Shyrell,
This is so unfair, but one thing to consider is how much your time is worth and how much more of that you're willing to invest. It's easy to become emotionally invested in righting the wrong and to lose sight of the emotional investment and the amount of time it will consume if you take it further.
If you choose to appear before a judge and jury, you MUST have an attorney or you'll get taken to the cleaners. The anticipation of that expense alone would lead me to cut my losses.
You may feel angry about the injustice for a while and that's certainly understandable. But you might be better off acknowledging that this is one of those instances that is no longer worth your time and efforts, and chalk it up to "lessons learned." Thankfully, you didn't have to learn the lesson at a much greater expense, as many people do.
Best,
Steve
At 10:34 AM 5/5/2005, you wrote:
Hi Everyone,
I know you're all busy, but for those who wanted me to keep them informed of the small claims case against me...
After batting the birdie back and forth over the net for what seemed like a never ending amount of time and the Referee repeating several times that the damaged photographs were not the fault of this Photographer; saying that the contract was indeed valid, and that he could not see anything wrong with the work that had been done, he ruled in favor of the Bride to the tune of one half the money back and court costs.
Now comes the question: to pay or to appeal?
For those who've been there and have been ruled against, does this stay on your record forever? Can anyone look this record up and use it against you? Does this file go away after the judgement is paid? Do you even care if it's there for people to see?
I don't even want to pay the money back after all this. I'm told I can appeal and appear in front of a judge and jury. But would it be worth it for the less than $313.00 ruled against me and the $70.00 to file an appeal? What if the jury rules like the Magistrate and orders me to pay even more money? Would any of you appeal? Will this judgement ever go away?
Looking for all the personal opinions possible. Thanks.
Shyrell Melara
For the Quality You Deserve! Melara Family Photography http://shyrellmelara.tripod.com
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