I have a question. I moved to Austin in mid-August from Tyler. I am
evidently
being sued by someone who lives in Florida. The notice appeared in the
Tyler,
Texas paper but I have not been served. I announced my move and have
certainly
not been hiding but cannot be sure that the person knew about it. My
question
is -- am I being sued in the correct juridiction and does service by
publication apply since my move is no mystery and since my old phone
numbers
reach me? Furthermore -- all mail is forwarded to me in Austin.
The suit involves and agreement for a website development that was never
committed to contract. The website is not complete but is being worked on.
My
"partner" has never fully funded his contribution.
First, what you describe (as to location of the suit) sounds more like a
venue question than a jurisdiction question. There's potentially a big
difference. As to the lawsuit, you are taking a big risk by not answering
it because it looks like the plaintiff is on his way to getting a default
judgment. If this happens, you might be able to get it set aside, but not
without expending additional time and expense only to have the privilege of
defending the lawsuit. Also, you have admitted on a worldwide forum that you
are aware of the suit and notice by publication, which might preclude
setting aside any default judgment and set you up for problems if you ever
have to swear you did not have knowledge of the suit.
As to your address being readily acessible, it is possible that the
plaintiff is falsely claiming that he cannot locate you, but there may be
legitimate reasons he hasn't been able to properly serve you and is thus
having to resort to service by publication.
In any case, unless you're judgment-proof and intend to be in the future,
you could be making things much harder on yourself by not addressing the
matter. You should consider talking to a lawyer about this.
