When it comes to lemon lawsuits, imagine them as your trusty shield against that sour deal you got with a faulty vehicle. Here’s how lemon lawsuits in California work, and FAQs:
INSTIGATING EVENT – The initial event that causes the legal dispute.
REVIEW – Lawyer reviews documents from client and determines if the lawyer can assist with the case.
IDENTIFY – The client will be the Plaintiff in the case. The lawyer will identify the Defendants – the party/parties who the Plaintiff believes caused them harm.
RETAINER AGREEMENT – The lawyer and client enter into a Retainer Agreement, wherein the client hires the lawyer to represent him/her.
LAWSUIT FILED – A lawsuit is started by filing a Complaint with the Court in the county where the transaction occurred. The Complaint
details the instigating event, states the law, and states the outcome desired by the client.
ANSWER FILED – An Answer is a legal document filed by the business the client believes caused them harm (Defendant).
DISCOVERY – This can be a long process, often lasting many months. Before a case goes to trial, each party (Plaintiff and Defendant(s)) engage in Discovery. Discovery includes exchanging documents, responding to written questions, inspecting the scene of the subject of the lawsuit, and taking depositions.
TRIAL – Trial by judge or jury. The Plaintiff must be present for the entire trial. The judge or jury decides who wins the case.
***The lawyer cannot anticipate how long a case may take to resolve and cannot force a Defendant to settle a case. The lawyer will pursue the most effective way to resolve a case. Most cases do not go to trial.***
FAQs
I’ve never sued anyone before. How does it work?
It depends on your particular legal injury. If your case involves a misrepresentation (lie) of some kind (e.g., lying about accident history, hiding a salvage title or rental vehicle status, forgery, or similar), we typically sue under a statute called the Consumer’s Legal Remedies Act. (starting at Civil Code Section 1750.) First, we write a Demand Letter on your behalf, requesting that the party who caused you harm make a correct; ie: refund your money or pay you monetary damages. Sometimes the party who caused the harm does the right thing and immediately offers a correction, but if it refuses to do so, we will discuss filing a lawsuit.
If your case does not involve a misrepresentation, we usually immediately file a lawsuit. We use a large number of consumer protection statutes, including the Unfair Competition Law, the Automobile Sales Finance Act, the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act (Lemon Law), the Consumer’s Legal Remedies Act, the Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Car Buyer’s Bill of Rights, and others.
After the initial lawsuit is filed (called a “Complaint”), the offending party has a certain amount of time to respond. The lawsuit then enters the “discovery” phase, where all parties exchange documents and other information. If your case involves a wrecked vehicle or has mechanical problems (ie: a Lemon), we set up a vehicle inspection. During the discovery phase, we may schedule depositions of company employees, send written discovery demands, or subpoena records. Most cases are settled during the discovery phase.
Once discovery is complete, the case proceeds to trial. The vast majority of cases settle long before trial. But, occasionally a party will decide to fight to the end. Trial of these types of cases typically takes 1-3 days, and a verdict is either rendered at the trial, or shortly after.
I can’t afford to pay a lawyer. Can you still help me?
Yes! We use consumer protection statutes that make the defendant pay attorney’s fees and costs. This allows us to help all consumers, not just the ones who are able to afford an attorney.
When the California Legislature wrote the consumer protection laws, they recognized that many consumers cannot afford to pay an attorney thousands of dollars to get their money back. So, they made sure consumers could protect their rights by making the defendant pay the consumer’s attorney’s fees and costs.
We take most cases on contingency, and we bear the risk of loss. This means you do not pay our attorneys’ fees. If you lose your case, you owe us nothing. Some consumer attorneys charge consumers for a portion of the case costs (e.g. filing fees, witness fees, photocopying, legal service of process). We do not do this, because we believe that everyone should be protected from abuse by unscrupulous businesses, no matter how much money you have.
Do I have to show up in court?
Most of our clients never set foot in the courtroom. If we take your case, we handle it from beginning to end on your behalf. You do not need to come to Court for the vast majority of the litigation. We gather most of the information about your case over the phone and mail. If we need your vehicle inspected, you would have to make it available for a few hours. In some cases, the defendant will want to ask you questions, under oath, about your case. This is called a “deposition,” and typically lasts a few hours. In the rare event that your case proceeds to trial, you would need to attend the trial, which typically lasts 1-3 days.