I've got a fella who owes me $10k, roughly. And he lives in another state. Obviously I'll be talking to a lawyer about the particulars soon, but maybe some of y'all have advice for me.
-Given that he's employed, has the products (I can prove this) and the amount he owes is extensively documented, is it worth pursuing? My gut says yes but I could be talked out of that. What are the standards of proof in a civil suit?
-How long do civil cases take to resolve? Is it purely a matter of the caseload in the particular jurisdiction where the suit is filed?
-Would it make more sense to just hire a collections agency and take the loss on their fee? If I win a judgement of some kind, how is collecting the judgement handled? Assuming he can't pay in a lump sum, will the court handle garnishing his wages or do I have to do further work to get that to happen? Can I charge interest on the debt?
-Any other advice you'd give someone suing for the first (and hopefully only) time?
If the bottom line advice is really just "talk to a lawyer", I'll ask a mod to delete the thread.
Thanks!
-W