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Hi everyone
I got into this frustrating, terrible and sudden mess and I thought
maybe someone here can offer some help. Basically, a company I used to
work for as a consultant (named Scient) filed for bankruptcy while I
was working there and now is suing me for the money I made in the 90
days prior to the filing invoking section 547(b) of the bankruptcy
code. This basically says that they can try to redeem any payments
made 90 days prior to the filing. This law is in fact meant to track
down executives who took large amounts of cash when they knew the
company was insolvable and on the verge of bankruptcy. Section 547(c),
however, has a list of exemptions from 547(b) and my payments from
Scient fall under the "normal course of business" category. I called
the lawyer appointed by the court (the one suing me) and he seemed a
little surprised I was an individual who was also a contractor. I also
talked to other lawyers and, legally, this suit can be filed but it
would never hold in court. The problem is that until I get this
dismissed the legal fees (if charged by the hour) will be astronomical
and everyone so far says I should settle. However, I will rather file
for bankruptcy myself than give these guys a dime, this whole thing is
ridiculous and unfair in my opinion... They also served me the summons
late (3 days ago - on 09/16/2003 - while the lawsuit was filed on
07/02/2003) and there is a court hearing on 10/01/2003 so I'm assuming
this has to be illegal - shouldn't I be notified well in advance?
Anyway, here's my case: I was employed by Scient on March 16th to be a
consultant for their last account in Boston - Boston Coah, a Fidelity
company. I was billing my hours to the account manager, who was
approving each invoice, signing it and submitting them to accounting.
2 weeks later I would receive the payment for it. Scient would then
bill my hours to the client at a higher rate. My last invoice, hasn't
even been paid (due to the filing) and I have a claim for that in the
bankruptcy court. Maybe this can be part of the settlement (if I have
to go for one which, as I said, I'd rather not)? I have all the
invoices, pay stubs, 1099 they gave me an an employment contract that
should pretty much prove I got paid as part of the normal course of
business.
Here's another twist - is there anyone I can counter-sue in this case?
I would love to see these bastards along with the fat executives who
were expensing anything from $0.69 donuts to plane tickets to
Singapore and Milan brought under the public eye. One lawyer I talked
to said something about extorsion and abusing the law but we never
went into more detail. Of course, the priority is to get cleared of
this moronic lawsuit...
Please feel free to contact me directly at 617-319-0940 or email me at
sergiuv@hotmail.com
Thanks,
Sergiu
--
Bernie Cosell
moderator: misc.legal.moderated
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