Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Virginia

Re: Legal Action Against Former Florida Lawyer

I am not sure what you would sue your brother for but assuming you do have a viable cause of action and you do sue him, he would have the right to defend himself on his own....thereby using his legal skills against you.

Re: Legal Action Against Former Florida Lawyer

It sounds like you are trying to weigh the

advantages and disadvantages, and the relative

value, of bringing a specific legal claim. I

don't think it is possible for us to answer that

as a generic question about the law in this

forum. However, I think it is fair to explain

here why that is so, as a generic understanding

of the legal system.

The dominant question in your situation is how

much it is "worth" for you to bring this lawsuit.

That involves questions about your chances of

success (which cover both legal principles and

(sadly, as most people struggle with) the quality

of the evidence that you can muster apart from

what actually happened), how much money you might

win, and how much you have lost or been damaged

and/or what is at stake in terms of your legal

rights. That analysis of the strength of your

legal claim can then be compared with the obstacles you would face, including the cost of

litigation, and the like.

It is impossible for us to advise you here in

general terms about whether you have a strong

claim or much to gain by bringing litigation.

So it is hard to compare any of that with the

possible obstacles and burdens.

It is not clear to me from your question how you

have actually lost anything except annoyance,

because you describe your brother as "trying to"

get money from you, but you don't say that he has

actually obtained anything. That may sound

unsympathetic to your feelings on the matter, but

that is a key legal question that you would face.

You would face an acid test in court to show how

you have actually been injured financially, and

you would most likely lose if you could only show

that he "tried" to take money from you. A lot of

things are offensive, and it feels like there

ought to be something you can do legally, but

the law leaves people unsatisfied in many areas.

As my colleague already said, anyone who is sued

has the right to show up personally and defend

themselves (or bring a lawsuit) "pro se" without

an attorney. (Corporations and such have some

tricky exceptions and often need attorneys.)

Therefore, it might not matter much whether your

brother is appearing as himself or as an attorney, except that he might be unfamiliar with Virginia law and Virginia court procedure.

However, that raises another question. You would have to analyze whether there is a legitimate basis for bringing the case in Virginia rather than in Florida. The fact that you live here is undoubtedly a strong factor. However, since your brother does not live in Virginia, the courts of Virginia might have no jurisdiction over him. There would have to be a careful analysis of whether your brother has

taken actions "in" Virginia (even remotely from

Florida but affecting things "in" Virginia)

under a series of special rules about jurisdiction.