evident that these peole don't want to go to court.
So, we didn't respond. The plaintiff's attorny writes to say that we had ten days to sign an agreement or they'd pursue damages in court. (What damages? you can't just claim X$, you have to PROVE it and then the defendant actually has to HAVE X$)
Why oh freakin why do these attorneys just rob you like this? if this attorney friend is right -- and I'll admit that FL law could be freaky -- why on earth are we being asked to incur the expense of removing this to Federal court?
I DON'T FREAKIN' GET IT? I realize people want to make a living. I realize that, like a graphic designer, an attorney is going to see what he can get out of the chumps, but why?? Why why why? We've said point blank: wa have no money. you have every last red cent we have. Do they not give a shit that I'm heading to the county to get food stamps next week? Do they not care that we have to hock anything we can possibly spare in order to live?
What is wrong with these people?
This is from the IP law guy who seems really great, is outraged by what has happened to us, and who's been privy to every document we've seen, including one mammoth encrypted file of evidence in our defense that we have in safe keeping in another freakin' country.
but i'm so confused. i don't feel as if i can trust any attorney. maybe our friend just isn't objective enough? Maybe I fell off the turnip truck, but why would _anyone_ be such a creep that they'd wring money out of us if it doesn't have to be that way. I understand what the florida attorney is saying, about removal to federal court (you're better off there, than locally), but it should have been done some time ago and now we're past the deadline. WTF didn't he inform of us of the pressing need to remove to fed court before -- sit down and freakin look at the documents we'd faxed him? he informed us of pressing need, we showed him the documents noting that, as we understood it, there was no summons and thus no court to answer to. we asked for _his_ interpretation. nothing happened. they proceeded as if we didn't have to respond to anything.
NOW, we are told differently. why couldn't this florida attorney get on the stick when it mattered? why is he trying to get an extension and file federally now?
i know no one knows the answer but if you know anyone at all who can help us find a florida attorney we can trust, one who will listen to our friend without getting his or her ego bent out of shape, someone who knows IP law... christ. we are so fucked it's not funny.
Anyway,