Discovery in a Georgia credit card lawsuit
Credit card lawsuits in Georgia’s State and Superior Courts allow parties to ask each other questions, request documents, and even demand the other side admit or deny something specific.
This is called Discovery.
Discovery is also why defending a credit card case is more expensive in State or Superior court than it is in Magistrate court (which does not allow discovery).
In this post, I will briefly outline the three main discovery tools used in credit card lawsuits in Georgia.
These are:
- Requests for Admission
- Interrogatories
- Requests for the Production of Documents.
Discovery rules in...
Problems with credit card lawsuits in Georgia and the Nation—you are not alone!
Many clients and potential clients I speak with cannot believe the ordeal they are being put through in a Georgia credit card lawsuit. They cannot believe the credit card companies, or third party debt collectors, would sue them without the paperwork they need. To all of them I say—”You are not alone!”
Georgia credit card lawsuits are riddled with problems. The Atlanta-Journal Constitution has a story “Credit card lawsuits replay foreclosure mess” which recounts the problems I often see in these lawsuits.
This is not a Georgia problem, however. Credit card lawsuits are a problem across the nation, and...
What is a motion for summary judgment in a credit card lawsuit, and what do I do?
Lawsuits can be broken into three main stages where a judgment can be issued against you (or for you).
- Initial pleading stage. (This is the Complaint and Answer stage.)
- Discovery and summary judgment stage. (Does not apply to Magistrate court cases.)
- Trial stage.
Quick Magistrate Court Info
Magistrate courts only have stages 1 and 2. (Initial pleading and trial.). While sometimes parties may agree to do limited discovery (showing each other their evidence), this is not required.
Most importantly, summary judgment is not allowed in magistrate court.
How long do I have to respond to a...
Who is suing me in a Georgia Credit Card Lawsuit?
Many times I get calls from potential clients who say they’re being sued in a credit card lawsuit. When I ask who is suing them, they often name a law firm. “It’s Hanna & Associates,” or “Greene & Cooper is suing me.”
While it is important for me to know what law firm is handling the lawsuit, the lawyers are not the Plaintiff. To find out who the Plaintiff is, all you have to do is look at the “caption” of the Complaint or another pleading. (The “caption” is the top part of a pleading—it identifies the parties, the court,...
Debt collectors don’t need a signed contract to prove a credit card lawsuit
I often have clients ask me if a debt collector has to show a signed contract in a credit card lawsuit case.
“I don’t remember signing anything!” they tell me. Then they ask “It’s not a contract if it wasn’t signed, right?”
Wrong. A contract can exist even if you don’t sign anything. In fact, courts can enforce oral agreements as contracts.
What is a contract?
The Second Restatement of Contracts defines a contract as “promise or set of promises for the breach of which the law gives a remedy, or the performance of which the law in some...