On July 17, 2002 Tom presented his closing argument to prevent the $40,000 owed to him from being discharged through a bad faith bankruptcy filing by the Schroeders.
The preparation required to go to trial provided Tom with a genuine appreciation for the work a lawyer must do when a lawyer does his job properly.
Too many lawyers build billable hours by talking to each other and exchanging letters about settlement possibilities instead of really trying to get the facts ready for use at trial.
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On the left is a sample sticker used by a plaintiff to
mark exhibits for easy reference at trial. Reference numbers are written above the line like 1, 2, 3, etc. or they can be numbers with a letter prefix to convey they are plaintiff exhibits such as P-1, P-2, P-3, or defendant exhibits D-1, D-2, D-3. |
It took until March 29, 2006 for Judge Gloria M. Burns to issue an opinion and a ruling. It was a Disappointing ruling in Tom's favor. Just to show how times have changed in the courts, here is an old ruling from an 1886 Yarnall case.
Tom filed a Motion to Reconsider on April 11, 2006 because the award of the judgment was so low. The Judge had not taken into account the $45,000 that Tom and Polly had to pay to the Trustee of Macrophage in a related bankruptcy proceeding that never should have been allowed to proceed.
That $45,000 payment was pursued by a trustee through the Bankruptcy Court erroneously because Macrophage was not a "factoring company" as they falsely claimed in their bankruptcy filing. Macrophage was a small business investment company that should not have been allowed to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy according to United States Code Title 11 Chapter 1 Section 109 Clause (b) (2).
On May 15, 2006 his Motion to Reconsider was heard. More evidence was requested by the Judge. Tom submitted a series of certifications. Two additional hearings were held. At an October 2006 hearing, the Judge indicated she would rule "on the papers". That meant no more hearings. I will call you. Do not call me.
Finally on August 31, 2007 the Judge scheduled a conference call and issued a ruling in Tom's favor and increased the award from $1,614 to $17,421. The order was issued on 9/12/2007.
On May 9, 2011 a hearing was held on an involuntary Schroeder bankruptcy filing by Geoff Steiert to try to rectify a move by the Schroeder attorney John Hargrave when he inserted his position as a lien holder ahead of others on the Schroeder home - more legal maneuvering.
Judge Burns dismissed Steiert's case. Tom will probably never collect his $17,421 via a lien on the Schroeder home because of this maneuver by John Hargrave.
Now the challenge became more difficult to try to collect this judgment. As of August 11, 2015 no lawyer would undertake the collection action. This was partly why Tom wrote "An American Hoax". Even if not one copy is sold, it was a very good catharsis.
In August of 2019 Tom decided to contact attorney Joseph Lemkin because he said on the Internet that he was a specialist in creditor's rights. They met and discussed what options were possible to try to obtain part or all of the funds Tom was owed by the Schroeders. By then the amount had grown to $24,497.51 with the interest charges. On October 8, 2019 a writ of execution was sent to the Camden County Sheriff.
On November 12, 2019 Tom received the following email from Joe's paralegal, Erin Reid. "Good news, I received the affidavit back today from the Sheriff. We successfully levied on funds in the amount of $2,741.89 at Wells Fargo Bank. For next steps, we will prepare and file a Motion to Turnover Funds with the court. This motion will be scheduled before the Judge on December 6, 2019 (this is the next available return date). Once the Judge enters our Order to Turnover, we then send the entered Order to the bank to release the funds to the Sheriff. In turn, we will receive a check from the Sheriff for said amount."
The cost to Tom for these legal services and various fees to process the writ and motions was $919.55. The check from the Sheriff was finally written on 2/19/2020. The check from Stark and Stark to me was written on 3/11/2020 for $2,741.89. Was it good a good decision to get something from the Schroeders?
Notice how well the creditor was treated by the "rule of law" during these events. Many costs and hurdles protected the creditor. Notice how the debtor was not protected by the "rule of law". You may want to read my book "An American Hoax" for the complete story. You will understand the title of the book. Many unethical maneuvers were employed by a number of lawyers. Many statutes were ignored and poorly written. I had hoped the book could be used at law schools in ethics courses. After contacting about 30 law schools, I got the impression I do not have the credentials even though I have the examples. No sales as of March 2020!