how to know if somebody sued you in germany? 2 years ago before I left Germany someone I knew said that he will file a lawsuit against me :( I am now not in Germany and I didn't give this guy my address in my current country but how can I know if he really did it? who should I contact?
You're supposed to deregister with the registration office before moving out of country. This process involves giving the registration office your new address abroad. If you get sued, I assume that the court will first try to look up your address with the registration office. If you've done your homework, they will see where you moved and then try to initiate international process service. International process service is a science unto itself, so I won't go into detail with that. Short version is, the exact procedure for arranging international process service depends on the destination country and if everything goes fine, you should receive written notice that there is a lawsuit against you. If the court is unable to find your new address at the registration office, they will try to serve you at the last known address they can get hold of. This means that a postal operator will be instructed to serve you at your last home in Germany. This will of course fail because you're no longer there. (At this point, I assume that you have removed the name plate on your letterbox. If your nameplate is still there, you have a problem because your lawsuit may now be served on a letterbox you no longer live in.) The mailman will then check if there is a mail forwarding order for your address and if the forwarding address is foreign, the paperwork goes back to the court with your new address and a remark that international forwarding of process service is not permitted. THe court will then try to initiate international process service at your new address. If the postal operator has no fowarding order, the item will go back to the court as undeliverable. In this case, the court will serve you by public notification. This means that a note will be put up at the notice board of the court telling you to pick up the papers at the court. If you don't do that, process will be deemed served on you 14 days after the note was posted on the notice board. Conclusion Make sure that you are properly deregistered with the registration office. This includes informing the registration office about your new address. (This is required by law.) To be on the safe side, I would also recommend the following steps: • Make sure that the nameplate on your door, on the intercom panel and on your letterbox have been removed. Anyone showing up at your house should be able to tell that you no longer live there. • Seal your letterbox with adhesive tape after collecting your mail for the last time. Mailmen have the habit to remember names instead of reading name plates every day. This way, your mail won't end up in a dead letterbox. • Set up a mail forwarding order with Deutsche POst AG. This should be done 3 weeks before vacating the home. • If there is a regional mail company in your area, also set up a mail forwarding order with them. If you're the paranoid guy, there's even more you can do: • Periodically renew your mail forwarding order(s) • Contact the court and ask if they have a lawsuit for you • Inform the plaintiff about your new address. Then they can't claim not to know where you live. • Inform the local bailiff about your new address or ask them if they were instructed to serve something on you.
If you are charged under the laws of Estonia (or Australia or Thailand or the UK) then the laws of the USA have no relevance whatsoever. It makes no difference if you are a US citizen, if the alleged crime happened in the USA or was perpetrated against the USA. If nation X has jurisdiction then you are tried under the laws of nation X. That is what sovereignty means. As to your specific example, Facebook does business in Estonia, therefore they are subject to Estonian law, as a US corporation they are also subject to US law and the law of every other jurisdiction they operate in (see why they need big legal departments?). If a legitimate Estonian warrant was served on them to disclose metadata or anything else then they are legally obliged to do so or be in contempt of court. Oh, and by the way, the first amendment right to free speech does not give you a right to anonymous free speech.
It isn't 100% clear from the question if a case has been filed in court, or someone was just planning on filing a lawsuit, which is an important fact. It seems like the ex filed a court case and you hired attorneys who responded. If there is a court case filed, that can't just be abandoned until all the i's are dotted and t's are crossed in the eyes of the court. The lawyers can't quit unless the court gives them permission to do so. Usually, lawyers are entitled to be paid for all of the work they do and out of pocket charges they incur in a case, until it is wrapped up, even if some wrap up work happens after the event that determines the final outcome of the case like your ex deciding to abandon his arguments. But, otherwise, if there isn't a pending court case, you normally have the power to tell your lawyers to stop everything and give you the moment left (if any) in your retainer. At first read, it almost sounded as if your lawyers are willing to do that, but are warning you that your ex might continue to be a problem after the lawyers quit and that if that happens, it will be more costly and time consuming to start all over dealing with the threatened lawsuit that your ex made, than it would be to get it over and done with now. But, upon closer inspection, it seems that there is a pending lawsuit and that this is the issue.
No. A plaintiff may travel to the defendant's jurisdiction to file suit if desired. Nobody usually does this, though, due to travel and logistical considerations. The defendant is the one who decides whether to challenge jurisdiction. Good contacts will include a forum selection clause which would lay out what happens where in the event of a dispute. And this can be anywhere, it is not limited to the locations of the plaintiff and the defendant. N/A.
If you are facing felony charges, you need to hire a criminal defense lawyer, not ask for legal advice on the Internet. Do not talk to the police without your lawyer present. Do not attempt to represent yourself in any kind of hearing. Ignore any advice based on what seems fair or reasonable to someone on the Internet unless it is based on a real case in North Carolina or written by a real lawyer. That said, it appears to me that you have at least two strong defenses. First, if you you returned the laptop (It will help if you sent it by registered mail or otherwise kept a receipt, although, remember, they need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you kept it), that shows you had no “intent to steal” or “purpose to steal” it, which is a necessary element of the crime. Second, according to the University of North Carolina criminal law blog, you appear to have been charged with the wrong offense (although I don’t think that will actually help you if the prosecutor decides to bring the charge that matches what your former employer alleges you to have done). It cites a relevant North Carolina Supreme Court ruling on the difference between larceny and embezzlement, State v. McDonald, 45 S.E. 582 (N.C. 1903). I would focus on getting yourself cleared of these charges first. You can ask your lawyer if there is any recourse you might have against your former employer. I’m skeptical that suing them would be worth it, but I don’t know the circumstances. If you have proof of what they said to you and about you, hang on to it.
You have a contract - they have fulfilled their obligation (they paid you), if you do not fulfil their obligation (not to post it online) then you are in breach of the contract. Your obligation continues even if you gift the money back to them. If you breach the contract then they can sue you for the damage that they suffer. Presumably this would be damage to their reputation and for a public figure this could run into millions of dollars. In demanding additional money from them beyond what you are legally entitled to you are, at least, flirting with the crime of extortion/blackmail. This would not be a matter for them to sue you for, it would be a matter for the DA to prosecute if they chose to make a complaint. There doesn't seem to be a defamation issue here because you are not stating anything that isn't true. Now, the extent of the agreement appears to prohibit you posting it on the internet, however, the spirit of the agreement is that you will keep the information secret in all respects - that is likely how a court would look at it. Of course, if someone does steal the information from you then you haven't broken the agreement but you would probably have to prove that it was stolen when they sue you.
If your statement is true, it is not libel. But if it is false, it is libel. It does not matter if you directly name him, what matters is if he can be specifically identified by others. Not all others, but at least some others.
Yes, but ... It doesn’t protect you. Let’s imagine you put such a clause in and a person in Europe used your service notwithstanding: they’ve broken the contract but you’ve broken the law. You get the fine and they get ... nothing. Because you can’t contract outside the law you never had a valid contract with them so you have no basis to sue. Further, because you are purporting to something you can’t legally do, you are probably on the wrong side of misleading and deceptive consumer protection law: which is another fine. If you can ensure that you don’t breach local law - like by not operating over the internet - then you can choose not to deal with e.g. Europeans. If you can’t guarantee that, then you’re stuffed.