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Many people wonder what they should do if they are served? Today I would like to address with you some simple solutions of what to do in the occasion that you are served with a summons and complaint.

In any case if you are served with a summons and complaint you must answer that lawsuit within 30 days. (Note some jurisdictions and types of actions require a shorter response time therefore read the Summons carefully for the applicable time in which a response is required) If you fail to answer the lawsuit within those 30 days you will be held in default. Default is where you automatically lose and the other party is awarded a judgment against you. When we use the word “answer” in the legal profession that is a term of art. An answer is a written document that you file with the clerk of court and you send to the opposing party admitting, denying or explaining allegations in the complaint.

Far too often, particularly with foreclosure cases, the defendants, homeowners, consumers, and borrowers are mislead in to not filing an answer. Many times, once served with a lawsuit the defendant contacts the Plaintiff or its attorney in an attempt to negotiate. Although genuine settlement or modification discussions may be occurring, you cannot ignore the lawsuit thinking that your communication directly with the lender or its lawyer is going to stall, delay, and save you from simultaneously defending the lawsuit. That is not the case! If you fail to answer the lawsuit you are going to automatically lose. It does not matter what communication you have with the lender. On one hand you have a lawyer foreclosing on your home and on the other hand you have the borrower who is receiving letters directly from the lender stating “Contact us, and help us save the foreclosure on your home!” Those letters are misleading – you must timely file an answer to the summons and complaint.

The best solution I can recommend if you get served with a summons and complaint, is that you contact a lawyer. A lot of attorneys in the Pee Dee area, just like our firm would be glad to provide a free initial consultation. In this free consultation we will be able to brief you on the matter and explain your rights. If you or someone you know is sued, be sure to seek legal representation as soon as possible to avoid being held in default for not timely responding to the lawsuit.

The first six African Americans elected to the United House of Representatives were all Republicans. The image below depicts those seven additional to Hiram Rhodes Revels.

David Barton in American History in Black & White summarized their background and service:
Pictured second from the left Benjamin Turner of Alabama. Turner was a slave during the Civil War but within five years after the war had become a wealthy and prosperous businessman.

Pictured third from the left is Robert De Large of South Carolina. Born as a slave, within three years from the end of the War he was serving in the State House; he also chaired the Republican Party’s Platform Committee and became a statewide elected official.

Pictured in the middle is Josiah Walls of Florida. Walls was a slave during the Civil War and was forced to fight for the Confederate Army; after he was captured by Union troops, he promptly enlisted as a Union solider and became an officer. Following his election to Congress, his credentials were challenged by Democrats and he was twice sent home. He was re-elected after the first challenge, Democrats regained control of Florida and he was prevented from returning.

Pictured fifth from the left is Jefferson Long of Georgia. Born as slave, he was self-educated and built a thriving business. However, when elected to Congress as a Republican, Democrats boycotted his business, causing him great financial losses. Long was the first black American to deliver a congressional speech in the U.S. House.

Pictured sixth for the left is Joseph Hayne Rainey of South Carolina. Born a slave, he actually served briefly as Speaker of the U.S. House and was in Congress longer than any other black American from that era.

Pictured on the far-right Robert Brown Elliott, also of South Carolina. He was well educated, reading in Spanish, French and Latin. In Congress, he led in the passage of civil rights bills; he later became Speak of the House in the State legislature.

Hiram Rhodes Revels was the first African American to serve in the United States Senate. Hiram Rhodes Revels was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina on September 27, 1927. His father worked as Baptist preacher. Revels entered seminary and was ordained in the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME). His first pastorate was in Richmond, Indiana. He served as chaplain for a black regiment for the Maryland Militia. He served as a minister in many states including Missouri, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana and settled in Natchez, Mississippi. After service in the Senate as a Republican, he declined several federal appointments and returned to Mississippi to become the first President of Alcorn University.

Attorney John Rock was the first African American to be admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States. In addition to being an accomplished attorney, he was also a teacher, doctor and abolitionist. Rock’s initial professional life was in the medical field. He first entered the field of dentistry as he was precluded from medical school initially based upon this race. After an apprenticeship and opening his dental practice in Philadelphia in 1850, he was admitted into medical school in Philadelphia in 1852. He was one of the first African Americans who obtained a degree in medicine. At the age of twenty-seven, he had already established himself as a talented and well-respected dentist and physician. Rock is credited with treating many patients on the way through Boston on the Underground Railroad to Canada.

As a result of health-related problems, Rock left his medical practice and began to study law in 1860 and shortly thereafter gained admittance to the Massachusetts Bar. He opened a private law practice where he advocated diligently for the rights of the African Americans. On February 1, 1865, Republican Senator Charles Sumner nominated Rock as the first black American to become a member of the United States Supreme Court Bar. Rock was then introduced before the United States House of Representative, becoming the first African American attorney to be introduced to Congress.

Recently I was reviewing an article in a publication of the American Association of Justice. It refreshed my memory concerning a case which I handled before and something that concerns me particularly considering I have three small children. The issue is the tip over dangers associated with dressers and other furniture which is often top heavy.

Years ago, I assisted a family recover from injuries after a wicker dresser tipped over on their minor child in a beach rental property. The hazard was increased because of the heavy television which was sitting on top of the dresser. The dresser fell, the child was struck in the head and the family vacation ended up resulting in an emergency trip to the Medical University in Charleston. These types of incidences are far too common. In my case, the landlord owed a duty to the vacationers to provide a safe premise. That included furniture that would not tip over. Liability in that case was fairly easy to prove. To gain an understanding of the magnitude of the danger, please see the notice from IKEA’s furniture recall through the following link.

I write this article simply as a reminder to all parents and family members who have small children in the home to be aware of tip over hazards. In my recent furniture purchases, I have noticed that manufacturers now place screws and brackets to allow you to anchor your furniture to the wall to prevent tip over hazards. This is a very real and serious hazard and I encourage you to exercise the precautions recommended by the manufacturer.

If of course you are the unfortunate victim of an injury from a tip over, please call our office to discuss your legal rights.

Article links:

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/customer-service/product-support/recalls/following-an-additional-child-fatality-ikea-recalls-29-million-malm-and-other-models-of-chests-pub4128a7af

https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2016/following-an-additional-child-fatality-ikea-recalls-29-million-malm-and-other-models-of

Q: What does your Job entail?
A: Here at Finklea Law Firm I handle Family Law, Business Formation, Real Estate Litigation, Commercial & Real Estate Transactions, Probate, and Consumer Cases.

Q: Why did you decide to practice law?
A: It may sound silly, but what initially planted the idea in my head was a television show called Growing JAG. For a long time, I wanted to be a JAG attorney! JAG planted the seed when I was a kid, and my desire to become an Attorney continued to grow as I had other more meaningful life experiences.

Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: I love being a part of a positive transaction with my clients. A large part of my work involves the purchase of a new home or business. When you get to be a part of someone’s new adventure that is incredibly meaningful. Generally speaking, when a client comes in the door, they have a legal problem and they are searching for a positive solution. I love being able to serve the community by helping clients achieve that positive solution.

Q: What is a fun fact about you?
A: I studied at Oxford for a summer in college.

Q: What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
A: I love being crafty!

Black History Month is to recognize and celebrate the achievements of African Americans. Since 1976, every President has designated February as Black History Month. Throughout the month of February our office will highlight some of the achievements of some of the known black American heroes who overcame barriers and were “firsts” in many areas. To begin our celebration of their accomplishments, and give an introduction to this week, I will quote from a book by David Barton, published by WallBuilder Press, entitled American History in Black & White.

African American history – so much of it is truly unknown today. For example, few know of James Armistead – a black patriot and spy who helped make possible the 1781 Yorktown victory during the American Revolution that established America as an independent nation.

Or Peter Salem – a black patriot who was a hero in the 1775 Battle of Bunker Hill; he also fought as one of the legendary Minutemen and was a solider at the Battlers of Saratoga and Stony Point. In fact, a monument was erected to his memory in Massachusetts to commemorate his life and deeds.

And in the famous picture of the 1776 crossing of the Declaration on Christmas night, two men depicted at the front of the boat included Prince Whipple and Oliver Cromwell – two black patriots who served with George Washington and other American generals during the Revolution.

Few Americans are aware that many of the soldiers who fought during the American Revolution were black – and unlike the later segregated regiments in the Civil War, many of the units in the American Revolution were fully integrated, with black patriots fighting and dying side by side with their white fellow comrades and soldiers.

While this part of our history is unknown today, Americans knew this information in previous generations because of black historians such as Williams Nell. Nell was an award-winning young scholar in Boston during the 1830s who studied law an became the first black American to hold a post in the federal government. In 1852, he authored Service of Colored Americans in the Wars of 1776 and 1812, and three years later he penned The Colored Patriots of the American Revolution.

Despite such extensive works, many of our early black heroes and patriots are unknown today; and equally unknown is much of what occurred in black political history. That history will surprise and shock many, but it is a history based on indisputable facts and documents.

Finklea Law Firm is pleased to announce that our attorney, Susan C. McGill, is within the Diversity Works Magazine’s January edition! The article highlights numerous achievements of McGill and her background of becoming an attorney.

Listed below is the link to the January edition of Diversity Works Magazine for further reading.

http://diversityworkssc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Jan-2020-Web.pdf

The piece, titled “Attorney McGill’s Childhood Plans Are Now Reality,” is on page 9 of the magazine.
Diversity Works Magazine exists to highlight and showcase organizations and employees that are socially conscious and inclusive. Finklea Law Firm is proud to have a member of its team recognized for being socially aware.

October 21st through October 25th is proclaimed by Governor Henry McMaster as ‘Celebrate Pro Bono’ week in South Carolina. “Pro bono” is the word denoting work undertaken by an attorney without charge. The term “pro bono” comes from the Latin pro bono publico, which means “for the public good.”¹ The legal profession is one of the few occupations in which professionals are required to perform free work.

Although the mandatory requirement to preform free legal work has decreased, a multitude of lawyers across the State, including those at Finklea Law Firm, voluntarily engage in pro bono work. Our office is proud to recognize our attorneys, paralegals, and staff for dedicating countless hours to help those in need. Too many citizens cannot afford an attorney and cannot represent themselves. They lack meaningful access to the justice that belongs to all Americans. This difference, between those needing legal services and those being able to access them, is referred to as the “Access to Justice Gap.”¹

In addition to providing pro bono services, we also provide what is known as “low bono.” Although that is a new term within our profession, it has been in practice for decades. “Low bono” is in essence providing legal services at a reduced rate based on a person’s ability to pay.

In addition to doing low bono and pro bono work, our firm accepts cases on a contingency fee basis, which means the fee is contingent on the outcome of the case. If clients do not prevail, they do not pay. We typically take personal injury, workers compensation, social security disability and other similar cases on a contingent fee basis. We are proud of our staff and the legal professionals in general for representing those that otherwise would have inadequate access to our legal system.

~ Gary I. Finklea

¹ Werner, Katina R. “The Case for “Low Bono” in Addressing the Access to Justice Crisis.” Christianlawyer.Org (2019): 19.