How to fight a bogus personal injury suit?
Last week I got served with a lawsuit - a fellow student (college) was claiming that he had been injured by a physics experiment we had participated in.
I won't go into the details, but this was supposed to have happened last september. No one even knew there was an issue, and no one remembers this kid hurting himself.
Over the last year, his parents took him to 3 doctors, one even performed exploratory surgery - but none could find the permanent nerve damage cited in the complaint.
The issue is he now has issues with the foot in question as a result of the invasive surgery he underwent. I am concerned that this will be mistaken for a legitimate injury. How should I go about fighting this.
p.s. the school's lawyers have offered to represent me, but I am interested in exactly what options I have, and what other's might have. It seems to me that this situation must happen to people all the time
thanks for reading - I hope I didn't rant too much, just a little nervous...
Answers:
I would take the advice of the school's lawyers, and let them represent you, because a) the school is the entity that will end up getting all the liability, if there is any; and b) they're the ones with the money. You'll more than likely get dropped as a defendant, if this case actually makes it anywhere (because it seems pretty bogus to me, based on the info here).
There is a lot of precedent in similar cases that if there IS any fault, it's the fault of the school and not of other students. I don't think you really have anything to worry about, this kid probably just attached the names of everyone who was in the room at the time to his lawsuit. I would let the school and its lawyers handle it and let them represent you in this -- they are used to handling cases like this and are much better equipped.
You should get your own lawyer. The school's lawyers may have a conflict of interest if they are also representing the school.
Take the advice of the school's lawyers. they are specially trained for things just like this. Let them represent you. It happened on school grounds and thus it is the liability of the school to handle any legal issues that arise while in the activity of an authorized class. Listen to them. Let them represent you.
Not sure if there is a statute of limitations, but a year is a little much for this. The thing is, why is he suing you and not the school? I would think he would sue the school for damages, get money from them, and they would probably not fight it and settle out of court.
If he claimed that he had nerve damamge and no doctor could find it, that will be in your favor. If he does go through with the lawsuit, he could get in more trouble.
If he tries to make contact with you, tell him you can't talk to him without a lawyer present. If he or his family continue to bother you, keep track of what was said and dates and times and use it against him as harassment.
Unfortunatly, someone says he has a case. If someone can get money from spilling hot coffee on them at McDonalds, then this loser will probably get money from you or the school.
I would hire a lawyer, since the school's lawyers might not have your best interest at hand, and they might advice you to settle to keep the name of the school in good standing, but really, it does sound like a bogus lawsuit.
The answers post by the user, for information only, FreeLawAnswer.com does not guarantee the right.
Answer question:
More Law Questions and Answers: