Suing an out-of-state broker in your state under the Long Arm

Yes, depends on broker, shipper or receiver. Most shipments a signed BOL is a POD. Sometimes a separate shipping document, designated a POD.
Usually this situation happens with a blind shipment.

Sometimes a broker required me to provide a BOL and the shipper would provide a POD to be signed by receiver.

 

We have been both aggressor and defendants against judgement suits in the civil court in the past, generally when you get a judgment against someone, you have to inform that person's employer and that person's bank and the garnishment order will be in effect.

What happens with individuals you go after and get Judgement against is that they quit the second they learn what is going to happen. Then you have to locate them if they have moved (Usually do) and the new employment and then start the process over again.

In the two that I recall, after a few years we let Uncle Sam know that we had non repayment losses against our taxes and he took it. So that ended the situation.

 

Ok, but what are the chances of hauling that out-of-state broker to your local court in your state under its Long Arms statutes? Probably most brokers would have their deeply buried jurisdiction clauses in their ‘sign it or leave it’ contracts. But if not…

 

Brokers are issued their legitimacy under federal regulations, which means they are interstate and you file a claim in any court you can.

If this is a local court, than the party who you are suing gets the summons to appear no matter where they are at. This is the reason that they like other authorities to operate have to have a process agent or representive to receive summons and other legal papers in every state that you operate in. We've gone through this a few times this year.

Even if the contract says you have to go to court, the purpose of the bond is to ensure payment is made to the parties that are involved with the shipment and I am sure that the first step is to get a rejection on the bond then move it into litigation.

And if you see a clause like that, cross it off and initial it, then have the broker do the same thing, no one should operate under a contract like that, it steps around the fmcsa regulations.

 

Guaranteeing the payment of judgements is the whole purpose of a bond. The fact that a bond company may choose to pay without a judgement is just prudence on their part. Insurance companies do the same thing when they think you have a valid claim. If they let it go to court they may end up paying a lot more.

FYI: The main difference between a bond policy and an insurance policy is that if the bond company has to pay a claim on your behalf it becomes a debt you owe them.

 

Brokers are required to have $75,000 bond

 

I sue people on a regular basis. I have 2 separate current cases now that are both in federal court. I sue landlords, freight brokers, trucking companies, telemarketers, debt collectors and anyone else that I feel that I can win.

You can file with your local court the broker to be sued. The clerk of the court can help you with this, about $60.
I add extra money depending on who I'm suing for compentory and or puntive compensation. Between $500 to $2500(be reasonable)

The goal is to settle out of court to save time and trouble but to make sure your case is solid in case you want a trial.

Most people will settle out of court. If it goes to trial and you win you can then ask for a judgement afterwards if the amount is not met. A judgement can levy bank accounts, take positions of assets[computers, cars trucks] or bonds.

The best plan to win is to think of how they are going to beat you and plan accordingly to respond.

 

You may already know this but. A bond is subjective to review from the company to any amount if at all to pay.

A very long list of products fall within a category of exempt shipments that can not be filed upon. And if the shipment doesn't travel across 2 different states it can not be filed for a bond. Intrastate.

The bond company protects broker's. The courts do not.

 

Well I for one would like to hear your stories about suing telemarketers.

 

If the call is made by an autodialer you can sue for a minimum of $500 per call if the call was made in error, as in they didn't know any better.

If it was a willful call the penilty is $1500 per call. You will need to take a screen shot of the phone call for evidence. You don't need a lawyer to collect but you might want get one if you have received multiple calls from the same company. Class action could be BIG!