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My Uber driver robbed me, so I took Uber to court and won

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Re: My Uber driver robbed me, so I took Uber to court and won

#271

Post by jjeaff »

koliber wrote: post #255
HenryBemis wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lawyer could probably get him the: -compensation for valuables in the bag -compensation for software/files/etc -compensation for time wasted -compensation for di-stress caused -compensation for tickets & hotel (if I get this right, the "victim" had to fly in for the court) The Uber may had to cough-up 6-8-10k, the lawyer would get 2-4k for 2 hours worth of work and all would be happy

Unfortunately, there is a limit to the damages that can be claimed in small claims court. It differs from state to state. In Massachusetts, it is $7000 ( http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/small-claims-suits-ho... ) . He could go to regular court to claim a larger amount, but that's a more involved and lengthy process.

If you hire a lawyer, your going to regular court. As far as I know, most states if not all, don't allow attorneys in small claims.

Re: My Uber driver robbed me, so I took Uber to court and won

#272

Post by jjeaff »

ferdterguson wrote: post #260
tripzilch wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> However, retaining one to advise you on how to navigate the process, how to phrase your arguments, how to communicate with the opposing party, etc. How, exactly does one "retain" a lawyer? Is that a formal, monthly-fee kind of thing, for the ability to call them up for questions and advice? Or is it more like an informal, having done business in the past, maybe for a larger lawsuit, getting to be friendly, and know…

Retain means pay monthly.

Are you sure about that? My understanding is it simply means you pay a certain amount up front.

That money is held by the firm and Billings are placed against it until time to top it off again.

Re: My Uber driver robbed me, so I took Uber to court and won

#273

Post by ivraatiems »

jjeaff wrote: post #271
koliber wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately, there is a limit to the damages that can be claimed in small claims court. It differs from state to state. In Massachusetts, it is $7000 ( http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/small-claims-suits-ho... ) . He could go to regular court to claim a larger amount, but that's a more involved and lengthy process.

If you hire a lawyer, your going to regular court. As far as I know, most states if not all, don't allow attorneys in small claims.

As I've mentioned in other replies on this chain, that's not true. Most states allow attorneys, and Massachusetts definitely does. It's just not usually considered necessary.

Re: My Uber driver robbed me, so I took Uber to court and won

#274

Post by ivraatiems »

rustid wrote: post #184
ivraatiems wrote: post #82

I'm glad this worked out for the OP. However, I think he may have made a couple mistakes that could have been avoided for a smoother process. The big one is not retaining an attorney. No, he doesn't have to for small claims court, but Uber clearly had its legal team looking at this. Now, I understand that lawyers are expensive and carry their own issues - but if he'd won the case with an attorney, he could potentiall…

So this is my story. I didn't have the money for an attorney. Also I tried to deal with this out of court and that is expected in small claims. They only hear your side if you try and resolve it first, and that includes sharing evidence.

First of all, glad you were able to do this and keep Uber accountable - and thanks for putting in the effort where others would have given up.

It's expected that you'll try to resolve things before filing a suit, and it's expected to try to settle if possible once suit has been filed, but it's not my understanding that those negotiations necessarily involve giving info to the other party that isn't to your advantage except as part of actual discovery. Were you told at some point by the magistrate or court otherwise that you had to do that?

Re: My Uber driver robbed me, so I took Uber to court and won

#275

Post by smsm42 »

gjjrfcbugxbhf wrote: post #248
smsm42 wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You would probably get zilch. People think filing a suit against Uber is bad because they big and have lawyers and stuff. But at least there's a large target. Try suing a private cabman, when you discover owner of the license and the driver are completely different people, and nobody wants to talk to you, and their terms of service, which you have never seen but implicitly accepted, say they are not responsible for a…

I thought traditional Taxis assumed liability.

Who exactly assumes it? Driver? Whoever hired him? Whoever owns the medallion? I think it'd be non-trivial to even figure out who to sue, let alone win it.

Re: My Uber driver robbed me, so I took Uber to court and won

#276

Post by smsm42 »

skinnymuch wrote: post #116
ivraatiems wrote: post #82

I'm glad this worked out for the OP. However, I think he may have made a couple mistakes that could have been avoided for a smoother process. The big one is not retaining an attorney. No, he doesn't have to for small claims court, but Uber clearly had its legal team looking at this. Now, I understand that lawyers are expensive and carry their own issues - but if he'd won the case with an attorney, he could potentiall…

The guy only got $4K. Retaining a lawyer for just that amount wouldn't be worth it, would it? I have no clue how small claims works and how likely it is to have attorney fees be included if you win like you mentioned. The guy had to fly back to Boston again for the second time around. He'd also likely have spent some money in Boston like getting around. None of that was included in the final amount either. I'm not su…

Small claim process is really simple - you fill out the form, where you can detail your claims, supply the documentation and then present it to the judge. You can have a lawyer advising you, but not represent you, and you can include the expenses into the full sum of the claim, but there are limits on how much you can get - $10K in California right now - and you are not guaranteed to be awarded the full sum. Given the outcome - $4k payment - I'd say not retaining the lawyer was the right thing to do. Maybe talking to the lawyer for an hour or so to get advice may be better, but I kinda doubt it would have resulted in substantially more payoff. Or maybe a letter from a lawyer on official letterhead (that is usually not very expensive) may have made the process a bit faster as Uber would realize the plaintiff is not going to be scared off easily.

Re: My Uber driver robbed me, so I took Uber to court and won

#277

Post by smsm42 »

jjeaff wrote: post #271
koliber wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately, there is a limit to the damages that can be claimed in small claims court. It differs from state to state. In Massachusetts, it is $7000 ( http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/small-claims-suits-ho... ) . He could go to regular court to claim a larger amount, but that's a more involved and lengthy process.

If you hire a lawyer, your going to regular court. As far as I know, most states if not all, don't allow attorneys in small claims.

For representation, no. But no small claims court would prohibit the plaintiff to take an advice from a lawyer - i.e. what documents to get, what to say, how to behave, how to formulate one's claims correctly etc. It may help, though not always worth it.

Re: My Uber driver robbed me, so I took Uber to court and won

#278

Post by smsm42 »

RyanOD wrote: post #178
lazyant wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I called several attorney offices for a small claim court case (max $2k in that particular state iirc) and they laughed at me.

I wonder if an attorney would have taken this case pro bono for the opportunity to represent a case against a big name company such as Uber.

Yes, but probably not for $4k-worth stolen laptop case. You can't make your name as a lawyer getting compensation for a single stolen laptop. If that were a $400m nationwide class-action lawsuit, that'd be different matter.

Re: My Uber driver robbed me, so I took Uber to court and won

#279

Post by smsm42 »

ivraatiems wrote: post #273
jjeaff wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you hire a lawyer, your going to regular court. As far as I know, most states if not all, don't allow attorneys in small claims.

As I've mentioned in other replies on this chain, that's not true. Most states allow attorneys, and Massachusetts definitely does. It's just not usually considered necessary.

In California, it (being represented by a lawyer in small claims court) is explicitly not allowed. I guess each state is different.

Re: My Uber driver robbed me, so I took Uber to court and won

#280

Post by skinnymuch »

smsm42 wrote: post #276
skinnymuch wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The guy only got $4K. Retaining a lawyer for just that amount wouldn't be worth it, would it? I have no clue how small claims works and how likely it is to have attorney fees be included if you win like you mentioned. The guy had to fly back to Boston again for the second time around. He'd also likely have spent some money in Boston like getting around. None of that was included in the final amount either. I'm not su…

Small claim process is really simple - you fill out the form, where you can detail your claims, supply the documentation and then present it to the judge. You can have a lawyer advising you, but not represent you, and you can include the expenses into the full sum of the claim, but there are limits on how much you can get - $10K in California right now - and you are not guaranteed to be awarded the full sum. Given th…

Can you adjust the amount? First he undervalued the backpack content. Then he had to trave back a second time because Uber lied to the police. If he can't adjust the amount, that's pretty lame and what I was wondering.
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