SUE PAYPAL FOR “FREE” IN CALIFORNIA
The following is being presented to you based on my own "opinion".
The purpose of this post is to educate you on how to sue Paypal in California for FREE. It will also show you how you may never have to travel to California when suing Paypal, to have the U.S. Marshall serve Paypal with your Complaint and to even have the Court assign you an attorney. All for FREE. The first step is to education you on some basic legal concepts that you should understand (The following is a general overview).
STATUTES
1) What is the first step you should take before suing Paypal? You need to understand what Paypal did that was illegal. Start by writing down the 'facts' of your case that includes what you feel they did wrong. Then take those facts and compare it to the laws identified in California's Civil Code Act at the following link:
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cacodes/civ.html
In identifying the laws that Paypal violated, you need to understand basic legal concepts when reviewing the civil code to identify a valid claim against Paypal. It’s easy, and you will get it. I promise you that if you dedicate some time to it, you will get it.
CAUSE OF ACTION = This is simple. Basically, what was the “cause” that made you take “action”. Well, the cause is Paypal’s violation of some law. So, we need to find the law they violated.
ELEMENTS = The next basic legal concept you need to understand is “elements”. I want you to think about elements as a “checklist of facts” that makes up a cause of action. For example, if you are claiming that Paypal defamed you, defamation will require you to “prove” the following elements that makes up defamation:
(a) a false statement
(b) making the statement to a third-party (Paypal sent an email to your client)
(c) Intentional or reckless behavior in making the false statement
(d) Damages
Elements = Cause of Action
a + b + c + d = Defamation
EVIDENCE = Doesn’t this sound so simple? However, many people don’t understand what the court will accept as evidence to prove your case against Paypal. The court doesn’t accept everything. So, by reviewing the federal Rules of Evidence, you will understand what evidence you can use to prove your case.
Federal Rules of Evidence: http://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/fre/
CASE LAW = Now, I want you to understand something. When our legislature passes a bill into law, the new law is called a “Statute”. California’s Civil Code are Statutes. So what are “case law” and what are their purpose? Ok, case law are lawsuits. That’s it. They are just lawsuits. These lawsuits mention statutes like found in California’s Civil Code to tell the court what laws Paypal violated (exactly what you will be doing). Attorneys, Pro Se litigants and the Courts use past lawsuits (case law) to see how other judges have defined a statute. They are basically looking at case law as someone looks at a dictionary. For example, there may be a legal question that asks “If Paypal falsely accuses you of a crime, do you have to prove special damages?”. Prior lawsuits (case law) will help you to determine that if someone falsely accuses you of a crime, there is no need to prove special damages because such damages are presumed to occur. Case law will also help you tie the hands of the Judge and force the Judge to agree with you. For example, if Paypal presented the Judge with a past lawsuit from a higher court that said anyone who falsely accuses you of a crime during a pending lawsuit has absolute immunity then the Judge must dismiss your case. This is called “precedence”. Precedence ties the hands of the judge. You should always be looking for cases like this to support your position (Believe it or not, there is actually a law that says this).
THAT’S IT. By understating the “meaning” of (1) Statutes, (2) Cause of action, (3) Elements, (4) Admissible Evidence and (5) Case law, you will be able to prepare a strong complaint, submit evidence to prove your case and support it with case law that will force the judge to agree with you.
YOU NOW NEED TO KNOW HOW TO FILE A LAWSUIT AGAINST PAYPAL
1) What is the second step you need to take before preparing a complaint against Paypal? You need to understand how to draft the complaint, which the Court will accept and that will not be dismissed.
CAPTION = This is just the title that states “Plaintiff vs. Defendant”
JURISDICTION = This is telling the court why this lawsuit is being filed in this federal court and not in State court. For example, you and Paypal live in different States. Hell, the courts just don’t want any lawsuit to be filed in their court. So, they set limitations.
VENUE = This is just telling the court why your lawsuit should be filed in the federal court located in San Jose and not some other County. Basically, because Paypal has their office there.
Review the following to understand jurisdiction and venue better: http://topics.law.cornell.edu/wex/Jurisdiction
FACTS = This is where you will get your opportunity to tell the Court what Paypal did that was wrong. I want to teach you how to win your case in the Complaint. This is how you do it. Most Pro Se litigants will just start telling the Court what happened without further thought. This is WRONG! You do want to tell the judge what happened; but you want to do it in a way that will force Paypal to admit each fact that you make. You want to separate each paragraph in a short statement that will require Paypal’s attorneys to answer “ADMIT” or “DENY”. The following are two examples of the wrong way to write a paragraph and the correct way.
WRONG:
1. That Paypal is a money transfer service that has been known to wrongly
block member’s accounts after they transferred their money into their personal bank accounts from Paypal’s pooled bank account, and Paypal had also done this to me by blocking my account after the seller immediately transferred my funds into his personal bank account. Paypal then sent an email to my seller that falsely told him that I was a fraudster and that I illegally took the money from someone else and that they had to give the money back to the other person.
What is wrong with this paragraph is that it contains more then one idea and the term “money transfer service” has not been properly defined. Meaning, you didn’t tell the Court what a money transfer service is. I know, I know. It sounds easy to understand; but the law does not work like that. You must treat the Court like a baby who is first learning new words. Also, you should have each paragraph contain one idea that Paypal’s attorneys will have to respond with only an ‘ADMIT” or “DENY”. The following takes the above single paragraph and separates it into multiple paragraphs.
[b]CORRECT:
(ADMIT) 1. That the defendant (Hereinafter “Paypal”) is an Internet based company.
(ADMIT) 2. That Paypal provides a service of transferring money from one person to
another over the Internet (Hereinafter: “money transfer service).
(ADMIT) 3. That Paypal had blocked some members’ accounts in past transactions after
the members transferred funds into their personal bank accounts from Paypal’s
pooled Bank account.
(ADMIT) 4. That Paypal blocked my account after I sent funds to Mr. SoNSo (Hereinafter
“seller”) via Paypal’s money transfer service.
(ADMIT) 5. That Paypal sent the seller an email informing the seller that I was a fraudster.
(ADMIT) 6. That Paypal sent the seller an email informing the seller that I illegally took the
funds I sent him from another person.
(ADMIT) 6. That Paypal withdrew money from my personal bank account to pay the
seller.
(ADMIT) 7. That Paypal has no knowledge of any person that I illegally took funds from
to send to the seller.
Do you see how that last two (2) paragraphs catches Paypal in a catch 22 situation? Paypal is trapped and will not be able to DENY them. If Paypal denies that they withdrew money from your account to pay the seller, your bank records will prove them wrong. If Paypal denies number 7, Paypal will then have to deny number 6 and then Paypal will have to produce the person you took the money from.
THIS IS HOW YOU WIN YOUR CASE IN A COMPLAINT
You should be very specific as possible to allow Paypal to identify what transactions you are speaking about and what seller you are speaking of. Otherwise, Paypal’s attorneys will respond with a BS statement like: “Defendant lacks information sufficient to form a belief as to the facts alleged, and on that basis, Defendant denies them.”
Even if you know they could have checked their records and found the transaction and ADMITTED that fact, never get upset. The law is cool when it comes to BS like this. What your Complaint has done so far is reduce the disputed facts. You later serve Paypal with a Notice to ADMIT that contains that same paragraph; but more specific to force them to ADMIT. If Paypal denies it, you file a motion to compel and ask the Court for sanctions against Paypal. You will have to prove the truth of the fact.
Now, if you have been able to effectively draft good and specific paragraphs that forces Paypal to ADMIT or DENY them, you could have created yourself an opportunity to file for a motion for summary judgment and end the lawsuit in your favor before the trial. Think about it. A trial is to resolved disputed facts. Your goal during the lawsuit before trial is to reduce the disputed facts and have Paypal ADMIT to them. Once you get Paypal to admit to enough facts, it may give you the opportunity to file a motion for summary judgment and tell the judge that there are no material facts in dispute that requires a trial, and that the court should award you a judgment against Paypal at this point. Paypal will try and oppose your motion by attempting to show the court that there are material facts in dispute that require a trial (I use the word “material”, which basically means relevant facts. If Paypal was able to take a dump that wouldn’t be relevant to your case). Many attorneys will draft a complaint and serve it “Verified”. Meaning, the facts are sworn to. The Defendant will then have to serve a verified answer, which you can then use as part of your motion for summary judgment without a Notice to Admit. Otherwise, you may have to serve a notice to admit if the complaint is not verified, or conduct a deposition before you file a summary motion. Many cases are resolved after depositions are taken. A deposition also shows the attorneys how their clients will perform at trial. In one deposition, a party I was suing kept stating “What was the question?”….”What was the question? Over and over again. The question was “Did you inform David that you were going to settle the cases before you settled them? If the defendant said “yes”, he would have had to prove it, which he couldn’t, and he didn’t know what evidence I had to prove he was lying. If he answered “no”, it proves he was in the wrong and my case was won. He was caught in a catch 22 situation. This is the ideal position you want to catch your opposition in. A question that if answer “yes” or “no” that will make them in the wrong is perfect.
CAUSES OF ACTION = Pleading causes of action are easy. Once you find the laws that Paypal has violated, simply find out what the elements are of that cause of action. For example, if you type into Google the words “defamation elements”, you will uncover the legal elements for that cause of action (defamation is a “cause of action”, or you can say “cause for action”). What I like to do is list them in the causes of action section and number them paragraphs 1,2,3, etc and then add the facts that statisfy those elements. This will prevent Paypal from winning a motion to dismiss on the grounds that your complaint does not state a cause of action. This is what the attorneys for eBay tried to do in the anti-trust lawsuit. They informed the Judge that the Plaintiff’s failed to properly plead the causes of action in the Complaint.
WHEREFORE clause = This ends your complaint, it simply tells the Court what “remedy” you are looking for. Bascially, what do you want from Paypal. You money back? Punitive damages to punish Paypal? Etc.. Don’t forget, if you want a “jury trial”, you must also mention it here not just in the title of your Complaint. Otherwise, you will have a trial with only the Judge.
Here is a sample Complaint filed against Paypal in 2002 (Just click on the small image to the left if it doesn’t enlarge automatically):
http://www.theultimatehit.com/PaypalLawsuit/thomashbranes_partII.jpg
http://www.theultimatehit.com/PaypalLawsuit/thomashbranes_PartI.jpg
http://www.theultimatehit.com/PaypalLawsuit/thomashbranes_partIII.jpg
THAT’S IT. YOU GOT YOURSELF A COMPLAINT AGAINST PAYPAL
The following hand book was created by the federal Court system to help you sue Paypal.
PRO SE HANDBOOK:
http://www.cand.uscourts.gov/CAND/FAQ.nsf/60126b66e42d004888256d4e007bce29/14de5a2dfcdaa08c88256ebc0054574f/$FILE/ProSeHandbook-Rev4-06a.pdf
FILE A FREE LAWSUIT
This is the most simple part of everything. All you have to do is file an application with the court called a “poor person” application. This doesn’t mean you’re poor. This means you just can’t afford to finance the lawsuit. The court will waive the filing fee, serve the complaint on Paypal for you via a U.S. Marshal, and it can also assign you a free attorney to represent you.
Do you remember when I told you that the Courts use silly words to confuse everyone? Well, they call this application “Application to proceed In Forma Pauperis”. This is just a later term, which means to proceed as a poor person. Interesting how American legislatures want us to speak English and they use latin in the law to confuse us. Such contradictions in life we have.
Anyone…here is the form you need to fill out….It’s cool because you can type everything in on the computer and just print it out. …..Good luck and I’ll see you in Court….. http://www.cand.uscourts.gov/cand/form.nsf/fabb9caca4ef97cd88256d4a00591384/8224025ffb8a193288256d4a0058f1e6/$FILE/forma%20pauperis.pdf
P.S. As for you never having to travel to California, the federal Courts use a service called “Courtcall”. This is where they allow you to use a “telephone” to make an appearance in Court and you don’t have to appear in person. You need to check with the Court to verify if it applies to the Judge you are assigned. Here is Courtcall’s phone website: http://www.courtcall.com/ccallp/NewsPage_Public (I used them for the eBay hearing).
Please also remember, this is not about destroying Paypal. The services Paypal provides are very much needed. This is about FORCING Paypal to stop harming us.
POWER TO THE PEOPLE!
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