Woman fell in my wife's shop

[Elwar]

I need some advice, I was not sure of where I should post this.

My wife owns a women's clothing store. We just opened about 2 months ago so we are still getting things straight with getting things into the LLC and getting insurance and all of that. We do not have insurance yet on the shop.

Being that we are in Florida we have old frail people. Well, some 92 year old lady with those black out the sun sunglasses walks into the shop and falls, messing herself up bad.

Now we have a letter from her lawyer wanting the name of our insurance company. They sent the letter in my wife's name, not the LLC.

We have the lease in the LLC name but did not get around yet to registering the business through the city in the LLC name, it is in my wife's name.

We just opened the place and this happens. With a new business we are broke, we cannot afford a lawyer. The lady who fell is broke too so I am sure that her lawyers are hoping for a big insurance settlement. If anything settled, we would have to go bankrupt unless it was in the LLC name, then it would go bankrupt.

Either way, we are screwed.

Any suggestions? (other than "go talk to a lawyer", if I wanted to talk to a lawyer I would have called a lawyer and shelled out a buttload of money...going broke)

 

[tod evans]

Call the ol' birds lawyer and tell him what you just posted...

Lawyers don't like to chase broke folks so maybe you'll get lucky.



[edit]

Or you could blame the ol' bird for trespassing in a store that's not open or insured....

 

[dannno]

Call the ol' birds lawyer and tell him what you just posted...

Lawyers don't like to chase broke folks so maybe you'll get lucky.

That's what I was going to say, though I don't have much experience with legal stuff.

Why did she fall?

 

[Deborah K]

Visit the old lady. Make an appeal to her sense of compassion. Offer to give her free clothing, service, etc.

 

[KCIndy]

Elwar,

When you say the old woman "messed herself up bad" exactly how bad are we talking? Broken bones? Or just bruised and shaken up?

Biggest question: How big are her medical bills as a result of this fall?


If she was just shaken up, and the expenses are no greater than the ambulance ride to the hospital and a check-up in the emergency room, I would offer to pay her medical bills (I know, I know, it's expensive and it's probably going to take a while to get 'em paid off, but in the long run it might be better than losing your wife's shop)

If the old lady has extensive (rhymes with "expensive!") bills, you're in a heap of trouble, as much as I hate to say it.

In that case, your only chance is to go ahead and lawyer up and hope that your attorney can prove that you're NOT at fault for the old lady's fall, even though the fall happened on your property. And that's usually a pretty tough sell.


Last, if the injuries aren't too bad, you might want to take Tod's and Deborah's suggestions to heart: namely, telling the old lady's attorney you're broke, have no insurance yet, and he ain't gonna get blood from a turnip, so to speak. Add to that an offer of some free goodies for the old lady, and she might decide a bird (or blouse) in hand is worth more than two in the bush, so to speak.

Good luck, and let us know what happens!

 

[angelatc]

OMG - how horrible for you.

Big mistake might have been in registering the business in your wife's name, and not in the name of the LLC. The whole point of having an LLC is to create a line of separation between your assets and the assets of the business. My guess is that that one act right there wiped that protection away. You can now lose your house, your 401(k)s, your home...anything you have that is worth anything is subject to seizure.

(Note that all you people who want to eliminate corporate personhood apparently want everybody to be open to this type of frivolous lawsuit.)

I wouldn't tell the opposing lawyer that the business was registered in your wife's name. Tell him, on LLC stationary, that the LLC doesn't have insurance yet, and there are no assets either.

As sick as it is, you would have been better off if she had died. That happened to my great aunt. She took a can of peas off a pyramid type display in a grocery store, and it collapsed. She died from the injuries, but nobody had standing to sue because she was a widow, and none of her kids were dependent on her.

 

[Icymudpuppy]

You know what the best part about having a business where people ask me to come to them?

When I hear something on the phone or something strikes me as odd when I arrive at a job, I can tell them I'm unable to service their problem and walk away without any lawsuit worries.

You brick and mortar stores will not fair well if you post a "no Osteoporosis elderly" sign. Meanwhile, I can have a "no whatever I want" policy and nobody will ever know because I can always excuse myself from taking the job. Tell them I'm too busy, tell them It's out of my expertise, tell them whatever...

 

[brushfire]

Who's the property owner?

Do you have home owner's insurance?

Consult your home owner's insurance co - see if you're covered. If you're not the property owner, you may find that the property owner does have insurance, and you may be covered. IANAL, and nowhere near qualified to offer legal advise here.

I would suggest that you look into legal counsel. Most consultations are free. Do you have video surveillance? Did you take pictures of your shop? You'd better get evidence in order to show that you weren't negligent.

Best of luck - this is truly unfortunate.

 

[Liberty4life]

sounds like a professional scam to me, check for links between the lawyer and her, could be related

 

[ninepointfive]

good thing you're LLC, meaning limited liability.

Hope you don't have a lot of assets tied up in the business. cash out at the bank too.

 

[dannno]

She took a can of peas off a pyramid type display in a grocery store, and it collapsed. She died from the injuries

 

[KCIndy]

I wouldn't tell the opposing lawyer that the business was registered in your wife's name. Tell him, on LLC stationary, that the LLC doesn't have insurance yet, and there are no assets either.

good idea; I would second this if you're not getting an attorney. (If you *do* get an attorney, have the attorney write the letter.)

 

[slamhead]

Are her injuries real? First off I would hire a private investigator to do a background check on the lady to see if she has any past lawsuits. Don't be fooled by her age. If your county court records are searchable you can do it yourself. Don't listen to people saying you can loose your house or your 401K. They are protected by bankruptcy laws. As someone mentioned, lawyers like deep pockets that are willing to settle quick. I would let her attorney know the situation and he will probably not be willing to put his time into the case if there is no money in it for him. Since you only have a letter asking for insurance information it does not mean that he has a lawsuit in the works.

 

[Jovan Galtic]

Why the heck you'd be responsible for someone who fell!? Unless you've pushed him. I'll never understand...

 

[angelatc]

Are her injuries real? First off I would hire a private investigator to do a background check on the lady to see if she has any past lawsuits. Don't be fooled by her age. If your county court records are searchable you can do it yourself. Don't listen to people saying you can loose your house or your 401K. They are protected by bankruptcy laws.

They're not usually automatically protected from judgments that come from personal injury lawsuits. And FYI, homes aren't unilaterally protected in bankruptcy, although it's true that they are in Florida. Also. a lot of people use the equity in their home as collateral when opening a business, which changes the nature of the asset.

If you do not have a lawyer, and they do have a lawyer....you're really in for a world or trouble. If it were me, I'd cash out everything in my retirement plans, pay the IRS their penalty, and hide my cash.

This is really a prime example of why people shouldn't skimp on the lawyer fees up front.

 

[slamhead]

They're not usually protected from judgments that come from personal injury lawsuits. And FYI, homes aren't unilaterally protected in bankruptcy, although it's true that they are in Florida. Also. a lot of people use the equity in their home as collateral when opening a business, which changes the nature of the asset.

This is really a prime example of why people shouldn't skimp on the lawyer fees up front.

Yes it differs by state. In California you are able to claim up to $23,000 as exempt for personal property. You are also able to retain $75,000 to $100,000 in home equity based on your income. You can protect your entire home via a homestead but in that scenario you loose the $23,500 personal property exemption. In California all retirement accounts are exempt under bankruptcy laws.

 

[brushfire]

If it were me, I'd cash out everything in my retirement plans, pay the IRS their penalty, and hide my cash.

I think one of the reasons why FL is so popular amongst the retired, is that the state will protect your retirement assets, right? Your retirement assets would be off the table in FL - again IANAL, this is not legal advice.

 

[angelatc]

In California all retirement accounts are exempt under bankruptcy laws.

But the Catch-22 is that debts from "malicious and willful injury" aren't automatically discharged in bankruptcy, and retirement accounts aren't automatically immune from judgments. So even though your average everyday creditor can't have a go at your 401(k) after a bankruptcy, a person with a claim that wasn't discharged in bankruptcy can still seize it.

Hence my advice - screw them all - cash everything in, and hide it in a mattress.

(And I am fer from being a lawyer. I just have a lot of deadbeat friends )

 

[playboymommy]

Are her injuries real? First off I would hire a private investigator to do a background check on the lady to see if she has any past lawsuits. Don't be fooled by her age. If your county court records are searchable you can do it yourself. Don't listen to people saying you can loose your house or your 401K. They are protected by bankruptcy laws. As someone mentioned, lawyers like deep pockets that are willing to settle quick. I would let her attorney know the situation and he will probably not be willing to put his time into the case if there is no money in it for him. Since you only have a letter asking for insurance information it does not mean that he has a lawsuit in the works.

Good points. Did someone see the fall?

Why the heck you'd be responsible for someone who fell!? Unless you've pushed him. I'll never understand...

Good question. Frivolous lawsuits. One of the reasons I quit working for a law firm.

 

[Lishy]

I hate prosecutors who fight for people like this. Mostly because we KNOW she's a bullshitter, but the prosecutor just plays along with his irrelevant law-rhetoric which evades the point. And the judge is so stupid, he can't see the simple truth?

Courts might be necessary, but sometimes they sure are stupid!