Wednesday, June 30, 2010

from the desk of Dr. Frederick David Graves, JD

Click HERE for Audio Version!

Everyone knows, "You catch more flies with honey, but sometimes you need a fly swatter!"

That's true in court, and if you want to win in court you need to read this week's Tips & Tactics very carefully!image

There's a fine, critical line you must walk between being polite and respectful and standing your ground to demand Justice!

You need to learn this ... if you want to win!

Bullies don't win points.

Pansies don't win lawsuits!

You must be bold, but polite at all times.

This is not always easy but, in every single case, it is the very best posture for those who wish to win.

I give you a few introductory tips in this Tips & Tactics, but you need my affordable step-by-step Jurisdictionary course to master the proper balance between bowing and scraping to the judge and butting heads to no purpose!

Etiquette Rule #1: This is not the judge's courtroom. He (forgive me, ladies, I'll just use the male pronoun here, but we all know some wonderful judges are women) may pound his gavel and shout disdainfully at you, "This is my courtroom!" But! It's not. It belongs to the people who pay for the building, the bailiff, the clerk, the electric bill, and his salary with our taxes!

Moreover, that courtroom you're standing in was paid for by the blood of some wonderful young people who gave the ultimate sacrifice so you and I could enjoy "Justice" in our courts! Never forget this fact. It will give you the correct attitude to take when standing your ground in court! Your right to be there is a "right", not a "privilege" conferred by the gorilla in a black robe sitting on the high bench above you.

He is not the law!

He is a hireling charged with the responsibility of seeing that the RULES OF COURT are obeyed to-the-letter!

Our courts are for us common people!

They are our POWER TO CONTROL CORRUPTION!

Etiquette Rule #2: Nobody likes a smart ass!

And, by that term I do not refer to any part of anatomy but to the foolish idea of a donkey professing wisdom that it obviously does not possess.

Humility is powerful. Indeed, some have said the very definition of humility is power under control.

Another way of expressing this rule is remembering what some famous person said about those who may be thought a fool but then open their mouths and dispel all doubt.

If you know what Jurisdictionary teaches and stick to the RULES, you won't need to pontificate on the arcane obscurities of jurisprudence nor find it necessary to use big words you don't yet fully understand (like those three).

Be a human!

The judge may be a pompous egotist, but he is human, after all, and if you want to get a judge on your bad side quickly, just come across as thinking you're smarter than him ... even if you truly are!

Always use the K.I.S.S. principle. Keep it simple, stupid!

If you've learned anything at all from my step-by-step Jurisdictionary course, it is that this whole business is simple. Winners make it simple!

Losers try to impress the judge and jury with concepts they barely understand, instead of talking to the court as they might talk to a close friend.

Arrogance is lethal to your cause.

Etiquette Rule #3: You must control the judge!

Ok. That probably sounds contrary to what I said above, but it should be Rule #1 ... but for the vital fact that the first two rules are more important. The human equation is always present in court. You must deal with human flaws, human emotions, human bias.

But!

You must control the judge by applying Jurisdictionary methods: timely objections, properly framed motions, the controlling case law that strikes terror into the judge's all-too-often stony heart, making certain the proceedings will be recorded and that you will be able to get a transcript to use on appeal if the judge rules against you, and many other things too numerous to list in a single Tips & Tactics newsletter.

Judges are not gods!

Judges are employees who work for the People!

Being disrespectful will get you nowhere.

Staring at your shoes and apologizing for taking up the court's valuable time will also get you nowhere.

Dress your best, so the judge cannot get into his head that you cannot afford to appeal him or that you're just not smart enough to win on appeal. Judges hate appeals. Part of the power you have for winning is making it crystal clear to the judge that ruling against you will have certain consequences not to his liking! Polished shoes. A freshly dry-cleaned suit and recent haircut put the judge on notice you did not just fall off a turnip truck.

Strike fear into the judge's heart, but be polite doing it!

Cite the rules and case law that explain the rules.

Cite the common law and case law that explain it.

Cite the statutes and case law that explain them.

Cite constitutional provisions and case law that interpret them.

Your opinion means absolutely nothing in court!

Written opinions of appellate courts that can overturn the judge's decision or criticize him for missing the mark are the only "opinions" that will carry the day for you. If it's a federal case, the only opinions that count are written decisions of the local District Court, the controlling Circuit Court of Appeals, or the United States Supreme Court. If you're in state court, the only opinions that count are written decisions of the state appellate court that controls the trial judge, the state supreme court, and the United States Supreme Court.

Nonsense ideas learned from would-be legal gurus who send junk email to your in box each week will only get you into deeper water ... and likely result in your drowning in a sea of ridiculous legal theories that have no control at all over the judge.

My affordable step-by-step Jurisdictionary course is the only resource that makes it easy enough for an 8th grader to learn what it takes to win in court!

There's a lot to it, but none of it is differential calculus or rocket science.

If you already have my powerful, popular course, urge everyone to get it immediately so they can learn how to win in court and protect their families by using the official rules to control and overcome crooked lawyers and corrupt judges.

I've given you a few ideas in today's Tips & Tactics on how to handle yourself in court, but you need my course to learn more - and you do need to learn more about it!

Tell everyone about Jurisdictionary !

If you have a lawyer, it's foolish not to know what your lawyer should be doing to win for you. Too many lawyers are afraid of the judge. Too many won't stand up for you when the judge "cops an attitude". Too many will drain you of your last dime by dragging out your case when, by using the methods explained by my Jurisdictionary course, you could have won the case within a few weeks or months, instead of spending years and all your hard-earned cash so your liar (oops, I meant lawyer) can drive a Jaguar!

If you don't have a lawyer, you are certain to lose if you don't learn what my course makes so easy-to-understand, because your opponent will use the rules to defeat you if you don't know how to stand up and use the rules in your own favor to win!

Order my step-by-step Jurisdictionary course now and start learning how to use the rules today (if you aren't one of the thousands of smart people already learning how to use the rules to win lawsuits with my affordable course).

Where there is crookedness, corruption, and rebellion against our American values, let's all do the right thing, the patriotic thing, the honorable thing, and step up to the plate for our neighbors and friends and demand that the rules too many have died for be honored by judges!

Together, with knowledge of the rules that control every court in our land, we can be the generation that restores: Liberty and Justice for ALL.

Stop courtroom corruption!

Get justice for yourself, your family, and your nation!

Help me restore due process to our nation by telling EVERYONE about Jurisdictionary!

Know the rules that command justice!

Dr. Frederick David Graves, JD

Winning Courtroom Etiquette
2:07 PM

Winning Courtroom Etiquette

from the desk of Dr. Frederick David Graves, JD

Many of you are struggling to understand the maze of legal confusion that's coming at you with legal horrors and treacherous legal traps you never expected, troubles you were never prepared to fight alone.

Yet, many of you are alone. Too much alone.

You need friends. You need each other!

You are not alone!

Tens of thousands of you have the Jurisdictionary case-winning know-how you can use to help others win.

Help each other win! It's the loving thing to do!

If you aren't one of the millions who will be destroyed this coming week by corrupt tactics of crooked lawyers or insensitivity of judges more interested in clearing a case calendar than dispensing true justice, help someone else win this terrible battle. Remember the Golden Rule, and do a good deed for others, because what "goes around comes around".

It never ceased to amaze and disappoint me all those nearly 25 years I went to court for my clients how many were alone, but for me, of course. They all had friends somewhere. Family. Neighbors. Someone. But, none came to court with them. Not in all those years!

Where were friends and family when these people were fighting for their lives or for their livelihood or for the right to see their children on weekends or for the hope to keep their home or save their business?

I know (because I've had this amazing Jurisdictionary mission since 1997 and received many tens of thousands of emails from you and others like you) that your lives are torn in shreds by litigation, the threat of losing, the anger at those who abuse you with lies and courtroom trickery, the fear, the financial drain that never seems to end.

I know how you hurt, how you are tossed about by the frightening mysteries my profession has hidden from you unjustly far too long!

If you must battle crooked lawyers, if you must take on judges who ignore the rights too many heroic young men and women died for, ask your friends and family for help!

Ask your friends and family to go to court with you!

It may keep the judge in line. It may force the judge to see his or her responsibility to stop the crooked lawyers' tricks and give you the due process rights that are truly yours and everyone's who stands for justice and seeks it fairly according to the rules.

Or, if you've learned firsthand what it takes to win, or if you're only just beginning to learn, lend a hand to those who need your support, those who may lose all they have if you don't pitch in and help. Go to hearings with them. Help get evidence to overcome the crooked slight-of-hand too often used by lawyers these days. Support them.

Justice is law tempered by mercy ... and there's just too little of either one in the world today.

You all need each other!

And, together, you can make a difference!

Imagine a world in which courtroom corruption and its smoke-and-mirrors legalese trickery is a thing of the past.

Imagine a world in which each of us cares enough about the plight of others caught in the legal web to be involved in the fight for people who are being abused by members of my profession and their money-grubbing clients.

Imagine a world in which arrogant judges are unable to ignore the rules of due process, unable to alter the court records, unable to flaunt the law that secures our liberty.

Imagine a world in which children of every race, creed, color, and financial background grow up respecting rules and seeing the rules as their friend, because we made it our duty to clear out the courtroom deadwood, learning the rules for ourselves, getting involved in other people's legal problems, making a difference for keeps this time!

Imagine a world with a legal militia of good people!

Imagine a world where everyone is determined to stop courthouse fraud by standing together as a force against evil, instead of allowing innocent sheep to be led to the legal slaughter that's all-too-common in our world today.

Help someone else fight for justice in court.

If you're in the nightmare of litigation, ask for help.

If you've survived your own nightmare and learned some of what it takes to defeat courtroom corruption, go to the aid of someone else ... please!

Start a movement in our land, helping others win!

In all those nearly 25 years, I should have seen friends and family of my clients sitting in the gallery. Taking notes. Paying attention to every word. Learning what American Justice really looks like ... instead of sitting home learning its Hollywood counterfeit on TV or at the movies.

I remember what the Beatles sang many years ago, "The love you get is equal to the love you make."

Get involved and clean up your local courts!

If you don't have someone you can go for, go alone just to see what happens, and pray for the poor souls who are being sacrificed simply by not knowing the rules and being alone, struggling to win against a professional who knows how to hide evidence, bend the rules, and create illusions they deceitfully pass off as the truth.

No one should ever have to go to court alone!

Be a good Samaritan. Get involved. If you go to court and see arrogance instead of honor on the bench, tell your friends. If you see just rulings tempered with mercy, tell your friends about that, too! But, go and see for yourself!

As Woody Guthrie used to sing, "This Land is our Land," and that includes every courtroom and every courthouse from San Diego to Bangor, Maine.

Why let lawyers control our lives with trickery, when it's easy for each of you to help not only yourselves but also a few of the millions of other good people who'll undoubtedly be utterly destroyed by courtroom corruption if you don't help them every way you can!

- - - -

Get your own copy of the lawsuit-winning Jurisdictionary course today!

Lawsuit Winners Helping Others!
1:55 PM

Lawsuit Winners Helping Others!

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

from the desk of Dr. Frederick David Graves, JD:

Here are a few foreclosure defense tools you can use to fight abusive lenders and their attorneys.

I'll send more as time permits.

These should be filed with memoranda of law citing controlling appellate court opinions that rule the trial judge where your case is pending. Merely stating the rule is no substitute for citing the controlling case law that controls the judge!

To learn more about memoranda and citations, use my affordable step-by-step Jurisdictionary course (if you don't already have it) to learn how to do it correctly!

#1 Failure of Condition Precedent

Mortgages and promissory notes are contracts.

Before a party may obtain judicial enforcement of any contract (including mortgages and notes) there may be certain acts it must perform before filing suit. These are called conditions precedent.

For example, some notes and mortgages contain what is called an "acceleration clause" that provides that the full amount will become due and payable in the event of the borrower's default (failure to pay on time, failure to keep insurance current, etc.). Some of these may require that the borrower be provided written notice of acceleration. Failure to provide that or other notices deprives the plaintiff of the right to proceed in court.

There may be other such provisions requiring the lender to perform other conditions precedent to bringing a lawsuit to enforce the contract (mortgage/note). Carefully read your copy of the mortgage and note. (You did insist on receiving a copy on the day you signed, didn't you?)

If the borrower is entitled to an opportunity to cure the default and was not given that opportunity, this too may be a condition precedent preventing a lender from getting its case before the court.

The court should grant a motion to dismiss, at least until the plaintiff performs all conditions precedent.

#2 Failure of Authority to Sue

Many states require out-of-state companies (including lenders) to register with the Secretary of State (or other state office) as a prerequisite to maintaining lawsuits in the state.

Failure to register is fatal to the plaintiff's cause.

This can be easily checked online in many states.

If a company has not registered, it is not authorized to litigate, and a motion to dismiss is in order.

#3 Failure to Attach Necessary Documents

Many states require plaintiffs to attach to complaints copies of documents (e.g., mortgages, promissory notes, and other contracts or instruments) that form the basis for the plaintiff's claim.

If your state has this requirement, you will find it set our in your state's Rules of Civil Procedure. (You have studied your state's Rules of Civil Procedure and Rules of Evidence, haven't you?)

Failure to attach necessary documents upon which the plaintiff's case is based, creates your opportunity to file a motion to dismiss.

My affordable step-by-step Jurisdictionary course will tell you much, much more about how to prosecute and defend lawsuits ... including mortgage foreclosures!

Read the testimonials in the right column! ?

My course is the only course that makes it easy enough for an 8th grader to learn what it takes to win in court!

There's a lot to it, but none of it is rocket science, and you can learn it all in a single weekend.

If you already have my powerful, popular course, urge everyone to get it immediately so they can learn how to win in court and protect their families by using the official rules to control and overcome crooked lawyers and corrupt judges.

I've given you a few ideas in today's Tips & Tactics, but you need my course to learn more. There's much more to winning than I can tell in a single newsletter.

FORWARD THIS TIPS & TACTICS TO YOUR FRIENDS.

Tell EVERYONE about Jurisdictionary !

If you have a lawyer, it's foolish not to know what your lawyer should be doing to win for you.

Order my step-by-step Jurisdictionary course now and start learning what it takes to win in court (if you aren't one of the thousands of smart people already discovering how easy it is to win lawsuits with my methods).

Where there is crookedness, corruption, and rebellion against our American values, let's all do the right thing, the patriotic thing, the honorable thing, and step up to the plate for our neighbors and friends and demand that the rules too many have died for be honored by judges!

Together, with knowledge of the rules that control every court in our land, we can be the generation that restores: Liberty and Justice for ALL.

Stop courtroom corruption!

Get justice for yourself, your family, and your nation!

Help me restore due process to our nation by telling EVERYONE about Jurisdictionary!

Know the rules that command justice!
Foreclosure Defense Toolbox #1
10:53 AM

Foreclosure Defense Toolbox #1

Monday, June 14, 2010

from the desk of Dr. Frederick David Graves, JD

Tips & Tactics


Each week I receive reports from good people who lost in court because they did not heed the Jurisdictionary warning about the need to make an effective court record and why making an effective court record is essential to winning in court ... with or without a lawyer!

You must make an effective court record to win!

Losers usually fail for one of the following reasons:
  1. Failure to arrange for a court reporter to record the proceedings.
  2. Failure to know how to timely object to a judge's errors and get those objections on the record.
  3. Failure to effectively make legal arguments and get controlling citations on the record.
  4. Failure to effectively get the essential facts and necessary witness testimony on the record.

I cover only #1 in this Tips & Tactics below. I will cover the others in future Tips & Tactics. In the meantime, you need to order my affordable step-by-step Jurisdictionary course (if you don't already have it) to empower yourself with knowledge necessary to make an effective winning court record.

#1: Failure to arrange for a court reporter to record the proceedings.

Some report they cannot afford to pay an official court reporter to attend hearings. Some say the judge won't allow a reporter. Some even report the record has been altered after the fact.

And, far too many lose needlessly!

You only need to pay for a reporter's attendance, but it is the most important expense you will encounter in court. It cannot be too strongly stressed.
The expense of paying a reporter for a typed transcript is rarely needed and only then if appeal is necessary or the need arises to prove the lawyer on the other side has lied about what happened in court.

If appeal is necessary, there is no effective substitute for an official transcript to clearly show the appellate court what happened, how a judge ruled, and why a ruling was contrary to justice and needs to be reversed or remanded by the appellate court.

Some lawyers prepare falsified orders for judges to sign after hearings, orders that do not comport with what the judge actually ordered! If this happens, and you have no transcript to prove what the judge actually said, you are lost ... along with your case!

In many cases where a transcript is needed, it may be enough to have the reporter type only the few pages that show the error you need to bring to the court's attention.
Aside from these events, it is rare that one needs to pay a reporter for a transcript. So, the only cost is the fee for an official reporter to attend.

If you do not have a reporter, the judge is free to rule however he or she wishes, knowing there is not a thing you can do to appeal effectively without that record!

I occasionally receive emails or visit pro se bulletin boards where would-be legal gurus talk about taking a tape recorder to court, instead of hiring an official court reporter. A tape recording is not an official record and, in some states, to make a clandestine recording is a felony punishable by jail time. Nonsense ideas learned from would-be legal gurus who send junk email to your in-box should be ignored.

Speak to the court reporter. Even when you ask a witness a question or speak to the judge, the important point to remember is that the main thing is what gets in the record. So, speak slowly. Speak distinctly. Don't use run-on sentences. Make certain the witnesses you question give their answers clearly, so the court reporter can get down exactly what was said. If people are allowed to speak too rapidly, the court reporter may miss important words ... and cost you your case. When speaking in the courtroom, visualize your words being written down, just as if you were typing them yourself. Make certain what gets written down is clear and concise ... in case it must be reviewed by an appellate tribunal later on.

Failure to arrange for a court reporter to record the proceedings tells the judge he or she may do as he or she wishes without fear of being appealed!

Nothing, therefore, is more important than the record!

My affordable step-by-step Jurisdictionary course will tell you much, much more about this and how to make an effective record that will convince the judge that the only way for him or her to avoid being reversed on appeal is to rule in your favor!

Click HERE to learn more at our lawsuit self-help website.
Make a Winning Court Record!
11:30 AM

Make a Winning Court Record!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Tips & Tactics

Arguing Motions

So, you've drafted your motion, filed it with the clerk, sent a copy to the judge, and served the other side. You've supported your motion with a carefully-researched and well-written memorandum, setting out relevant facts and legal arguments why the court should grant your motion.

You've scheduled hearing time with the judge's Judicial Assistant agreeable to the other side. You've filed your Notice of Hearing with the clerk and sent a copy to the other side (by fax and mail).

Now the day is here. Hearing time!

You've taken your seat. The courtroom doors have closed behind you. The bailiff announces, "All rise!"

Enter the judge. Everyone stands. The judge looks around the room before saying, "Please be seated."

Don't sit down!

The judge will announce the hearing, telling everyone including the court reporter you brought to write things down (You did bring a court reporter, didn't you?), "We're here on case number 05-123, Peter Plaintiff versus Danny Defendant. This is the plaintiff's motion for summary judgment. Mr. Graves, please proceed."

The movant goes first. It's your motion. You're the movant.

Don't let the other side interrupt. This is one of the most egregious things crooked lawyers do. They will jump to their feet and interrupt as often as the judge lets them get away with it.
After the second or third interruption, stop your presentation long enough to request of the court, "Your honor, I have only a limited time to present my argument. May I proceed without interruption?"

Even if the court allows your opponent to continue interrupting, at least there will be less tendency for the judge to overlook obvious rudeness designed to disrupt your concentration. If the other side doesn't have a valid objection, you should insist on being able to speak without interruption. Often a good thing to say is, "Your honor, I need to make my record here, and counsel is interrupting with no legitimate purpose other than to prevent me from doing my job."

You have a right to be heard. It's been bought for you by the blood of men and women who died for your right to be heard.

Remember this, and demand to be heard.

Click HERE to learn more at our lawsuit self-help website.
Legal Self Help - Arguing Motions
6:12 PM

Legal Self Help - Arguing Motions