[Absolut Speed]

I know a message board is the last place to ask, but....

Most know my pit area was run over at a Solo II event and approx $1000 in damage was done. Offender refused to pay, as has insurance. Attorney I know did a favor for me and wrote a letter to the offender's insurance company asking them to do this the easy way and pay up now, or the hard way, and take the case to court. They again refused to pay. The attorney I used doesn't practice in Iowa and he referred me to someone who does for $155/hour.

I'm already out $1000, so..

Do I go alone and risk losing $1000, assuming it's a fairly simple case be it judged one way or the other?

Or do I improve my chances and hire an attorney, risk losing $1300 and at most get back $690?

When I pitted this question to the attorney that wrote the letter for me, he said it was always his advice to recommend legal counsel, especially when his insurance, who would represent him, would use an attorney.

(IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/banghead.gif)

[Jabberwocky]

Man, that guy is a dillhole for not owning up to his mistakes.

You would reduce your chances of winning slightly if you don't retain a lawyer but with that said, I'd recommend against retaining a lawyer. I've had bad experiences with lawyers draining me dry moneywise. Keep in mind that the lawyer will charge you the retainer, plus around 200-250 and hour, which includes any time he spends in court, at his office doing research, conducting phone calls to investigate, as well as any charges he might incur such as parking, postage, court filing fees, etc. It's all in the contract they try to get you to sign, read it. Ask you lawyer for a flat fee instead of an hourly rate and I think you'll be suprised at how much it cost.

Just sue him in small claims court. I hope you had filed a police report. I think the damages are small enough so that his insurance company wouldn't send a lawyer. Make sure you explain to the judge or jury that this happened on private property. If your stuff was on public property, that's different and you might lose, but since it was on private property, that changes things a bit. Although he was welcomed onto the private property, there are implied rules and conditions. You can't be held accountable for carelessness since your stuff wasn't on public property. The only way he can really get out of this is to claim that you were negligent. On private property, negligence is much harder to prove. It doesn't really matter how he damaged your stuff, just that he did. If he had bashed your windows in with a hammer, he'd be liable. It's not very different if he decided damage your stuff with his car. Let us know, best of luck to you.