Memberships with our site

Memberships with Your Legal Leg Up

Our membership is a tremendous value and an effective way to level the playing field between you and a debt collector.

After years of providing debt defendants what they need to beat the debt collectors, I have figured out a way to make beating the debt collectors less stressful and time-consuming. If you’d like to save time and stress while improving your chances of victory, keep reading.

How do you “Level the Playing Field” with the Debt Collectors?

As I have often pointed out, the debt collectors rarely have the evidence they need to win a case when they file suit. Instead, they rely on people defaulting or giving up. That’s how they get away with adding illegal fees so often or suing people who never owed any money – or suing for debts they don’t own.

The debt collectors have designed their litigation process to make it more likely that people will give up – they “tilt” the playing field so that fighting them to obtain justice and fair play is always up hill for you. From Petitions alleging the same debt three or four different ways (making it look like you might owe three times as much as they even say you do) to “fake” affidavits of robo-signers swearing to things about which they have no knowledge, to fake account statements and bogus notices – all these things are designed to trick or intimidate people into giving up. Many of these illegal or immoral tactics have been “business as usual” for the debt collectors. They’re notorious for dirty tricks.

And the debt collectors also start with some “institutional” advantages when they sue people for debt – they do this all the time, you know. The debt collectors have associations of other debt collectors and lawyers who provide them the latest information and court decisions nationally, or just contacts to help them strategize how to deal with your case. They have “document banks” – computer files of petitions, motions, discovery, etc. that they know have worked in cases before. These give them a big advantage: they can draft a petition and serve discovery with a few keystrokes by a paralegal, whereas you are left to spend hours responding. They know what works because they know what is happening in the hundreds of thousands of cases like yours that get filed every year.

How do you neutralize the debt collectors’ advantages and level the playing field?

Introducing Your Legal Leg Up Memberships

In order to counteract the advantages of the debt collectors I have created two types of membership with Your Legal Leg Up: Gold and Platinum. These memberships will allow me to provide you more and better service, give you expanded access to helpful materials, and keep you updated on the latest strategies and techniques that people are using to beat the debt collectors. You will have your own “document banks” where you will be able to download documents that have been used successfully by other people in fighting debt collectors so you don’t have to spend ten times as much time as the debt collectors do on simple documents. And you will special access to me and – more importantly – to other people like you who are actually fighting the debt collectors.

Benefits of Membership

As I mentioned above, there are four main features of membership: expanded access to materials, keeping up to date, connecting with others, and creating and building a document bank of documents you can convert to your own use without a ton of trouble.

Expanded Availability of Services

Through the newsletter and members-only homepage, you will receive updates, alerts, and reports and the tried-and-true, easy to understand materials in the ever-expanding “members-only” section of our website. Members will have access not only to the free access videos, but also to our extensive members-only video collection and the Your Legal Leg Up Video Series–now available ONLY to members, previously sold for $149 and available online.

Keeping Current

With the new membership comes a free subscription to Fightdebt!, official newsletter of Your Legal Leg Up. Every month it will give you the latest news in debt litigation as well as special tips on debt litigation, consumer issues, and credit repair. This is another benefit that is available only to members, valued at $49/year. You will also get new videos, reports and alerts as they happen.

Connecting with Others

Although some of the other benefits of membership may be more tangible and obvious, I actually think this benefit is going to be one of the most important benefits of membership. We will start with a members-only blog (which I will mediate), and this will allow more freewheeling contact between members. It is also my goal to connect those who want to be connected to other people who are from the same state. It’s hard to overestimate the advantage that comes with being able to talk to someone else going through the same thing, and working on pleadings and motions (for example) together could even make the process fun. Monthly teleconferences are free for members so callers can benefit from hearing one anothers’ questions and experiences, and a teleconference connections webpage also provides a forum on which participants may share and connect.

Software

Some people do not have a word processing program that will help them create professional documents or cut and paste documents from the document bank. Members will receive a link to a free word processor which will fill that need. Likewise, for ease of viewing, members will be provided a link to a video player that will let them play or download videos from the site.

Sued for Debt Action Steps

Finding out that you’re being sued for debt can be a big shock, and it also puts you at risk for losing the things you have. We have good news for you. You can protect yourself.

Could Anything Actually Make You Glad to Get Sued by Debt Collectors?!

It’s hard to believe that could happen, isn’t it – that you could actually end up glad you got sued by a debt collector? And yet it could true.

If you’re being sued by a debt collector, chances are it’s coming at the end of a long process that started with missed bills, phone calls, letters, messed up credit reports, worry, and missed sleep at night. I don’t need to tell you how awful it is. And the lawsuit itself may seem like a nightmare. After all, if you lose, you could face new problems: garnishment of wages, seizure of bank accounts, and possibly even worse.

And you can forget about your credit report if they get a judgment, right?

So How Could Getting Sued Possibly Be Good News?

The lawsuit could actually be the end of your trouble. Instead of hanging back and destroying your credit or just bugging you to death, which you can’t do much about, they’re suing you. And there’s a lot you can do about that.

That’s because the debt collectors usually start their lawsuit without what they need to win. If you play your cards right, that may give you a chance to erase your debt for good. In the process, you can take control of your life again.

Imagine how you’ll feel when you drive the debt collector away and erase the debt. You can start repairing your credit report and get back to your life. You can answer your phone without worrying about debt collectors

Finally.

Here’s what one user of our materials said about his experience:

Today I received in the mail an offer “Stipulation For Dismissal With Prejudice”,which basically states the Plaintiff will dismiss their Complaint if I dismiss my counterclaim.  All the examples,logic and powerful arguments presented in your materials helped me beyond belief! I am eternally grateful,and right now quite ecstatic!

Thanks Ken,
Frank from Arizona 

And another:

Just a quick email to say THANK YOU for your well written manual! I was scared to death when I got a Summons and Complaint served on me by a debt collection attorne. I did exactly what you said though, and basically let them know I wasn’t going away.… So I filed a Motion to Dismiss, and that was pretty much it. The Attorney folded like a cheap suit, and I have to say it almost felt better than sex!

Thanks again! 
Gary

These people, and many more, could tell you the same thing: you can beat the debt collectors.

And when you do, it will feel even better than you would ever guess. It will change your life. They’ll never push you around again. You’ll never be scared of debt collectors and their lawyers again.

If you know what you’re doing – and that’s what we teach you – you can probably win the case even if the debt collector actually has or can get what it needs. And it usually doesn’t.  Your job is to make them start looking for those records, make them start losing money and worrying about whether they will ever see their money again.

The trick is to fight. They’re not really set up to fight you if you know what you’re doing.

I Don’t Want to Tell You You Can Just Get Away with It (But You Probably Can)

I don’t want to tell you you can rack up debt and get away without paying, because we should all pay our debts. But these are tough times, and sometimes things happen that make it impossible to pay.

And sometimes those things are the fault of the banks – they have just about ruined the economy for all of us, after all. not having to pay them would only be poetic justice. Although poetic justice can wait – if they’re after you, you’re in a fight that you just need to win.

Find Out More

If you’re ready to think about taking on the debt collectors, look through our site and consider joining us. We can help you take control of your life and force the debt collectors to leave you alone.

 

Gotta Go Gold

Introducing Debt Litigation Memberships

The solution to the advantages debt collectors have when they bring suit against people who can’t afford lawyers.

Since you’re here, you probably already know that although most debt collectors begin litigation against consumers without the evidence they need – or even any idea whether that evidence might exist – they file suit and usually win. This is because most people don’t fight back, of course. But even if you do fight back you start with some obstacles that make the whole process more difficult for you than the debt collectors.

The Institutional Advantages of the Debt Collectors are:

  • familiarity with the cases and law
  • the ability to handle them in “bulk;”
  • associations with other lawyers for moral and physical support and information; and
  • document banks of files that can be easily changed to apply to your case.

You have some advantages, too, though. The case means more to you than it does to the debt collector, and so it makes sense for you to work harder than they do. And if you do defend yourself (with a little help), you will likely expose the weaknesses of their case – namely that they lack the evidence (which in many cases does not exist at all) they need to prove their case against you. And even if the evidence can be found, your fighting back will probably make the case too expensive for the debt collectors to want to keep chasing you. Thus they very often will drop the case and walk away from you.

Our new memberships are designed to help you neutralize the advantages of the debt collector while exploiting your advantages with less trouble, annoyance, and anxiety.

How Membership Neutralizes the Advantages of the Debt Collectors

The advantage of familiarity is largely a factor of experience and so cannot be directly neutralized, but to offset that lack of experience, the memberships provide greater access to articles and videos, to the staff at Your Legal Leg Up, to member forums and to other members. where members can trade stories about their cases (and the companies suing them – often identical, always similar). The sense of solidarity can break down the sense of isolation that so many of my customers and clients have related to me.

Plus, we have made our document banks available to members so that they can use them as samples or even choose from a collection of possible arguments and cut and paste some of the documents they need to prepare. Of course this won’t completely nullify the debt collectors’ time advantage. In the very early stages of the debt litigation the debt collectors will still be handling your case on a “bulk” case basis, but as the case moves to the discovery phase, the time advantage will shift to you because, as I have often pointed out, lawyers are always “on the clock,” and if they have to spend significant time on your case it rapidly becomes unprofitable.

You will still spend more time on your case than they do – because they don’t really care whether they win or not – they know most people will just give up. You have to care, though, because it’s your money they have in their sights. The amounts aren’t large or significant to the debt collectors (no matter how much they’re suing you for), but they obviously can make a big difference to you. Debt collection lawyers typically charge at least $200 per hour of time. How long would you work for $200? We’ll help you work smarter, too.

Click here to learn about Gold Membership.

 

 

Debt Defense System

The Debt Defense System

The Debt Master Series

Defeat the debt collectors in lawsuits, end debt problems, and repair and restore your credit.

Knowledge Applied is the Power to Defend

You can beat the debt collectors if they sue you. It’s mostly a question of knowing what you need to do and doing that throughout the lawsuit, while at the same time not doing the things you should not do, until you either make them go away or win at trial. It sounds simple, and it is – if you know what you’re doing.  You will with the Debt Defense System.

The Debt Defense System

In this video we talk about the Debt Defense System – who it is good for, what it is, how it works, how to get it, and how to use it.

First of all, should YOU get the Debt Defense System?

You should get the Debt Defense System if you are actually in a debt lawsuit. If you have not answered the petition yet, you will have time to read the materials as long as you have at least a day. Or several hours. So time is not likely to be a problem, and you get a link to a downloadable product (the Manual) almost instantly. So – time not really going to be an issue.

If you are already in the midst of the suit – for example a motion for summary judgment has been filed, or things are just kind of hanging out, then you should also get the Debt Defense System. If you have something specific to do to defend yourself, you will find specific materials in the members-only part of the website, and the Manual will help you understand how they fit into the bigger picture. If you’re hanging out, you shouldn’t be – you’re wasting time, and the materials will help you make better use of your opportunities.

If you were sued but did not answer and got a default judgment against you, you should maybe get the product. Depends on how old the judgment is. You need to know the rules on motions to vacate. Google “motion to vacate,” time and your state’s name and read until you get an idea about whether you will have a legitimate basis to vacate the judgment. If so, you will probably want the Debt Defense System. If you think you’re out of time on a judgment, and it’s a big judgment, you should consider asking a lawyer in your state to take a second look at it. You might not be. Our materials will probably not help you with this question, however. It will be fact-specific.

If you are not being sued, we do not recommend this material. It’s interesting and informative – it’s very cool – but you would be better off just reading articles on the site. There’s lots of free stuff. The Manual and membership are designed to give you tools to win a case, not just information about the law even though they give you plenty of that. You could try Special Issues in Debt Litigation if you have interest in more than just what’s on the site.

If you are being sued and have a lawyer, you may or may not want to get the Debt Defense System. It will certainly help you know what is happening in the case and inform you about strategies and options. I don’t suggest that you use it to question your lawyer and suggest they don’t know what they’re doing. If you decide they don’t, then get another lawyer, one you do trust. We have a report you might find helpful for that. Badmouthing and second-guessing a lawyer you continue to hire is not a good idea.

The Debt Defense System is designed for debt litigation. Specifically, this means a lawsuit brought against you for a debt you supposedly owe which you may, or may not, owe. It will help you against either debt collectors or original creditors, and it doesn’t matter what state you are in – there’s a pattern, at least, that they follow in all the United States.

On the other hand, the materials are not designed to help you with things that are not debt law, even though they may be somewhat related. They will not help you with foreclosure defense, for example, or clearing real estate titles. They aren’t designed to help you sue a merchant which defrauded you, and they won’t help you repair your credit report. It will give you a basic insight into the legal system that you may find helpful, but I’m sure you can find better help if you look for these non-debt law issues. We do have a separate product for credit repair.

The Debt Defense System consists of a Manual, which is designed to give you an overview of the debt litigation process. It gives you a basis for beginning to decide how to defend yourself. It helps you decide whether the summons was properly given to you to start the suit and what to do if it was not. It helps you look at the behavior of the debt collector and consider your options, and it gives you a great deal of information about the rest of the lawsuit too. The Manual would be enough, in most cases, to get you all the way through the lawsuit, so it is a rich source of material. You can look at the product page for more specific things.

We decided that wasn’t enough. As we have explained in the materials about the membership, debt collectors have some big advantages coming into a debt suit. They know the information, so they can file suit and pursue it without any problem at all, they deal with massive numbers of the cases so they can do their actions “in bulk,” which further keeps their costs down. They have computers full of documents they can use to spit out ridiculous objections that take up a huge amount of your time. And they are “connected” to each other. Debt collectors help each other, in other words, and they never, ever worry about whether what they are doing is wrong in any way.

Just using the manual and materials, you could probably beat the debt collector. But you would spend gigantic amounts of time redoing things that have already been done by others. You would worry, and you might make a mistake. Membership is designed to help you streamline things so that you save time and anxiety. We have a document bank which you can use for samples, we have some videos and articles created just for members to use, and most of all, we have the teleconferences.

The teleconferences are your way to connect with others. They’ll help you know more both by giving you a chance to get your specific questions answered and by hearing other people’s questions. That helps tremendously because you don’t always know the right question to ask, you know?

And then, the teleconferences are also a way to talk to other people in the same situation trying to do the same things you’re trying to do. Suddenly you feel smarter, better, happier and more comfortable. Debt collectors often call their prey bad names, and a lot of people being sued for debt feel guilty or wrong. The teleconferences are the best possible antidotes for that, and since your willingness to fight is the main ingredient in your chance to win, you improve your chances a lot by attending the teleconferences.

The way to get the Debt Defense System is easy. You need to get the product called the Debt Defense System and the renewing membership at the same time.  If you get the membership without the System manual, your money will be returned. If you try to get the Debt Defense system without also having the membership in your checkout cart, you will not be allowed to make the purchase. You have to get them both. You will be able to cancel the membership when you need to do that, so you are not locked in for any specific length of time, but if you really understand that the membership is the most valuable part of the package, you won’t do that. You’ll get six hours of teleconference per month, every month – time to ask your questions, hear other people’s questions, and talk to other people in the same boat.

Your Legal Leg Up – The Power to Retake Control of Your Life

Simply put, Our materials tell you what you need to know to take on the debt collectors. We thoroughly explain the debt collection process and tell you who the players are (and what they want) in plain English. We show you how to navigate the court system and laws so you can neutralize the main advantages of the debt collectors and use your own advantages the best way. We show you how to win without spending everything you own on the fight. And we include the forms you will need to look sharp and professional regardless of what court you’re in, and the resources and back-up you will need.

If you fight back the debt collectors soon find out that it isn’t profitable to keep after you. That doesn’t mean they’ll automatically drop the case and walk away as soon you file an Answer, of course – though many do. Rather, they’ll often push back to see if you really will stand up. The more you do, the more likely they are to drop the case or settle it on drastically better terms for you.

Click here to Buy the Debt Defense System

You Will Be Prepared to Fight


          Our Debt Defense System prepares you to fight. The Manual itself is over 200 pages long in plain English. It has chapters on

  • how to answer the petition and make a counterclaim (and why you’d want to); or
  • how to file suit yourself against a debt collector and why that sometimes makes sense;
  • how to conduct discovery, which is where most cases are won or lost;
  • how to make and defend motions, prepare for trial, how to win at trial if it goes that far;
  • and more.

There’s an appendix with the complete text of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and another with the Federal Rules of Evidence. There’s a Glossary of Legal Terms so you can understand what the bad guys are saying. And there are innumerable links to articles and videos on related topics. All so that a non-lawyer – busy with life and under stress – can get a fair shake.

There is the Forms Book (included), which has the forms you will need to make your presentation sharp and professional looking in Open Office (a free, Word-compatible program) so you can cut and paste more conveniently. The other side will know you mean business when they see your documents, and that’s most of the fight.

And the whole thing is linked to sites on Youtube, Twitter, Facebook and elsewhere so that you’re getting so much more than just the Manual. Much, much more. If you look at our products, you will find many different products for different stages of the litigation. You will see that we have:

  • Motion to Vacate Default Pack (so if you have defaulted (lost your case by not showing up) you can try to scratch your way back in;
  • Motion to Dismiss Pack – for early stages of litigation to try to win easily and quickly if you can;
  • Motion to Compel Pack – to force the debt collector to cough up the information you need to beat it rather than stonewall you endlessly; and
  • Motion for Summary Judgment Defense Pack – to keep the debt collector from getting a quick and unfair victory over you

          Access to all this information is included in the Debt Defense System. And really… that just scratches the surface. The Debt Defense System is what you need to defend yourself.

Knowledge Applied Is Power


Ken, Just a quick email to say THANK YOU for your well-written manual! I was scared to death when I got a summons and Complaint served on me by a debt collection attorney in Nov. I did exactly what you said, though, and basically let them know I wasn’t going away. The key, I believe, was in the Interrogatories (I used the exact same ones in your manual). The wouldn’t answer them, even after my motion to compel. So I filed a Motion to Dismiss, and that was pretty much it. The attorney folded like a cheap suit, and I have to say it almost felt better than sex!

Thanks again! —Gary

          Knowing what to do means you can be comfortable in court. You can know the basic legal principles that control the cases and the facts of your case and, to the extent possible, of the other side’s case. This kind of knowledge gives you the best chance to win.

          Hi Ken, I just went through mediation…The mediator said he thought I was better prepared than most lawyers. – Frank, Arizona

The Advantages of Self-Representation

Representing yourself is the most cost-effective way to defend yourself from a debt law case.Yes, you’ll have a very good chance to win the case or, if you choose, to settle for far below what the debt collector wanted in the first place. Yes you will save a lot of money. Yes, you need to do this right away. Get the Debt Defense System now.

Click here to Buy the Debt Defense System

For People Sued or Threatened with Debt Suit

Read more

Membership and Why You Should Get One

Read more

Just for Lawyers

For Lawyers

Hi and welcome to Your Legal Leg Up.

We have a lot of information that we hope will be helpful to you and your clients, and we encourage you to look around. We hope this site will be a resource to you and your clients. We also hope you will refer people who cannot afford your services, but who are being sued by debt collectors or original creditors on unpaid debts, to our site for information. We obviously cannot guarantee results, but you might be surprised at how often people representing themselves pro se win with our help.

Referrals

If you have interest in arranging for mutual referrals, please let us know at info@YourLegalLegUp.com. It is our goal to find competent, aggressive lawyers for people who need them, and sometimes we encounter people who want to hire a lawyer rather than represent themselves.

Paralegal Services

If you represent debt defendants, or if you want to represent debt defendants, we can offer a lot of help in addition to Membership. Specifically, if you need research or writing done on a specific case, we can do that at an hourly charge. We’re sure you’ll find the work satisfactory, but if you’d like to see specific samples, let us know. The work will be done at a very high professional level, and you will normally be able to submit work we’ve done directly to the court with few, if any, additions.

Why you Need us if you’re Being Sued for Debt

If you’re being sued or threatened with suit, the first thing you will have thought about was getting a lawyer. Probably the second thing you thought was that you could not afford one. Lawyers don’t all charge the same, or even the same way, but they are all expensive.

What Lawyers Charge

A lawyer with experience, in a medium to large city, will aim to make at least $100 to $300 per hour. It seems impossible, but it’s true, and that will translate into:

  • A flat charge of $1,000 to $1,500 for defending your suit;
  • $1,000 or more in retainer plus a contingent rate; or
  • An hourly rate of $150 per hour.
  • Or some variation essentially equaling the same thing.

Now, not all lawyers will charge that much, but most will – or as much as they can.

What makes it even worse is that very few lawyers are very familiar with the laws involved in defending you. That means they either have to charge you their rates while they learn what to do, eat the costs of learning what they’re doing, or NOT learn what they’re doing. And all of these things have obvious problems for a person needing a lawyer.

So it’s hard to afford a lawyer.

It’s Hard to Find a Lawyer in Debt Law

It’s also hard just to find one who does this kind of law. Many of our members have reported that they could not find a lawyer who would take their case at any price. And there aren’t many lawyers who do. Most big cities have a few – it’s hit and miss in small communities. That’s because people can’t afford them for this kind of law, considering what they have to charge, and because most lawyers haven’t actually heard of most of the laws involved – debt defense is NOT standard teaching in law schools.

Lawyers who DO know about debt law know that, if they represent you, they’ll be taking on a case against a lawyer who handles dozens, perhaps hundreds or thousands of these cases at a time, with a staff, documents, and network to support all that. It’s a tough job. It can be done, but the math isn’t real great, so not many lawyers handle debt law defense.

You Can Do it Yourself

Luckily, you don’t have to have a lawyer for debt defense. In fact, it may even be an advantage to represent yourself. And while it may seem scary, you’ll see that it really isn’t very. Let me explain.

The Number One Reason Most People Don’t Defend themselves

The biggest reason people don’t defend themselves is fear – they’re afraid of having to show up in court, stand up and talk to the judge, talk to a jury… etc.

In fact, most cases of every type never go to trial. Very few do – less than five out of a hundred, perhaps much less than that. If yours DOES go to trial, and for every appearance before a judge, you will be fully prepared. You’ll know much more than the lawyer on the other side – and you’ll know you know, and so, eventually, will the judge. There are a couple of reasons this is so.

Debt Law is Factory Law

America is drowning in debt, and debt cases are filed by the truckload.  That means a few things to you.

First, it means that the people filing the suit know very little about the cases before they file them – they just don’t have time. If you talk to the lawyer before a court date, you’ll see someone utterly confident that they’ll win – without having a clue about anything having to do with your case. The lawyer probably will have never even looked at your case.

Second, it means that the companies need to keep lawyer time invested in cases to an absolute minimum. As I say, the lawyers never worry about losing your case – they worry about spending time on it.  So they will conduct discovery or other pretrial preparations, if at all, in a standardized way, and they will respond to you in a standardized way. That means you can foresee what they will say and prepare (which we help you do). And it means you can disrupt them if you do things they don’t foresee, and we help with that, too.

Given all that, it means, thirdly, that most debt plaintiffs’ lawyers are not particularly gifted lawyers. They spend all day, every day, doing the equivalent of a bully walking up and down a beach kicking sand on everybody that’s smaller them. That isn’t exactly great conditioning for legal thinking, and most good lawyers regard it as a waste of their talent and don’t want to do it. That means there will be a good chance you’re at least as smart as the lawyer you will see in this case. And you should be a heck of a lot more motivated.

With our help, you will be more knowledgeable, too. The best way to get that help is by joining us as a member.