Anyone Know a Good Lawyer...

[Len Middleton]

First a bit of background. I am in the professional services business and like many of you, my reputation is paramount. Particularly in this "wired world" where one can get information on just about anyone through an on-line search (no, I am not the professor from Michigan). So as well as being careful about my reputation, I am careful of other's reputation.

I have a LF camera that needed some repairs, and found someone who could provide both the parts and the repairs to it. I sent the money for the part fabrication and the repairs. When the part was to be completed, after confirming with them I sent the camera. I then visited their shop in the US while working in the area with a client, mid-July last year after the camera arrived. I saw the quality of work and was extremely impressed. We discussed other repairs that were needed and the cost of those repairs, and the cost to perform a total restoration on the camera. I suggested that he could bump my repairs behind other work he may of had at the time, so that I could better forecast my income and ability to afford the total restoration. After some other work came in, I gave them the "go ahead" in late September and sent the money for the additional parts shortly there after.

Now the current circumstances are that I have not heard anything from them since the end of October. I have followed up via e-mail and left voice mail, but no response. I have no idea if they are hospitalized, have "left this mortal coil", or just do not want to talk to me. Given the price of the total restoration, I am expecting less than two weeks of effort (maybe spread over some time, but just two weeks working on it), but I have no idea as to its status.

Fortunately, LF is an indulgence for me, but I have not done any LF photography since sending in the camera for the repair back in July last year. Their location is considerable distance from me, and it is far from convenient to just drive up and knock on their door. And of course without communication, I have no idea if they are going to be there to answer the door.

The thread title was intended to be provocative, but does anyone know or could suggest a suitable solution? Or following the title of this thread...

As I do not know their situation, I will leave the identity of the service provider anonymous and not provide any information that would help in identifying them.

Thank you in advance for your suggestions,

Len

[Gene McCluney]

If I were you, I would try to see if there is anyone near your camera guy that could go over and do a visual inspection to see if he is really still operating. That would be my first step before any legal action. You could also call the local Better Business Bureau there and see if they had any complaints on him.

You need to decide what is most important to you. Do you want retribution? If a person has gone out of business, it may be hard to get "damages".

You may concentrate on just getting your equipment back and a refund.

[Louie Powell]

Hmm - - - "good" and "lawyer" always struck me as mutually exclusive.

Many years ago, I was on the committee at our church charged with developing a set of recommendations for modernizing our old pipe organ. We found and recommended an organ builder, but after work began, the Trustees found it very frustrating to deal with the man. His work was very good, but the fact is that organ building (like large format camera building and repair) is an activity that is more craft than standardized tasks, and the kind of person who gets satisfaction from doing that kind of very specialized work often is not as responsive as an ordinary business person.

My suggestion is that you continue to try to get the attention of the individual you commission to work on your camera. E-mail is a wonderful tool, but frankly, a telephone call is much more effective. E-mails can be ignored, but when someone answers your call, you have their attention.

If several weeks go by, and despite repeated attempts, you are unable to get someone with a pulse on the phone, then the next step might be a registered letter - registered because that means the recipient has to sign for receiving it.

I think you have done the right thing by keeping the identify of the individual anonymous. However, you might want to search through the archive to see if the person you are dealing with (or at least hoping to deal with) has been discussed in the past, and if so, are there individuals who know the person and who might be able to respond to a private message with information about whether that person may have encountered some significant personal issue that is interfering with his responsiveness.

[Vick Vickery]

"Good lawyer"...an oximoron, isn't it???

[Greg Lockrey]

I didn't know that they needed lawyers in that perfect world of Canada.

[Len Middleton]

Greg, yes we have lawyers here too. Although ironically the party in question is in the US, hence my question on this board to better understand the US perspectives and options.

Louie and Vick, please excuse the ambiguity in my wording. In this case, "good" is not related to right and wrong, but good in their craft. Besides lawyers are people too. Some are even interested and involved in LF...

I have not tried Gene's suggestion of the Better Business Bureau, and do not know how much influence they might have. Knocking on the door would be the ideal situation, but do not have anyone who might be able to do that for me, and the trip for me would be around 24 hours round trip.

I have tried calling, but either through call display or the use of the answering machine being used to screen calls, I have not been able to get through via e-mail or phone in almost 4 months.

Thanks for your input,

Len

[Andrew O'Neill]

I didn't know that they needed lawyers in that perfect world of Canada.

'tis true, as we are not "sue happy" like you guys....

[mandoman7]

Paying in advance is hardly ever a good idea, particularly if you haven't done business before. I know, as a commercial photographer, that it can affect your motivation quite a bit. Its simple. When you need the money bad enough you finish the job.

JY

[Stephen Willard]

Len, I can help you.

As a high-end wedding photographer for seven years, I had four instances where clients failed to pay for services rendered. In each case, I sent a similar letter as noted next.

This letter is to inform you that you have a balance owed of $4212.50 for photographic services I provided for your wedding. Bridget, when you picked up your album on 12/11/2003, we made a verbal agreement for you to make monthly payments for the balanced owed. The amount was at your discretion. As of today, you have made no payments.

My intent is to file a law suit on Wednesday 4/21/04. I will be handing the matter over to my sister-in-law who is a very aggressive attorney. We will file for the initial fee owned plus courts fees, process server fees, sherif fees, and attorney fees. My sister-in-law bills at $350 per hour.

This letter is a warning. I hope that we can resolve this in a more appropriate manner so please call me. About a year ago I filed suit against a young women in California. Her balance was around $2200. In the end she paid $3700 in legal fees plus the initial balance. The choice is yours. It makes no difference if you get this letter or not, or where you live, if you do not make contact with me to resolve this matter by 4/21/04, then the suit will be initiated.

My number is (970) xxx-xxxx.

Did I have a sister-in-law who was an attorney? Nop
Did I file suite against women in California? Nop
Did I really intend to file suit? Nop

Did I get paid? YEP. In fact, every time I sent a letter out of this nature I was paid within week of posting the letter.

Hope this helps....

[Louie Powell]

Len -

The problem is that you don't know whether the person is simply stonewalling you, or has a legitimate problem that is keeping him from responding. If he is stonewalling, threatening legal action can backfire. If he is not getting your messages, you can threaten all you want but it won't do any good.

If you haven't been able to reach him by telephone in four months, then it seems to me that the next step should be a letter (on paper, with a stamp) that reports your difficulty in contacting him and requesting a status report on the work. Send the litter via some form of registered mail that requires that the recipient sign for it and returns a receipt to you, and that gives you informative feedback if the letter cannot be delivered or is refused. That will at least tell you if there is someone home.

If there is no one home, then the question is where is the guy. And that's where I suggest searching the archive to see if the individual has been the subject of a discussion, and if so, if there is anyone who sounded like he was in regular contact with that person. I'm thinking of two people whose quirky responsiveness has been discussed here many times - one has a commercial representative who can get answers, and the other who has a close friend who may be a source of information.

If that approach doesn't work, then legal action is appropriate. In most parts of the US, there is a 'small claims court' that deals with situations like this and that doesn't require that you have a lawyer. The fact that you are in Canada complicates the problem for you, mainly because of the distance factor.