Q: How can I defend myself from a dog bite lawsuit against me ??
I was walking my dog around my neighborhood and my dog got lose and went after a small little dog, the owner jerked her dog up into her hands and claims my dog knocked her down, broke her finger, bit her and her dog multiple times, her lawsuit also states that she will need therapy for the rest of her life and that I have to pay for her dogs surgery and medical treatments. I want to fight back because that is not at all how things happened, right after my dog got lose I quickly went after him, he did bite the dog a little bit but let go right away. Let alone mention my dog was a pit bull and if he really wanted to kill that little dog he would have and her too. I know for a fact that most of the things she stated are false, because 2 days after the incident her and her dog were walking around like nothing, how can I defend myself?
A: You can retain the services of a local civil litigation attorney or civil trial attorney. As you may have discovered, this may be quite expensive. If you have homeowner's insurance, the insurance company will provide you with an attorney unless there is an exclusion for dog bites and / or pit bull breed dogs. It is difficult to give you a blueprint in this forum as to how to defend yourself. Another option would be to hire an attorney to shadow the case and provide you with advice along the way. Some attorneys may agree to go this route while others do not want to get involved unless the attorney is the attorney of record. You should at least go speak to an attorney for an initial consultation to review the lawsuit and get some advice as to what you should do moving forward with your defense of the case. Good luck.
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