I have a judgement that was awarded to one of my creditors against me. On 8/8/07 the courts have sent a letter stating that an award of final disposition has not been filed. I got a second copy of the same letter today from the courts. Is there a possibility to file a motion to vacate on this, and how? Thanks!
you need to check with the Rules of Procedure for the court in question (probably a State court) and see what options you've got. (This is the reason I keep my PrePaid Legal membership active, so I can ask them stuff like this!) The RoP is like the "rule book" for how things work in the court system. Lots of lawyers get quite sloppy dealing with cases like this because 99.9% of their "victims" never do anything. So it's good to know what the rules are and stay on top of things, because the "other guys" are very likely to miss a step (or a deadline) somewhere along the line. Without anybody holding them accountable, they just file a petition with the court saying, "Oops, I missed this deadline a month ago, but here's what was due at that time. Please accept it." In the absense of any oppsition, the court simply says, "No problem." But if you're aware of the rules and "they" miss a deadline, YOU should be right there at the courthouse the next day with a petition to dismiss or vacate or whatever the rules say you're entitled to claim -- and the rules are very clear and explicit about such things! So find out what the actual deadline is for them to file that final dispo and if they miss it (which they very possibly might) you should be right there with a motion for whatever you can get away with. There's an excellent chance the judge will grant it, mainly because ... them's the rules! (The other party will then come back with some other petition for reconsideration and you'll have to reply quoting the rule and how they missed it, blah blah blah. It's like having one player in a tennis match argue with the scorekeeper every time he/she loses a point, and you're stuck in the position of having to remind the scorekeeper what the rule is at that point in the game. If you don't know the rules, or you don't bother to argue, the other guy is going to get the point BACK. At least, that's my impression of the legal system based on my limited experience with it.)
I did a little digging and this is what I found on rules for arbitration for my county (maricopa) Within 120 days of appointment, the arbitrator will notify the Arbitration Department of a new hearing date. Following the hearing, the arbitrator reaches a decision, and files a Notice of Decision with the Clerk of the Court. The prevailing party must submit the arbitration award and a statement of costs to the arbitrator for signature within 10 days after the notice of decision has been filed. The arbitrator will then file the Award with the Clerk of the Court. Timelines: 7/12/07 Order granting summary judgement on the compaint in favor of the plaintiff and against the defendant. 07/27/07 Application for Attorney Fees (12 business days, 2 days late) 8/08/07 Notice to file Arbitration award It sounds as though I have room to make a move here, what should I file? motion to vacate, motion to dismiss, a petition?
Isn't there something there that says what happens if they don't file timely? BTW, this is an arbitration award, not a trial award. The rules are different. The arbitrator has to file something with the court, and the judge who caught the case originally must rule on it and make it part of the record. I went through that process myself, in Maricopa Cty. I didn't really pay much attention at the time as to what the procedures were. But I recall getting some of the same notices from the court. The arbitrators are just volunteers from the local Bar Assoc, and I was told they often get backlogged and don't get around to filing stuff very promptly. In my case, the arbitrator had my file (even though I was told he wasn't supposed to!). Whomever has the file is in control of the case. Until the file is returned to the court, nothing can happen. The judges seem to be pretty lenient with arbitrators in this context. I don't think there's anything that can be done until the file is returned, and no clock is ticking. So there's not a heckofalot to worry about. I'd call the judge's office and talk with his clerk to see what's up. In my case, they were about 6 weeks behind in getting stuff posted to the online database. And because the file was already out (with the Arbitrator), the clerk was the ONLY person who really knew what was going on. When the file comes back, it goes first to the Judge's clerk. That said, if the guy takes six months to return the file and deliver his ruling, who cares? Nothing further can happen until the judge gets the case back and enters the ruling. Speeding it up does not work in your favor. OTOH, it may give you a window to negotiate a settlement with no adverse ruling being entered if you were to suddenly come into some cash. (They want their money. The ruling and subsequent judgement is the leverage they're trying to get to squeeze it out of you. So if you were to settle now, there's no reason for them to continue the proceedings.) This was back in 2003/2004. Things may have improved since then, but I doubt that the flow of the paperwork has changed.
