Debt Defense Litigation Manual
Our Litigation Manual is a comprehensive introduction and orientation to debt litigation. It discusses all the entities involved: debt collection companies, their lawyers, debt defendants and their lawyers, judges, court personnel, and even court security. It tells you what their interests are in the proceedings and what you should expect from them, how to act, and how to plan.
It also discusses the debt collection process, from missing payments to being served with a suit… what to expect your first day in court, and what to expect on your last day in court. We discuss most of the choices you will face:
- Do you answer or file a motion to dismiss?
- Do you want a judge-tried case? Or a Jury trial?
- What are they trying to prove, and how can they do it?
- What are you trying to prove, and what do you say?
- How will the court act? And how should you respond?
- And almost everything else likely to come up in a debt case.
The manual is about 250 pages long (with links to articles and videos on the website), and if you read it all the way through, you should know enough to start the process of defending yourself from a debt collector. You’ll find it handy all the way through the case, and originally it was intended to be all you would ever need.
Times change, strategies evolve, and a few rules are added or subtracted, but the material in our manual is “evergreen.” That’s because it talks about what happens to people when they get into debt – and American consumer debt, at over 4 trillion dollars, is at all-time highs. There are institutional things helping to bring that about, but there are also personal things you can do to protect yourself. We mention some of those in the manual.
What the Litigation Manual Includes
We talk about the debt collectors – the companies who buy vast quantities of debt and process them with automated phone calls and letters on up through the legal system. These people want what they’ve always wanted – your money. But they don’t want to spend any of their money. So the manual helps you put our prime strategies into play. You’ll learn how to:
- Increase the costs of the debt collector;
- Avoid mistakes that could gut your case;
- Know how to deal with hostile motions filed by debt collectors; and
- Ready your case for trial.
Affecting the Value of the Case for Debt Collectors
Very few cases go to trial because almost all which are disputed ultimately settle. But the terms of settlement vary widely. There’s an old saying that cases are settled “in the shadow of the law.” That means that what the law provides weighs heavily as a factor in what people are willing to accept to settle. On the other hand, debt collection lawyers tend to discount much of what pro se defendants say. Our manual shows you what the law provides and gives you a lot of help (in conjunction with other membership services) making the other side pay attention to the law. Lawsuits are about pressure points – strengths and weaknesses – and the manual will help you identify and fix weaknesses and develop and use your strengths.
Preparing you for Trial
Most cases settle, but the way they settle makes a difference. Making the debt collector spend money is half the fight. Making them think you might win the case really gives you power.
And you should win. The debt collectors have the burden of proof, and they don’t have the evidence they need. In order to win, you need to find out what they have and be able to prove that they don’t have what they need. The Manual shows you how to conduct discovery (with samples) and how to present or defend against motions on the way to trial. And it includes a step-by-step explanation of the ways trials work and what will happen at yours.
The Litigation Defense Manual no longer our main product, but it’s still a big part of the foundation of your defense.
