hopehope
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Post by hopehope on Jun 12, 2010 20:43:10 GMT -5
so -- a lot of the unlooked at stuff in the impacted boxes and baskets in my house is paper material from all those law suits by the landlord. at the end of those things I couldn't bear to look at them and knew I couldn't throw them away, so I stored them. more or less -- for me -- neatly. lot of it I can't even get to now. full of dust. not organized files. I would write motions and they filed stuff and there would be decisions. whatever. the court has files of some sort, but the LL has access to them -- and the ones in my favor have a funny tendency to go missing... or maybe just all my evidence disappears.... I can't chuck it, but I think i sometimes kept drafts, and not just final copies of stuff. but there are notes mixed in. maybe I will bring an action against them sometime-- I will need this stuff. the attorney general's office said send us copies-- at that point I couldn't. do I have to keep the official petitions-- written up stuff official lawyer papers -- they had against me? (these are usually big, and have exhibits) what do I do with this offal? ok -- there's already the emotional grief of looking at these things that make me angry and my stomach twist. plus-- ? I don't know. in the best of all possible worlds, I'd hire an organzier -- and they'd take it all away, sort it into cases, remove drafts -- scan originals -- and toss a lot. let me look through the tossables briefly. i don't even have a computer, let alone scanner -- nor much room to put them. I have to do a good faith job on my home or i'm toast. brain storm with me? thank you.  |
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Post by Meme on Jun 12, 2010 21:33:06 GMT -5
can u get a box and just put all in as is right now( get rid of little piles as you would never pack all that to court etc anyway) and then cover box nicely making it part of furniture and set an empty basket on top? then try to go through a few papers at a time and just chuck(shred) what is irrelevant-- often we keep too many things that are double info and not enough to help us in the end- and we cannot find what we really need -- hugs Meme
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Post by Fivecat on Jun 12, 2010 21:49:45 GMT -5
i dunno, hope. I'm usually all about tossing and i really don't have any idea of the volume you have, but when it comes to legal documents that you might be needed in the future, i'd find a way to keep them. Those kind of things are hard to replace and as you said, things have a way of being 'lost' in the judicial system. I still have all the legal paperwork and such from my divorce and it was.......24 years ago. It was a long drawn out divorce lasting 4 years involving a farm, equipment, crops, livestock and then a custody case on top of it. I may never need it again, but, I'm not willing to let it go in case i do. Ain't nobody out there gonna protect me like me. Just my thoughts. Fivecat
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Post by bigtimetroubles on Jun 12, 2010 22:12:29 GMT -5
good for you fivecat.....Hi Hopehope....I can only suggest a file cabinet from freecycler....you could make it a wanted for two or four drawer one if that is the size volume here.....hugs btt
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hopehope
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Joined: May 2008
Posts: 3,815
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Post by hopehope on Jun 12, 2010 23:15:10 GMT -5
fivey seems to have a better sense of the volume. meme, i've done that. big baskets, nice piece of fabric on top. I'm gonna get shot for it.
it's the dealing with it that has to happen.
20 years worth of endless law. they gave me a three year reprieve in the middle.
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Post by CourageouslyLion SeeksSerenity on Jun 12, 2010 23:53:35 GMT -5
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I worked as a temp worker at a legal office. I did receptionist work, and sometimes some assistant-legal-secretary tasks.
We had one case ...
(I will completely change the story here, in order to protect privacy/privilege of client.)
My employer, the attorney ... was the defense attorney for client "Mrs. X".
Mrs. X had a long history of being accused of ABC criminal activity. We kept getting more and more reports, back further and further in years. Some of it was very old. Some of the activity happened in another country, and would not have been prosecutable in my locale.
Even though some of it was not prosecutable, the entire mass of paperwork did show a definite longterm pattern of criminal activity.
The law office assigned me the project of going through all this mountain of paper. I had to create binders and put dividers in them. In each section, I had to put certain types of documents. Then I had to put everything in date order, within each section. Then I had to create an index of every single document. I was allowed to shred documents ONLY if they were exact duplicates.
The law office needed to have everything ordered and put into indexed binders ... even things that Mrs. X couldn't be prosecuted for. They needed me to organize it ALL ... so that if issues arose later, we would not be surprised.
It was a lot of work, but I did get it done. And ordering it made the issues of the case very clear. And the attorney was able to instantly find whatever was needed.
That is from a defense attorney's point of view.
I don't know what the guidelines would be for a person who might want to sue another person later.
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My suggestion would be to put all your legal paperwork into a safety deposit box at a bank. (I have no idea what sizes they come in).
If you cannot get a safety deposit box, .... get a filing cabinet for your home. Make sure it's STURDY ... preferably metal, but strong wood okay. (NOT cardboard). Preferably a LOCKING file cabinet.
However, if you have any concerns about the landlord or building superindent or janitor entering your apartment, .... then do whatever you have to ... in order to afford a safety deposit box.
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Editing to add:
If you leave the paperwork in boxes, it will eventually get mixed in with other things in your home. The boxes will deteriorate. The papers themselves will deteriorate. It will all become an indecipherable mess. Hence the need for a more permanent structure, such as a safety deposit box, or a filing cabinet.
Editing again to add:
Mice eat paperwork. Don't leave it in boxes!
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Post by moggyfan on Jun 12, 2010 23:57:27 GMT -5
hh--Can you put the papers in the storage unit you rent?
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Post by disorganizeddragon on Jun 13, 2010 0:00:37 GMT -5
Hopey, here's the horrible truth: If it's anything related to your legal battles, you need to keep it. Even if you think some of it may be copies, don't throw anything out until you're absolutely sure.
You're right--court files go mysteriously missing all the time. Or, if they don't wander off into the great unknown, other natural disasters may befall them. Water pipes break flooding file rooms, mice go on a diet and give up cheese to munch on legal papers, someone throws a lit cigarette into a trash can and an entire office goes up in smoke--you get the idea.
If you don't have a dedicated attorney working for you start-to-finish (and how many folks can afford that?), you have to cover your own hindquarters and make sure you have copies of all the relevant paperwork--and any of it can suddenly become relevant at any time. Please don't depend on your opponent's attorneys or the city clerks to keep and have the files you need. It's just too risky. But you obviously already knew that.
I would just hate to see you at a disadvantage in court because you accidentally threw something out and then ended up needing it later.
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Post by CourageouslyLion SeeksSerenity on Jun 13, 2010 0:05:55 GMT -5
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Regarding someone's suggestion to put it into your storage unit ...
... probably not a good idea.
Storage units get broken into.
Storage units get flooded.
And, if, one day in the future, due to unforseen circumstances, you are ever very late paying your storage unit rent, .... the storage company can lock you out of your unit.
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Post by moggyfan on Jun 13, 2010 0:21:22 GMT -5
Well, true dat about the storage unit.
Still, if you HAVE TO get them out of your house, it might serve as a temporary repository in a pinch.
ETA: Do you have a digital camera? In the absence of a scanner you could take a digital photo of each page. You can store hundreds of pictures on a memory card. Digital photos of documents are highly readable as the files are large. Also, easily uploaded & stored on a CD or DVD.
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Post by messimo on Jun 13, 2010 2:22:40 GMT -5
I have a couple of brainstormy ideas.
Idea 1: I know you said that you don't have a computer or a scanner, but there are businesses that will take your paper documents, scan them, and make them available to you on a hard disk or something. If you had a way to transfer them to an online storage area, you would at least have access to your documents. Then you could take the paper copies and put them in a more permanent storage place. This might be a rather expensive solution, though.
Idea 2: Perhaps you could ask a trusted friend to come help you sort through the papers a little at a time. Sometimes it's easier to do things when you have a helping hand. (I suggest this knowing that I myself do not have a friend that I would feel comfortable revealing myself to, but you might.)
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Post by downandout on Jun 13, 2010 6:16:08 GMT -5
im in the same boat. not because i may need to file charges against someone but because i have all the legal papers from deceased family members. i have become the family dumping ground for these kind of things (wonder why? cause they know i will keep them). but some of these legal papers are from lawsuits against the deceased etc. yeah lots of papers. i am like you i am afraid to toss out anything and yet i would love to get them out of my home because of the pain they cause whenever i happen to come across one of the boxes. i think the suggestion for filing cabinets is a good one. i see them at times for free on craigslist. but how to organize? for you maybe do it by year? then by day within the year? put all the stuff dated from one year together. i think if you were to try to prove harassment it would be good to have it together like that. then you could go to your lawyer and say see? theyve been after me since 1990 and it started like this... and because you will be looking at the papers within that time frame you will notice if you have duplicates of something. those you can shred. its a big task. an unpleasant task. but something i think you will have to do. i hope it goes easy for you hopehope!  |
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Post by Chris on Jun 13, 2010 9:34:22 GMT -5
I really like the idea of binders (like Lioness mentioned) even if you can't immediately organize them tabbed/by date etc. The big thick 3 ring binders can turn the papers into an organized neat collection even if you don't have document protectors just the 3 ring binders and a hole punch? Most likely money is an issue. They do sell plastic file boxes that can hold hanging or regular folders -- however, they are anywhere from $8 to $12 each (last I looked). I think what I like about the binder idea is that say you have to deal with part of the documents -- the binder is more portable than a banker box or a file cabinet and you can take quite a few papers with you at a time to wherever you need them. In July/Aug binders are dirt cheap around here as kids begin to go back to school. Maybe the timing of this project will coincide with a sale or maybe some will go on clearance -- my husband used to bring home binders (although not as thick as I'm imagining you'd need) because where he worked security -- the offices often threw them away for things like color changes or scuff marks. I never had to buy binders for my son for school because it seems like he brought so many home that were in ok condition. If we lived close to one another I'd scan the papers and copy them to disc for you. I'm thinking even then, you may need "hard" copies of some of the documents so it seems that doing something with the documents that renders them neat and contained (even if disorganized within the containment at first -- is important. Sorry I can't ever say things in few words.  Good luck!!!!! Edited to add: the way my mind works I'm sitting here thinking of how many of us probably have 3 ring binders we should be getting rid of -- and how if only all the unwanted items in the world could be assessed easily we'd all have just what we need.  |
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hopehope
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Post by hopehope on Jun 13, 2010 19:22:08 GMT -5
oh boy. is this ever helpful. thank you for taking the time and attention to chime in. it's not just so I can sue them -- but I may have to defend myself too. In fact, in the current case I am already using lots of things from prior matters. heck, I included a waterstained copy of a letter from this same attorney threatening to terminate my lease for growing flowers. I even have the certified return receipt letter I answered her with -- before they came when I wasn't home and stole them away -- and then came when i was-- to the other window -- and took the plants that were inside and dropped them to the pavement below to explode like bombs. so -- I'm not nuts to have this _____ (prior deletion ). and I'm not nuts to be sick at the thought of going through it after the cases end. the binder idea does not sound right for this-- I would have to put 3 holes in every single thing. N.G. and I always intended to sort them by case, and year. and maybe envelope them that way, if it is small enough. there's no room in my storage box. Some is taken up with things to sell -- which is a project in itself, but when they are gone there will be more room./ the boxes/baskets--covered with nice fabric -- are on top of each other, behind other things -- not easy. I hadn't -- ugh -- cl, thought of mice. too much. but I did think of major dust and other degrading elements. there's just sooo much z&y!!xw*!%. ps I am in awe at what you did with those files, lion. oof. wow. I could really use your skills here. |
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hopehope
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Post by hopehope on Jun 13, 2010 19:27:41 GMT -5
reading back.
thank you for the sweet offer, chris.
and -- cl again -- indecipherable mess is what I have now, more or less.
okay -- best of all possible worlds -- well, a few steps lower than that, because in the b.o.a.p.w. this wouldn't be going on --
I would get all the paper stuff -- as is, containers and all -- OUT of here -- and sort them elsewhere.
because the very locale has so many head-fogging crazy-making messages -- and there's no room -- and major mess in the offing -- and they take space, and they can claim clutter, fire hazard -- and so on.
brainstorming myself.
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