Gersh Zavodnik.
Posted on 06/06/2016 10:56:14 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Next time you innocently put something up for sale on Craigslist, remember the tale of Doug Costello.
As the Indianapolis Star explains, Costello sold a $40 printer in 2009 to Indianapolis resident Gersh Zavodnik.
The 54-year-old Zavodnik claims it didn’t work and soon initiated legal action.
It’s something he’s very good at, having been described by the Indiana Supreme Court as a “prolific, abusive litigant” who has brought dozens of suits against both companies and individuals.
In this case, Zavodnik actually won a $30,000 judgment at one point against Costello, though it has since been tossed.
In the meantime, Costello has spent about $12,000 in legal fees — and the case isn’t quite over yet.
The $30,000 judgment came when Zavodnik, representing himself, sent Costello, who was then representing himself as well, paperwork asking him to admit he was liable for $30,000 for breach of contract.
Then, he sent two more such requests, one for $300,000 and another for $600,000, and Costello missed a 30-day window to respond.
He also missed a court hearing, and the trial judge said he had no choice to but to impose the penalty.
At that point, Costello lawyered up, and an appeals court declared that the $30,000 penalty “had no basis in reality.”
Now, it’s back to the trial court to determine if the case should be dismissed “based on Zavodnik’s repeated, flagrant, and continuing failure to comply with Indiana’s rules of procedure.”
Costello’s description of his current situation? He said he feels like he’s in the “twilight zone.”
I’m sure Hillary! took care of the Vince Foster problem for far less than the cost of a single speaking arraingment.
>> He also missed a court hearing
I’m guessing U.S. registered mail was sent and signed?
While I don’t frequent the courts, I’m made aware of the hearings.
Costello should sue this guy back.
This would not happen in Texas. Frivolous lawsuit filers get slapped with the defendant’s legal fees.
Agreed; he should counter-sue.
Shoot....shovel....shut up....
I didn’t realize Texas had such a law. I’ve been advocating that for a long time, although I might be persuaded to lean toward rottendog’s solution in post #7 above instead.
I'm guessing that his court system has the same system that California has, where you self certify under penalty of perjury that you mailed the documents. An example: http://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/pos030.pdf.
It would not surprise me if he sends out his admission of liability letters in promotional envelopes, such as reusing a business Amex envelope to entice people to toss the envelope without even looking inside at the documents. This, under many jurisdictions, would be legal service, but should the company bring that letter with them, odds are the judge won't be so amused.
We had that happen once for a small claims court case; were it not for the considerable amount of postage on the envelope, we would have tossed it in the trash.
Sorry rottndog, that infernal autocorrect “corrected” your handle in my previous post.
So I’m presuming that these “admission of liability” letters are essentially “opt-out” documents that contain a deadline upon which it is assumed that the recipient admits liability if they fail to respond?
Wow, Interesting.
Thanks for that info.
I think such a thing like that would inspire me to commit violence.
A good defense attorney would bend the Plaintiff over his knee and claim that he was intentionally bringing frivolous lawsuits and using deceptive loophole tactics to up the claim amounts and then submit into evidence an index of the frivikois lawsuits he had filed prior. Most judges don’t have very much tolerance for these scamsters.
Agreed. Some people are pansies and let the misery go on too long. There are alternatives, indirect methods to make the perp feel the pain and back off, without putting yourself in jeopardy. If that don't work...
Did he send it by the US"mail" or pay a courier to hand deliver it?
Modern times.
This is not the slightest bit surprising.
As in some other parts of the civilized world. Cuts down on bs litigation.
Gersh Zavodnik.
You have an interesting concept. If the jerk’s suit for let’s say $300,000 somehow got a judges stamp of approval, and you had to pay up, thereby losing everything you own, well, it would certainly be worth it.
If you got caught, then the prison cell would likely be better than you could afford after being cleaned out.
Zavodnik is the type of guy I don’t mind getting clipped and the “accident” remaining unsolved.
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