Help Me Howard: Sued for Nothing

WSVN -- Ola Mae Walker is a deeply religious woman.

Ola Mae Walker: "Yes, I am a God fearing person."

A nice woman who tries to do good every single day.

Ola Mae Walker: "At Church I'm a Sunday school teacher. On Tuesdays, I go to Bible Study. On Wednesday we have a feed my sick ministries, and on Thursday I go to the nursing home."

Ola Mae is so busy she doesnt have time to get in trouble, but trouble had time to find her.

Ola Mae Walker: "And she was suing me for $15,000."

In this lawsuit, a woman is suing Florida City a museum, two other women and Ola Mae for their part in the Thompson family reunio. Where the woman claims she fell and hurt her leg.

Ola Mae Walker: "They sent a list of the hospitals she had gone to and all of that."

But Ola Mae says there are a few problems with the lawsuit.

Ola Mae Walker: "I'm not guilty. I did not sponsor the family reunion. I've never been to the place before. I don't know her, she don't know me."

Ola Mae says she sent a certified letter to the lawyer for the woman suing her and followed that with a phone call.

Ola Mae Walker: "When I called him he didn't, he never called me back."

Ola Mae then forgot about the lawsuit till she got a few more letters, so she called the lawyers office again and offered what seemed to be a simple solution.

Ola Mae Walker: "Could I just see the person, could I meet with the three of them to let you know that I don't know anything about it, but he said that can't be done since it was still an investigation."

Then Ola Mae got a summons from the court.

Ola Mae Walker: "I talked to a friend and she said you need a lawyer. And I said I don't have know money for a lawyer."

Doesnt have money for a lawyer to defend herself in a case she says is a waste of her time.

Ola Mae Walker: "And someone said call Help Me Howard, but I thought maybe they charged, but when I talked to Patrick he said "Oh no we don't charge anything for this."

No we dont charge Ola Mae, but Howard do people have to pay a lawyer to defend them when another lawyer is making a mistake suing you.

Howard Finkelstein: "No you dont have to hire a lawyer. You can handle this yourself by writing a letter to the court. However, if you do hire a lawyer once the judge sees its a mistake and throws it out in many cases the person who files the lawsuit has to pay your legal fees."

When we contacted the attorney suing Ola Mae Walker. He said he was looking for Ola Mae Thompson. He asked us to find out if Ola Maes maiden name was Thompson and if she had graduated from high school in 1956. The answer to both questions was no.

Later that day, they realized they had sued the wrong Ola Mae and her name was removed from the lawsuit.

Howard says its a good thing Ola Mae called us because the lawsuit could have caused her alot of headaches.

Howard Finkelstein: "Even if you are the wrong person even if the lawsuit is ridiculous, dont ignore it because if you do the case will still go to court and you will lose and getting the judgement overturned takes time, money and is very diffiicult to use a simple term stop it before it happens."

With a lawsuit out of the way, Ola Mae can focus on what she loves best doing good.

Ola Mae Walker: "I'm a do-gooder. My sister always called me a do-gooder. So that's what I gre up as, a do-gooder."

Patrick Fraser: "Thats a good thing. Now why would a lawyer sue someone who had nothing to do with the event? Obviously, this was a mistake in other cases you sue everyone who might be involved or responsible, and let the courts figure out who is to blame, but of course as Howard said, if you sue the wrong person you might have to pay their legal fees and expenses.

Troubles taken you for a wrong turn? Wanna summon a way to make it right? Contact us, we will work on a suit that is tailor made for your situation.

CONTACT HELP ME HOWARD:

EMAIL: helpmehoward@wsvn.com (Please include your contact phone number when emailing)
REPORTER: Patrick Fraser at pfraser@wsvn.com
MIAMI-DADE: 305-953-WSVN
BROWARD: 954-761-WSVN