Weddingbee boards

I need your help legal bees! Long story, but if interested for background, you can read my original thread here: http://boards.weddingbee.com/topic/photographer-blew-off-a-clients-wedding-last-weekend-vent

Pretty much, my former wedding photographer has had some type of melt down, and completely abandoned her business. Started by not showing up to a client's wedding, and has not provided the photos to clients whose weddings she did show up to. I've been in contact with other brides of hers, who told me the process they went through of successfully suing her in our local small claims court.

The newest news is now that in addition to filing for bankruptcy, she has moved out of state (very convenient giving the amount of people suing her). We were in the process of taking her to court, and now our local court says we can't sue her here since she no longer lives in state. They say we would have to file in the state she currently lives in.

Is this true? Someone can live in one area and own a business here, but just pack up and move to another state, far enough away that the cost for me to travel there for a court date may outweight the money that she owes me? Or can I still sue her in the state that I live, where her business was based and all my contracts are signed in?

ETA: I live in NY state (capitol region) and she now moved to Illinois (St. Louis suburbs)

@MrsMeNow: I know, I am eternally grateful for that. We found out very early and were able to find a replacement photographer. And it is worth it even if I can't recoup the money, but for me it's more a moral issue that I don't think I should just roll over and let her get away with it!

I can't say for sure since I don't know what state you live in but I believe it this applies to any state:

You must sue the person where they currently live meaning even the particular county where they live. Small claims court is a local court issue. I sued someone in Georgia once and I lived in Atlanta (Fulton County) but had to file suit in Clayton County where he lives.

Standard Disclaimer--This isn't legal advice.  I don't know what state you live in, but the main issue is that the court where you bring the suit must have personal jurisdiction over the photographer.  Personal jurisdiction just means that the court has the power to enforce its decision over the parties involved in a lawsuit.  Usually, that's the courts in the state where the person lives.  There are other ways to obtain personal jurisdiction, however.  This is typically defined by a state statute.  You should check the laws where you live or ask an attorney in your area for help.  I would seek help soon because of the statute of limitations.  

@scadadle15: Ugh that was what I was afraid of. I live in NY, and she now lives in IL. I doubt it's worth it, travel would probably cost us at least half of what she owes us, plus the town court here is VERY familiar with her as she's being sued by many people, and we would then have to sue in a local court that is not familiar with the extent of how many people she has done this too.

Thanks for the info though!

@ChemistryBride:

It may be worth filing the suit. Are you trying to recover a deposit? You could still file and then hope she pays you before the court date.

You can request copies of her previous lawsuits in your state that are of similar nature and provide them with your complaint letter. I did that too and it helped.

@kate169: because from what I have been told she has officially gone out of business (according to her Weddingwire Profile, at least), and she has not returned repeated calls, emails, and facebook messages for 4 months.

Plus her history of not fulfilling other contracts (by not showing up to weddings, or not providing the photos for 6+ months after weddings) may be enough to constitute an anticipatory breach of contract, since it shows we have reason to believe she will not fulfill the terms of our contract.

@scadadle15: Yeah, hoping to recover our $750 deposit, or at least most of it. I was willing to let her keep $200-250 since she did take our engagement pictures, but the lack of communication has slowly eroded my generosity :P

And that is a good idea of providing copies of the other suits, I will look into that. Still not sure if the distance is worth it though...I only may make out with a couple hundred dollars after travel.

@Miss Olive: This is great information! Thanks so much, it does make sense. I will have to check it out. It's really ugly trying to figure out how we would even get money anyway, since she is filing for bankruptcy too...

@August252012: Actually, my mother have been wondering if she is bipolar or something. She had nothing but rave reviews on weddingwire up until the past 6 months...so there definitely seems to have been some drastic change in her personal life, be it mental illness or something else. Though I feel bad for whatever she is dealing with, I still think it's horrible what she is putting people through. I appreciate your post though, and definitely empathisize for your mother.