Gulp!

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That's nice....come here under an asylum excuse, and when you figured out you could make money by abusing the legal system, you didn't even hesitate to rip-off your fellow Americans.

Jerk.
 
Asking for changes in the legal system that would represent common sense would be asking lawyers to take a pay cut. Since the legal system is run from within for its own benefit, common sense will never be allowed.

To be allowed to sue a man for a problem with a printer that no longer exists is a perfect example of a gravy train running down the tracks at full speed.
 
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Man sued for $30K over $40 printer he sold on Craigslist

Selling a used, black-and-white printer through Craigslist seemed simple and straightforward to Doug Costello.

It wasn't.

What the 66-year-old Massachusetts man didn't know then is that he would spend the next 6 ½ years embroiled in a complicated and confusing legal dispute in Indiana over that printer, which, according to its buyer, was broken.

He would find himself liable for about $30,000 in damages. He would pay a lawyer at least $12,000 in his battle to escape the legal mess.

And it all started with a piece of hardware he sold online for about $40 in 2009. With shipping and other costs, the total was less than $75, according to court records.


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The printer's buyer was Gersh Zavodnik, a 54-year-old Indianapolis man known to many in the legal community as a frequent lawsuit filer who also represents himself in court. The Indiana Supreme Court said the "prolific, abusive litigant" has brought dozens of lawsuits against individuals and businesses, often asking for astronomical damages. Most, according to court records, involve online sales and transactions.

Zavodnik, a native of Ukraine who moved to the United States in 1987 under a grant of political asylum, sued Costello, accusing him of falsely advertising a malfunctioning printer with missing parts, and pocketing Zavodnik's money.

According to court records, Zavodnik initially filed a lawsuit in Marion County Small Claims Court, where he asked for the maximum damages of $6,000. Zavodnik lost because he had thrown away the evidence (the printer), court records said.


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In 2010, Zavodnik sent Costello, who also was representing himself in the lawsuit, paperwork asking him to admit that he was liable for more than $30,000 for breach of contract, fraud and conversion. The trial court dismissed the case, along with 26 others filed by Zavodnik, who appealed all of those dismissals, court records state.

The Indiana Court of Appeals in March 2012 revived the lawsuit against Costello and sent the case back to the trial court, where it remained stagnant for another nine months until a hearing was scheduled later that year.

Zavodnik also had sent Costello two more requests for admissions. One asked Costello to admit that he conspired with the judge presiding over the case, and that he was liable for more than $300,000. Another one requested Costello to admit that he was liable for more than $600,000.


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Because Costello did not respond to all three requests for admissions within 30 days of receiving them, and did not ask for an extension of time, as required by Indiana trial rules, Costello admitted to the liabilities and damages by default. He also did not appear at a July 2013 hearing, according to court records.

Costello said he never received the requests for admissions and was not notified of the hearing.

Finally, in March 2015 — six years after Costello sold the printer — Special Judge J. Jeffrey Edens issued a ruling. He awarded Zavodnik a judgment of $30,044.07 for breach of contract.



http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/nati...slist/85478168/
 
The Indiana legal system and participants need to be looked at here.

Why did it take six years to find a judge with common sense? The printer seller was living under a cloud during all that time.

And why hasn't anyone taken action against the plaintiff?
 
OP, did you not finish reading the article? Did you read the last part where it was thrown out after that last ruling?

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On March 23, the appeals court issued a sharply worded 13-page opinion in his favor.

The $30,000 in damages "had no basis in reality," Chief Judge Nancy Vaidik wrote.

Zavodnik misused the Indiana trial rule, which was meant to more quickly and efficiently reach a resolution, Vaidik wrote."


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But the case is not yet over.

The appeals court ordered the trial court to hold a hearing to determine whether the case should be dismissed "based on Zavodnik's repeated, flagrant, and continuing failure to comply with Indiana's rules of procedure."

That hearing won't be held before Edens, the special judge from Boone County. He, like many others before him, recused himself.

Special Judge Christopher Burnham, of Morgan County, is now on the case."


I wonder if he can recover his legal fees? It's shameful the way some people in this country act.
 
Would it be a frivolous lawsuit if Costello countersued? Claiming mental anguish or somesuch over six years of legal wrangling.
 
Originally Posted By: Nate1979
OP, did you not finish reading the article? Did you read the last part where it was thrown out after that last ruling?

No, I didn't read the last page. I was so lost by this type of lawsuit I posted as soon as I read the first 2 pages.

Actually, the same frivolous lawsuit had been posted earlier under the title "Gulf".


Quote:
On March 23, the appeals court issued a sharply worded 13-page opinion in his favor.

The $30,000 in damages "had no basis in reality," Chief Judge Nancy Vaidik wrote.

Zavodnik misused the Indiana trial rule, which was meant to more quickly and efficiently reach a resolution, Vaidik wrote."


Quote:
But the case is not yet over.

The appeals court ordered the trial court to hold a hearing to determine whether the case should be dismissed "based on Zavodnik's repeated, flagrant, and continuing failure to comply with Indiana's rules of procedure."

That hearing won't be held before Edens, the special judge from Boone County. He, like many others before him, recused himself.

Special Judge Christopher Burnham, of Morgan County, is now on the case."


Originally Posted By: Nate1979
I wonder if he can recover his legal fees? It's shameful the way some people in this country act.


Plaintiff migrated here in the 80's from Ukraine, he seems to take advantage of our judicial system, suing everybody and only need to win few cases would make him rich.
 
Originally Posted By: Brybo86
Zavodnik= translated means a person good enough to drag, hog-tried behind a horse


I understand you are joking, but actually "Zavod" is Russian and other Slavik languages for "factory." So a Zavodnik is a factory worker or person affiliated with a factory/enterprise. Like a whole slew of last names which come from occupations.
 
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