Hammer Falls

The Unfair Dept Collection Practices Act is a good law. It keeps bill collectors from hounding and harassing people. The kicker in it is that a prevailing plaintiff can get the other side to pay his attorney’s fees.

The downside of it is that UDCPA mills can churn out bad lawsuits and count on settling. Because a small debt-collection shop can’t afford to litigate the case, the payout is (usually) modest, and the prospect of paying for the other side’s attorney’s fees if you lose is daunting.

A friend of ours got sued in a UDCPA case. He’s a decent Joe. And the claim that his company made frequent, harassing phone calls is nonsense. His phone records show only two calls to the plaintiff.

But as strong as our defense is, our defense is going nowhere. Our friend left the company to his business partner and went to another company. And the partner left the state. We haven’t been able to contact him.

In the meantime, the attorneys for the other side have been calling us. We had to make a joint report with him about the case to give to the judge. But that’s been difficult because we have had no contact with our client. We lacked the helpful participation of our client.

To make matters worse, the other side submitted a document to the judge that said that we have shirked our responsibilities. That’s not true. This accusation is the kind of thing lawyers do – lie to the judge to try to make the other side look bad. This happens all the time now, unlike, say, 30 years ago.

So I went to court Monday not quite knowing if things were going to go to Hell.

They did.

For the other side.

Because the judge apparently knows the other side. And she doesn’t seem to have a high opinion of them.

The judge grilled the other lawyer about the merits of his case. And he couldn’t give satisfactory answers. He ended up looking like an unprepared boob.

The hearing was continued to another day to bring in the lead trial counsel, who might be able to give better answers. Local rules required him to be present at Monday’s hearing.  So the judge wants him to explain why she shouldn't punish him with a fine for not being there in the first place.

I try not to gloat when the other side get’s hammered. It’s bad to gloat. But, damn if it isn’t hard to restrain myself. Because what happened to the other side is what they intended to happen to us.

So it was a good day in court.