Posted by John Schenk on 3/7/11 7:42pm
Msg #375380

My Thanks to Patrick Baird out of Granbury, TX

DEVELOPED INTO A LONG, RANTING, POST, KUDOS TO PATRICK BAIRD FROM GRANBURY, TEXAS. He's da man! Read further if you want to read a rant. It's not OT, as it's DEFINITELY related to help from a notary that helped me out today, whom I employed for a NON-REAL ESTATE TRANSACTION. This has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH A LOAN CLOSING AT ALL! It has to do with the filing of a lawsuit and the service Mr. Baird provided for me.

Read on if you wish, NOT Notary Related, as far as stamping anything, and NOT MORTGAGE Loan related. STOP READING NOW IF YOU THINK IT IS! STOP!!! THIS IS ALSO A RANTING POST, while giving kudos to Mr. Baird! GET IT? LOL

Had the WEIRDEST thing happen today with a district clerk's office out of Hood County, Texas. I FedExed a Plaintiffs' Original Petition to the clerk, which was delivered at 10:03 a.m.. I call down at 10:25 a.m. to see if I can get a cause number, as the statute of limitations expires today. They couldn't find the check and pleadings, etc., at first, but after about 20 minutes on the phone they find it. It hasn't been filed yet, but I'm informed that I can not get a cause number over the phone and they will send me my return copies and Citations back via my enclosed, self-addressed, stamped, envelope. WTH??? In more than 32 years I've never heard such a thing. It's a public filing, I just wanted the cause number so I would personally know that it's been filed...standard operating procedure. Only way I can get it is if I come to the clerk's office 100+ miles away. Get outta here! LOL I call my district clerk, who is a friend of mine, who laughs and says she will call the district clerk in Hood County. She calls me back and says that the district clerk in Hood says If I will fax a request asking for the cause number that they will release it over the phone. Okay...no big deal. I fax the request, and wait a couple of hours, and then call down there again. Michelle tells me she didn't get my fax and she just doesn't know what's going on around there today,please fax it again and she'll stay on the phone by the fax until she gets it. I'm on the 3rd floor, central fax is on the 2nd floor, put her on hold and throw that baby right back in the fax and pick up the phone...she's gone. Call her back and she says Yep, I got it, but you'll have to speak with the district clerk to get the cause number. LOL Okay! She's still not available of course, so I call back an hour later. She's still not available and nobody can give that to you over the phone. Okay, Michelle, can you at least tell me if the petition has been file stamped and assigned a cause/case number? No, I haven't done that yet. WTH?

I called Mr. Baird just after lunch and asked him if he could go by and get me a copy of that file-stamped petition, fax it to me, and give me the cause/case number. Sure, John, no problem. Be glad to do it for you. However, Mr. Baird, I still haven't been able to confirm that the petition they received at 10:03 a.m. has been filed yet as of 2:00 p.m. on a date my statute of limitations is about to expire. He assures me he will get it done for me (which he did).

There is ALWAYS a plan "B." I had the same petition drafted for filing in our own county, which would be an inappropriate venue, but with a check for the filing fee and filing the petition here and had no doubt the statute of limitations would be protected, subject to a special appearance and the case getting transferred to the appropriate venue for another hundred bucks or so. No biggie. Stupid to have to go through that, but all bases were covered.

Anyway, I confirmed with the Chief Deputy District Clerk at 3:30 p.m. that the case had indeed been filed and assigned a cause number. OMG! Hallelujah! LOL She won't GIVE me the cause number, and she apologized that she couldn't, but I recorded the conversation totally identifying her, the style of the case, the date, and that the case had been filed and assigned a cause number. YES, I am allowed to do that in Texas, and have recorded literally thousands of conversations over the years, including this one. Okay, so now I have a recorded conversation with the Deputy District Clerk of Hood County, Texas telling me the case has indeed been filed and assigned a cause number. At this point, I call Mr. Baird, my fellow notary, again. Mr. Baird, I'm assured the case has been filed and has a cause number. Please get me a copy of the front page of the petition showing the cause number and a file stamp. No problem, John.

Mr. Baird sends one of his staff to the courthouse and lo and behold, she is told the case has not been filed and they have no record of it. GEEEEEEZZZ I give him the name of Michelle, whom I've spoken with at least 5 times today, and the name of the Chief District Clerk, while his employee is at the courthouse. Meanwhile, I tell him I'm headed to the courthouse here with petition and check in hand to file the suit here. Please call me immediately once his employee has seen the first page of the petition and give me a cause number. I'm walking into the courthouse here at 4:45 and I get a call. John, I have a cause number for you. YAY!!!! He emails me the front page of the petition shortly thereafter and I'm set. I haven't seen it yet, but he tells me he has it and he gives me the cause number. I don't file my petition here, relying upon him, with Plan "C" in mind that so long as I get it post-marked and mailed to my district clerk under Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 4 (Mailbox Rule) it's still filed today as the post office is considered an extension of all the Texas District Clerk's offices. Not the way one should do stuff, but I have a cause number know and have been told it's file-marked for March 7th.

Indeed it WAS filemarked March 7th and Mr. Baird provided me with a copy of the front page of the petition for a reasonable fee. His check will go out tomorrow. He was VERY PROFESSIONAL in this matter, and offers many other services. I will use him again for anything in his area, and possibly for some of his other services!

THANK YOU PATRICK BAIRD FOR YOUR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES! I can sleep better tonight as a result of your help.

The crazy thing about this is that this case will likely settle this week for 6 figures. Ridiculous girations that should never have occurred. I'm proud of my fellow notary for helping me out.

Sorry that there is a considerable rant included in this post, but I intend to do something to whack this policy in Baird County, Texas, which only has like 40,000+ residents of the county. Not like they were super busy and couldn't file this damned petition shortly after its delivery, other than they couldn't find it, couldn't find my fax requesting a cause number after the district clerks spoke together saying that was all that was needed, wouldn't give it to me after the 2nd fax of the request, and wouldn't give it to me at ALL in the end, short of hiring Mr. Baird to get me a copy of that front page of that lawsuit with a file mark and cause number on it. I'm PIZZED!

JJ

Reply by Susan Fischer on 3/7/11 9:03pm
Msg #375384

Thoroughly enjoyable read, John, and the suspense was

riveting.

Well done! Your animated 'Day in the Life of Civil Procedure,' and its lesson of contingency planning, shines a beacon out into our real world of the nitty-gritty Rule of Law.

[cue up Nitty Gritty Dirt Band]

So the Bar's Open and drinks are on the House: Clang!

Reply by John Schenk on 3/7/11 10:05pm
Msg #375390

Re: Thoroughly enjoyable read, John, and the suspense was

Miserable, headache, day here, but there are actually 3 plans on a late filing. Absolutely the MOST unusual filing in my many years of dealing with flings.

Someone would say, "File the case well before the statute date and you don't have to worry about it." That's true, but sometimes, for real reasons, that doesn't happen. In this particular case the adjuster got hit with a 3 death case that she had to address immediately. That puts my cutting off the thumb case on the back burner, understandably. I sent my med records to them TWICE, and she said she had none, but just the bills. Email and faxes were to TWO...TWO..other adjusters, and ONE personally handed him IN MY OFFICE when he took the statement of our client.

Our client is a veteran. The VA is less than quick on getting you their subrogation amounts, and in fact are currently slow than Medicare. After MONTHS of requests. I finally got the amount that was due to them. Our client actually got pizzed and called state representatives and senators. I got it pretty quick after that. LOL It shouldn't be this way.

I had to find four (4) different LLPs and two (2) corporations to sue in order to be sure I sued the right company. This company shrouded itself in multiple LLCs and LLPs to keep from getting sued in the right name. You don't sue the right LLP or LLC, and you have a problem. Took me almost 7 months to get anything from the VA. Medicare usually just takes me about 5 months now to get a printout of subrogation costs.

In filing a case, you MUST have multiple contingencies when you're running the deadline, as we had to do on this one. You have to meet the statute of limitations to file the case, but that doesn't necessarily mean that you MUST meet it in the county in which venue truly lies. In Texas, we can file it in ANY county in the state, so long as it is filed within limitations. It's gonna get transferred, most likely, but meeting the limitations is the most important thing you MUST accomplish. There is, or should be, ALWAYS, a Plan "A," "B," and "C." I proudly had all 3 plans in place. There is no plan "D" in Texas, to my knowledge.

Anyway, it's filed simply under Plan "A." "B" and "C" were available, but they take an Aleve to filed under those options. LOL I don't take any medications on a regular basis AT ALL, but I did take an Aleve this afternoon. To be honest, I still have a headache over this one. All is good. Just an EXTREMELY stressful day that was TOTALLY unwarranted. Done now, and once I got confirmation I move on. Sorry for the rant, but I just really needed to do that I guess.

For those thinking of law clients, WE need confirmation on things like this ASAP. You can't mess around with statutes of limitations. When the time period runs for a client to file a lawsuit, or YOU, it's over. There are varying time periods applicable to your own state for various causes of action In Lousiana, you got ONE (1) YEAR on a statute of limitations on a personal injury claim, which is the shortest period in the U.S. that I'm aware of, and NOT A LEGAL OPINION!

NOTHING IN MY POSTS IS A LEGAL OPINION IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, EVER! Do NOT act upon any post I ever make as a legal opinion, as I have NO LEGAL OPINION, EVER. I AM A LAYMAN AND WILL NEVER GIVE A LEGAL OPINION. IF YOU BELIEVE I HAVE MADE ANY LEGAL OPINION, DISREGARD IT AS CRAP. I HAVE NOT, AND WILL NOT, EVER MAKE A LEGAL OPINION.

JJ :-D

Reply by Susan Fischer on 3/7/11 10:29pm
Msg #375391

To me, the take-away from this is "...For those thinking of

law clients, WE need confirmation on things like this ASAP. You can't mess around with statutes of limitations."

Brings to mind the "race-states" for public recordings. First to file = first wins. In 'race' states, the failure of a recording official to Record ASAP rings CRUCIAL. The "STOPWATCH" is the real-person Recorder. With its corresponding Number...

Reply by John Schenk on 3/7/11 11:04pm
Msg #375392

It's NOT a race issue.

I'm not really sure I understand your post. "WE," in my post, meant the law firm I work for, and nothing more. I was only trying to verify that the case was filed and had a cause/case number. The clerk certainly knew nothing about "race," and the client is white, if that matters to you.

This wasn't a political post, and certainly not a "race" issue post. Simply a freak clerk policy that applies to ALL, in Texas, within than county, regardless of race, creed, or color.

Please don't make this some racial issue, or political issue, which it isn't. It's a small town district clerk that has set a ridiculous policy, which applies across the board. Only one in the State of Texas I know of in 32+ years in this biz that has such a policy, and I've assisted in filing lawsuits in probably at least 1/3 of the counties in this state, as well as many other states, in that time period. I have absolutely NO belief that this is in any way has to do with RACE...geezz.

Has nothing to do with "First to file = first wins." Hell, we were just filing a suit for a single individual. Just had to meet a deadline..there was no race to the deadline to beat anyone else.

This was a kudo to a fellow notary that helped me out, that is a member of this board, and an informative post, in lay aspects. There is NO racial thing here. If there was, it would be this white, district clerk (probably in her late 40's) screwing with my white, disabled American Veteran client. That wouldn't work with your post at all.

Now, I have an opinion of her, but I won't share that. I MAY share it when she comes up for re-election in a letter to the editor in her county. I'm not a vindictive person, but the lady has a REAL problem in her office. I have no intention of doing anything until our case is settled, or has a jury verdict, with regards to this clerk. There's only one (1) district court in that county. Can you imagine how quickly our client could get screwed, regardless of race, in a county that has ONE district court if I were to attack this district clerk? I can tell you that it would not make a difference in this county if our client was purple, pink, orange, white, black, brown, yellow, or any other freakin color. It's NOT a racial post. It's NOT a racial issue. There is NO reason to make this something racial/political,when it is NOT.

It had a rant in it with giving the guy kudos. That's all.

JJ

Reply by HisHughness on 3/7/11 11:30pm
Msg #375395

Geez, John, cool your jets

She was speaking about race as in tortoise and the hare, 100-yard dash, Olympic trophies, starter's pistols, short pants and jock straps, cinder tracks, lanes, outrunning other guys, crossing the finish line, marathons, running shoes, relay teams, that sort of thing.

How in hell could you ever have coughed up a racial issue out of her post?

Reply by Susan Fischer on 3/7/11 11:33pm
Msg #375396

"race" in this case refers to the first to Record. Nothing

to do with Ethnicities. "Race" as in a foot race, a horse race, car race, space race..: A competition for a Redording win.

Please stay on topic.

Reply by JanetK_CA on 3/7/11 11:38pm
Msg #375398

Re: It's NOT a race issue.

You HAVE had a rough day, haven't you, John! I suggest a nice glass of wine, a soak in a hot tub or maybe just a deep breath??? Then go back and read Susan's post again. [All meant with utmost respect...]

I'll admit I know nothing about filing documents, but when I read the part about "First to file = first wins", I assumed that it referred to racing, as in trying to get there first (wherever "there" is, and for whatever reason). It never occurred to me that the reference to "race" was meant in any way related to anything "racial" and I seriously doubt that that was the case. And I suspect that her post was intended with empathy, not any criticism, and certainly not with any racial component.

This, I believe, is just another example of how easy it is to miss-read a post and conversely how sometimes the intended tone may not come across in written form - especially when read quickly. I think the recent thread about NR police was prompted by another possibly misinterpreted post. Maybe I'm naive or just like to think the best of people, but I didn't really get what that was about, either. I suspect it was just reading someone's post in a tone other than what was intended. [Sometimes that happens when we make assumptions about the poster, then use those to filter how we interpret that person's posts...]

It's just the nature of the beast (i.e. the written word - especially the quickly dashed off written word), so i think it would be helpful to try to cut each other some slack and not be too sensitive. [This is meant in general, not about this thread.]

Anyway, John, I'm sorry you had such a tough time today, but thanks for sharing with us. There were lots of good points in your post, including how much a difference one person with a good attitude and work ethic can make in someone else's life. Most of us could learn a thing or two from your Mr. Baird - and from you for having a plan B and a plan C!!

Reply by Moneyman/TX on 3/7/11 11:39pm
Msg #375399

Re: It's NOT a race issue.

John, I think you misinterpreted Susie's post. Probably the stress of the day and the situation itself, but I think she meant "race" as in time. (race you to the door --or to file fist type of thing).

Reply by BrendaTx on 3/8/11 6:44am
Msg #375406

Brings to mind Gilda Radner...Emily Litella

Ne-ver-mind.

But, Chris, you are probably toooooo young to remember that...maybe you remember your parents watching SNL back in the day.

Reply by John Schenk on 3/8/11 9:03am
Msg #375427

MY SINCERE APOLOGIES, SUSAN!

I DID misinterpret your post. I'm sorry! It was a long, stressful day, and I was a time bomb ready to explode yesterday. Again, I'm sorry.

JJ

Reply by Susan Fischer on 3/8/11 10:09am
Msg #375440

Not to worry, John. Everything's cool. and we're just fine. n/m

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 3/8/11 8:04am
Msg #375413

Re: Thoroughly enjoyable read, John, and the suspense was

"
Someone would say, "File the case well before the statute date and you don't have to worry about it." That's true, but sometimes, for real reasons, that doesn't happen. In this particular case the adjuster got hit with a 3 death case that she had to address immediately. That puts my cutting off the thumb case on the back burner, understandably. I sent my med records to them TWICE, and she said she had none, but just the bills. Email and faxes were to TWO...TWO..other adjusters, and ONE personally handed him IN MY OFFICE when he took the statement of our client."

Sounds like a typical adjuster stall tactic if ever I heard one - "we never received the medicals" ... "I just got clobbered with 3 major claims"

I don't care how many cases you have - you can't handle the settlement get someone else on your files - ALL claims are equally important and any adjuster worth their salt can juggle, handle and settle WITHOUT losing documentation.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane John - haven't done PI since 2006 but oh the joy!!....

Reply by Moneyman/TX on 3/7/11 11:35pm
Msg #375397

Glad everything worked out for you and good luck with the case itself.

After reading the first 2 paragraphs I was hooked. I HAD to read on.

There's something about someone telling me not to read something that just makes me want to read it. ^__^

Although I know it was a frustrating day for you, it was an enjoyable read.

Probably because we have all had days like that and can relate to the "Yes it arrived; No, I can't find it; No, I can't tell you what's going on with it; You'll have to talk to --- wait their out to lunch -- I know it's 3pm but their gone; Can you fax it again; Hello??" type of situations. I know I have.

Reply by jba/fl on 3/8/11 8:44am
Msg #375421

MM: waiting for docs sounds just like that too! LOL JJ - it

happens in all walks of life. Sure hope you feel much better today....you deserve it.

BTW - I only got 4 boxes, not 12. Lucky G.

Reply by James Dawson on 3/8/11 9:57am
Msg #375436

I enjoyed the read also...Yes we all have days like that!

Reply by MW/VA on 3/8/11 8:07am
Msg #375414

Whewwwww! This is a good reality check for those who think

being an NSA is tough. I'm glad you got it worked out, JJ.

Reply by Carolyn Bodley on 3/8/11 12:01pm
Msg #375457

Re: Brings back a blast from the past

It was the last of the '80's before the Internet and before email -- the fax machine and word processors were the big technology items. It's sometime between Christmas and New Years. Around 9:30-10:00 a.m. one of the attorneys discovers the large snafu that had slipped between the cracks -- a statute of limitation that expired at 5:00 p.m. Four of our attorneys begin digging through the files while at the same time contacting two attorneys in New York -- to this day, I don't know who they were, although they were immediately on a plane and arrived at our office about 2:00. All six of them arrange themselves around the table in the large conference room. One writes madly on a legal pad while the others are still reading the files. After the first finishes writing, he passes his handwriting onto the next person and he begins writing and adding to what the first has written. I waited at the head of the table for the sixth one to finish writing his portion, and then I began typing from their scratchings. The last one continued bringing me in their pages until they were finished with their part. I was chosen for the job of putting the mess together because of not only my typing speed, but my ability to decipher what they can't even read of their own handwriting, and because I actually work better under pressure.

By 3:30 I had typed more than 25 pages. I printed and took into the conference room for everyone to read what everyone else had written. They added, removed, moved and stetted, while again, I revised a page at a time while they continued their thing. Since Aspen is more than four hours away, we had gotten permission from the Aspen Court to have a local firm hand file a faxed copy, and we would mail the original that night. The attorneys had already told me that they would not have time to re-read it a second time. No pressure here -- I finished the last page of revisions at 4:40 and was in the process of running a spell check because if they weren't going to read it, it wasn't going to have any typos. That's when one of the attorneys lost it -- "If you're in a #$#$# hurry, don't give it to Carolyn because she'll have to run a ##%#%# spell check!"

The secretary in the Aspen firm grabbed it from the fax machine and tore out of the building. She knew with the holiday traffic, the skiers and a blizzard, she wouldn't make it if she drove. There just happened to be some little kid's bicycle leaning up against the building. She jumped on it and began pedaling. She got it filed/time stamped with a minute to spare - time stamp 4:59 p.m. When she got back to the office, there was all kinds of police activity. The little boy had reported his bicycle had been stolen.

Reply by Susan Fischer on 3/8/11 12:12pm
Msg #375458

Oh man! Great story. n/m

Reply by John Schenk on 3/8/11 12:45pm
Msg #375463

Re: Brings back a blast from the past

LMAO That's dedication when you're willing to steal a kid's bike for your boss.

Great story!

JJ

Reply by Susan Fischer on 3/8/11 1:15pm
Msg #375469

Poor kid, surrounded by lawyers..."exigent circumstances,

your Honor..."