we're off to see the lawyer ...

Never having been involved in either side of a lawsuit, today's visit with Mr. S. to a lawyer, in pursuit of a suit, was kind of interesting.

At the beginning of this year, we bought a car from a woman who assured us that it had never been involved in anything worse than a fender-bender. As the 60-ish war widow was also a colleague of the daughter of close friends of my in-laws (like family, in other words), Mr. S. took her at her word and decided not to invest the $100 for a thorough test of the car. He paid the book value, invested more in sound system and new tires, and hoped to live happily ever after. Six months later, the car was stolen, and when it came time for the insurance company to cough up the claim, they informed us that the car had a record of major accident damage and a big payout to the former owner, reducing the value of the car and subsequent claim. We were out 12,000 shekels (about C$3000). Our lawyer sent her a letter claiming that she owed us this money, and would be sued if she didn't pay, but she didn't respond. Now we're on to stage two.

We drove to Petah Tikvah (about 20 min.) and had to park the car another 10 min. walk from the lawyer's office, as the commercial area of that town is too congested to find reliable parking. He is practising out of a run-down old apartment building without an elevator, so I was glad he was only on the second floor. We were greeted with a wave of cigarette smoke in a squalid little office. There was no receptionist, but the desk in the front area had an ashtray overflowing with butts. Dismayed, I immediately went for a window and opened it in spite of the air conditioning, standing there until the lawyer, who emerged with a cigarette in his hand, came to invite us in. Another man, likewise with a lit cigarette, brought an extra chair into the office. Even for Israel, this smoking environment was unusual -- there's a lot less of it now, and it's prohibited in many public places -- and I've clearly become spoiled.

I was also surprised by how young our lawyer was -- he's the son-in-law of a client of my father-in-law, and because the client owes my father-in-law money, we're getting "free" legal services... although I learned today that we will need to pay a court fee for filing the suit, though I don't know how much. He looks like about 25, with funky, gelled hair but a perfectly bright white long-sleeved shirt -- the professional look, but no tie in Israel, of course. I wondered how long he'd been out of school.

The whole picture, up to that point, was pretty unimpressive, but once he started talking, any doubt fell away. He sounded very intelligent and rational and as if he'd given the matter its due consideration. I enjoyed the way he patiently explained the court processes. He informed us that he was suing on our behalf for 36,000 shekels, not 12,000, and he explained that this was the amount we'd lost on paper, because it was the difference between what we paid for the car and what the insurance company later said it was actually worth given its background -- although the insurance company didn't actually transfer that total loss to us in our claim, possibly because our insurance premium was based on a higher value. This remains unclear, but we were very pleased to hear that we could potentially make on this suit triple what we'd calculated. It's a nice thought anyway; I won't hold my breath.

What I learned from our young advocate today: Stage two (where we are now) involves formal filing of the suit, which will be hand-delivered to her. If she doesn't formally respond to the court with her defense claim within 45 days, we automatically win, and the process finishes with the court-ordered extraction of the claimed sum, from her bank account or property. If she does properly respond, it goes to stage three, a preliminary hearing where the parties and their paperwork are looked over to see who's who and what's what. If one of the parties fails to show up at that point, they automatically lose. Stage four, if stage three doesn't bring a settlement, is the actual trial with the evidence and examination of the witnesses, which our lawyer made sound like the stuff of tv. "This is where the art comes in," he told us, "and it's very difficult for witnesses because the job of the lawyers is to make them look like liars." Only onths later will a judgment be rendered.

In any case, he says, we can count on the whole process taking at least a year to completely resolve, unless the respondent fails to respond, in which case it will wind up faster. I guess the courts are pretty clogged up with litigious citizens. From what I've heard of our seller, she's probably one of them; I'll bet she knows the system very well and is hoping to drag this thing out as long as possible.