Company suing my murdered great-grandfather. Anyone know a good pro-bono lawyer?

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SleepyStarling

SleepyStarling

The Narcoleptic Queen
Mar 21, 2007
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No, I'm not joking. I only found out about it because I was Googling his name. They never sent anyone in our family a summons, even though they are suing:

NAME, aka NAME WITH MIDDLE ABBREVIATED, deceased; the testate and intestate successors of NAME, deceased, and all persons claiming by, through, or under such decedent; etc.

There's a hearing on a default prove-up motion next Friday in San Bernadino. Legal aid there said to contact the plaintiff attorneys, but as far as I know they could require proof of inheritance before giving me the time of day, and I don't have that luxury.

My ggf owned real estate, mineral rights and an oil well (the well was sold) in CA. I'm not the first in line to inherit, but this company's only effort to contact his descendants was to publish a column in the San Diego Business Journal in 2006. Any reasonable person can see that you can't respond to a summons you know nothing about, and that if they were planning on suing 50 dead people who have been dead for decades, they had the responsibility of trying to find at least ONE of the THIRTY or so living next-of-kin.

I don't have the cash to fly out there, either.

Advice, anyone?
 


Well, I'd start by calling the court and finding out all your case information. You may need to figure out who the most direct next-of-kin is in your family - since you're the great-grandson, odds are whomever is this guy's son or daughter (your grandparents) may need to be involved (assuming any of them are still alive).

Sounds weird. Good luck!
 
Thanks, Dave. Yeah, all of his children are dead; it would be my mom and her siblings or his other children's children.

I'm wondering if it's possible to get a default reversed if the plaintiff didn't make a reasonable attempt to contact us (which they didn't).
 
You can often find things online in court cases. Find the city, county, or state courts website. Usually Probate cases are the Superior Court of the County. It might be this:

Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino

You might have a civil case or a probate case. Then search for your last name in the court calendars or case historys. Usually most of this stuff is public record.

This stuff you can do right now.

But I would get a lawyer to go to any proceedings and protest or to tell you to do nothing if they have not given sufficient notice.

BTW They are lawyers they know how to give legal notice but not have anyone really notice. Judges are inclined to go along as well. Get info and get a lawyer if there is any chance that there is property you dont know about. A California lawyer can go to the hearing and protest or ask for a dismissal.

If he was into oil or something maybe he had property. Or maybe his company caused environmental damage. Hard to say.

Is his estate still open?
 
I would also check the legal forums on Craigslist. Some lawyers hang out in those and you might find one to do it pro-bono. I hope it works out for ya!
 
Yes..from what I understand about the law (but I only deal in small claims)you can "serve" the defendant by publishing the suit info in the local paper or legal journal. I had a friend lose joint custody of his child because the mother didnt serve him face to face but had it published in the local legal journal and he didnt show up for court because he had no idea of the case....it sucks.
 
Write yourself a blog post about it ("Company sues Dead Man"). Buy a few diggs to give it a bump, send it in to places like boingboing as well. Include some form for any pro bono lawyers to fill out. As soon as there's press coverage of any kind, lawyers will want a piece.
Also, you could have a paypal donation button. If you have a picture of him, put that in there. Could add authenticity to it.
 
Also, try contacting your local news about it. They eat shit like that up. You would probably have a pro-bono lawyer in no time at all.
 
Those are some unusual (but possible) ideas! I'm going to call the court, and if I can't get info out of anyone, I'll go the mass media route. Thanks, guys. I knew people here would think outside of the box. ;)
 
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