Q: I have been served a Complaint for negligence in an auto accident, and need legal council on options that I may have.

A: If you had auto insurance all you have to do is call your auto insurance company and they will assign an Attorney to defend that lawsuit at no cost to you. The same is true if you didn't have your own insurance but you were driving a car owned by someone else who had insurance on that car. You notify the insurance company that insured the car on the date of the accident.

You can also call Attorneys who do personal injury work or bankruptcy work as many Attorneys in these areas will talk to you for no charge. Any Oregon Attorney can look up the case on line and quickly know what is going on so it won't take that long for them to help you figure out your options. There is also the lawyer referral service through the Oregon State Bar and by law this service and their phone number has to be printed on the summons you were handed when you were served. The Oregon State Bar's phone number is 503-620-0222. Ask for the lawyer referral service and they will connect you to someone who will give you the contact info for an Attorney who will speak to you for $35.00.

Essentially if you caused an accident and the lawsuit is against you for the unpaid damages, either you had insurance that will hire a lawyer to defend you or your didn't. In the latter case, where you didn't have insurance, and you agree that this was your fault, the case will proceed until there is a Judgment against you. The Judgment will result in your driver's license being suspended until the Judgment is either paid, or it is extinguished. A Judgment can be extinguished with the mere passage of time. In Oregon a Judgment is only good for 10 years but it can be renewed once for another 10 years. So it will last for 20 years potentially. Alternatively you can file for bankruptcy and extinguish the Judgment as soon as you get a discharge from this debt in bankruptcy.

If the accident involved driving while intoxicated you may be limited to the type of bankruptcy you can file. You won't be able to get a quick discharge in a chapter 7 but you can still file a chapter 13 and this may also lead to a discharge. You will need to ask a Chapter 13 specialist about that. I only do chapter 7 bankruptcies. But it is my understanding that you can get debts like DUII accident Judgments discharged in a 13.

If the lawsuit against you is incorrect, ie you didn't cause this accident or the damages they are asking for are not related to the accident, you might want to consider hiring an Attorney to defend the case assuming there was no insurance and thus no insurance defense Attorney appointed. This can be expensive but it is another option.