The owners of a company that owned a large apartment complex hired a general contractor to renovate the apartments into condos.The owners are now suing the general contractor, whom I worked for. The Owners are suing the general contractor for many things. I never had power of attorney or made any final decisions on my own, yet I have received a summons saying the General contractor; as individual and agent for his company, and I, as agent for his company, are being sued and I have 30 days to reply to the courts and to the owners lawyer. The general contractor refuses to pay for me legal representation, and I do not understand why I am being sued and/or if I need a lawyer. Can you tell me what it means, agent for said company? and can you tell me what I need to do next?
Answers & Comments
Verified answer
in what capacity did you work for the GC, as a sub contractor?
it's typical when a developer sues a GC to sue all parties involved ( subs, suppliers.. etc.. )
basically what happens is they are seeing what will stick at pre trial and who can be found liable..
a judge will determine if you have any liability involved..if not he'll dimiss you from the suit and that will be the end of that... if not you will go the next phase
litigation
keep in mind few go all the way to trial
since the goal of the party suing is to get a settlement out of all parties
so he sues everyone involved to see what will work. it's common in construction
it's also common to have countersuits from the parties to "even the score" if you will, to hopefully see if the main party will drop the suit(s) against them
I'm getting sued right now also, but I'm the contractor. If you're just a LEGAL sub contractor, the owners have no recourse against you. They can still sue you, and I'm no expert here, but they can't get anything from you.
If it's like my case, they are just trying to make you suffer by waisting your time and money. Either way, you should definitely consult an attorney to see what they think. Ask them about counter suing the owners for dragging you into this mess.
One more thing to check on - make sure the general contractor isn't fraudulently using your name! That would explain why you're getting sued, too!
I'm really sorry, and I can definitely relate to what a pile of crap a sue-happy person can make your life.
At least in the short term, your probably going to be out some money. If you have made payments to your contractor as work has progressed, you could have paid him more then the net worth of the work he's done. You will obviously have to hire a new contractor to finish the work left by your original contractor. You can then take the contractor to court to try to recover any additional costs you incurred. If this is a significant amount, you may want to consult a lawyer before you contract the second contractor.
You need to engage the services of a competent attorney, and FAST. If you do not reply to this lawsuit, you will be found at fault by default. It is not uncommon to name all sorts of parties in lawsuits. You need to handle this. Chances are that the suit against you will be dismissed if you can prove that you were not a decision making party.