I put a call in to the lawyers who sent me the letter I discussed in my last post. Today they returned my call. From the sound of things, if I had had a lawyer from the start we could have put up a counter-suit that might have at least reduced the judgment by $4000 to $6000. Their fee is 20% of the suit, so assuming the 20% is standard, I would have had to pay or commit to paying $2000 for representation. Considering that I am "Collection Proof," that is to say that even if the collection agency gets a judgment against me they can't collect on it, paying $2000 to beat a worthless $10,000 judgment seems to me to be a poor investment.
If I had an income, if I had real property to protect, I think I would offer to pay the $2000 as a settlement with the debt collector before I went to an attorney. If they refused the settlement, that's when I'd get legal representation. I figure it's worth a shot to try and negotiate on my own before I get an attorney involved who might do the same thing, in which case I'd be out $4000 instead of $2000.
Either way, the attorney I spoke with today is going to confer with his associates, then I'll call him back next week. If they turn up something, maybe I'll be able to use it on my own.
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