The Justice Network
Credit Card Lawsuit
How I sued my credit card company and won
Like many people I could not find a lawyer willing to take a case where the amount in dispute was relatively small.
A lawyer may see value in charging $10,000 to settle a $5,000 credit card dispute, but the ordinary person will not.
Household Bank overcharged and defrauded on my credit card, and then reneged on a settlement. I sued and won. My existing debt was canceled and I received a couple thousand dollars. The following is
not legal advice but for educational purposes only.
Step one: Sue in federal court. There are two BIG reasons. One reason is PACER, Public Access to Court Electronic Records that allows online access to court documents and pleadings for .08 cents a
copy, from the comfort of you home or office. Florida state court charges $1.00 per page for copies and there is no online access. You must travel to the courthouse, wait in line, and pay $1.00
per page, plus gas and parking. For PACER you will need an account. You can read about PACER on Wikipedia
The second and more important reason to sue in federal court is fairness. The ordinary person has little to no chance in Florida state court. The reason is simple.
Lawyers own the Florida state courts and the judges who hear the cases. In federal court the judges are more independent because they are appointed for life and do not depend on lawyers for campaign
contributions or favorable performance reviews.
You read that right. Florida judges are subject to performance review by lawyers. The review is done by completing the Confidential Judicial
Feedback form.
The Judicial Administration and Evaluation Committee of The Florida Bar has responsibility for the feedback program. The stated goal is to provide a confidential means by which attorney members of The Florida Bar can communicate with appellate or trial court judges concerning their perceived specific strengths and weaknesses. Providing judges with confidential feedback, assists them with self-assessment and self-improvement. The voluntary, confidential feedback program for trial and appellate court judges began January 1, 1998.
In addition, the practice of law in Florida state court is sloppy and lawyers will take advantage of that fact. Federal court is more orderly and a lawyer is less
likely to get away with bad behavior.
Below are some of my documents in Gillespie v. HSBC Bank, et al, case no. 5:05-cv-362-Oc-WTH-GRJ, US District Court, Middle District of Florida, Ocala Division, the Honorable William Terrell Hodges presiding.
Good luck!
2005, 10-17-05, Defendants motion to dis[...]
Adobe Acrobat document [795.0 KB]
2006, 09-25-06, Order establishing cause[...]
Adobe Acrobat document [67.2 KB]
Order establishing cause of action, Sep-25-2006
HSBC $2000 settlement check and letter, Nov-01-2006
United States District Court
Middle District of Florida, Ocala Division
Golden-Collum Memorial Federal Building & US Courthouse
207 NW Second Street
Ocala, Florida 34475-6666
Telephone: (352) 369-4860
PACER login US Dist. Ct, MD of Florida
The United States Courts, official web site
U.S. District Court Judge, Hon. Wm. Terrell Hodges
Judge HodgesThe Honorable William Terrell Hodges
American Inns of Court
2007 Professionalism Award for the Eleventh Circuit
Judge Terrell Hodges, the widely esteemed senior judge from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, was selected to receive the
2007 Professionalism Award for the Eleventh Circuit.
Judge Hodges’ recent response about his own personal mentors was notable. He named Chester H. Ferguson and Morris White as his two mentors, both of which are the
namesakes for his American Inn of Court in Tampa, FL, The C.H. Ferguson-M.E. White American Inn of Court. Mr. Ferguson was a senior partner in the Tampa law firm that employed Judge Hodges as a young
associate coming out of law school. Judge Hodges recalls that Mr. Ferguson was an exceptional man and lawyer from whom he learned the values of candor and loyalty. Mr. White was senior
partner in a different Tampa law firm. Judge Hodges had litigated a case in which Mr White, toward the end of his long and illustrious career, represented the opposing party. Judge Hodges
recalls that when he was later nominated to become a federal district court judge, Mr. White wrote an unsolicited letter of recommendation, which is to this day one of Judge Hodges’ cherished
possessions. He kept it, as he recalled, "because earning the respect of respected peers is what the professional aspect of the practice is, or ought to be, all about." By that measure,
Judge Hodges is the gold standard of professionalism.
A lifelong "Gator" (and still huge fan of the University of Florida Gators), Terrell Hodges received both his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Bachelor
of Laws from the University of Florida. At University of Florida Law School, he was the Executive Editor of the Law Review. After practicing law with the prominent Tampa firm of
Macfarlane, Ferguson, Allison & Kelley, he was appointed as a United States District Court Judge in the Middle District of Florida at the age of 37 in 1971, becoming one of the youngest lawyers
ever appointed to the federal bench.
As a trial court judge, he presided over innumerable high profile trials and proceedings, earning the respect of his fellow judges and lawyers for unfailing courtesy,
supreme powers of concentration and intellect, organizational skills, and professionalism. From 1981 to 1989, he served as Chief Judge of the Middle District of Florida. Judge Hodges has
held many national leadership positions within the federal judiciary, including President of the District Judges Association of the Eleventh Circuit (1981-82), member of the Subcommittee on Pattern
Jury Instructions of the Federal Judicial Center (1982-87), and as longtime Chair of the Eleventh Circuit Committee on Pattern Jury Instructions (1981-present).
In 1987, Chief Justice William Rehnquist appointed Judge Hodges to serve as a member of the Judicial Conference’s Advisory Committee on Criminal Rules, which Judge
Hodges went on to chair from 1990 to 1993. Chief Justice Rehnquist also chose Judge Hodges to serve on the Executive Committee of the Judicial Conference in 1994, and in 1996, he appointed
Judge Hodges as Chair of the Executive Committee—only the second district court judge in the history of the conference to serve in that position.
Judge Hodges assumed senior status in 1999. Nevertheless, he still not only carries a full
load as a trial judge, but also regularly sits with the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. In 2000, he was appointed to serve on the Judicial Panel on Multi-District Litigation and the
following year became its Chair, a responsibility he continues to ably perform.
Judge Hodges’ service and accomplishments were recognized by the American Judicature Society when he was presented the Edward J. Devitt Distinguished Service to Justice
Award by Chief Justice Rehnquist. The Devitt Award, considered one of the highest awards a federal judge can receive, honors an Article III judge of national stature, whose distinguished
lifelong career is characterized by "[d]ecisions that, through their wisdom, humanity and commitment to the rule of law, make clear that bench, bar and community alike would willingly entrust that
judge with the most complex cases of the most far-reaching import; writings, including opinions, lectures, or other publications that reveal scholarship and dedication to the improvement of the
judicial process; and activities that have helped to improve the administration of justice, advance the rule of law, reinforce collegial ties within the judicial branch, or strengthen civic ties
within local, national and international communities." Many have said the award should have been "retired" after it was presented to Judge Hodges. That same year, the Florida Bar Standing
Committee on Professionalism awarded Judge Hodges its prestigious William M. Hoeveler Judicial Award as a judge "who best exemplifies strength of character, service, and competence as a jurist,
lawyer, and public servant."
His approach to the law as a trial judge is to first determine what the law is, and then to apply it without indulging personal opinions as to inclinations concerning
the outcome. As he says, "Trust the law—the common law system—to get it right." He then quotes Justice Brandeis: "Stare decisis is usually the wise policy, because in most matters
it is more important that the applicable rule of law be settled than that it be settled right." Practitioners who have appeared before Judge Hodges would tell you, though, that his decisions
are both based on settled law and settled right—and that is what makes a judge so widely esteemed. Read more
here
US District Judge William Terrell Hodges, Wikipedia
Independence of the Federal Courts
The promise of the federal courts, in contrast to the state court system, is judicial independence. The title of federal judge means a judge appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate in
accordance with the United States Constitution, also known as an Article III federal judge. Article III federal judges serve "during good behavior" and often paraphrased as appointed "for life".
Judges hold their seats until they resign, die, or are removed from office. Federal judges have perhaps the best job security available in the United States. Moreover, the Constitution forbids
Congress to diminish a federal judge's salary.
In the United States federal courts, magistrate judges are appointed to assist United States district court judges in the performance of their duties. Magistrate judges
are authorized by 28 U.S.C. § 631. Magistrate judges are appointed by a majority vote of the federal district judges of
a particular district and serve terms of eight years if full-time, or four years if part-time, and may be reappointed. Magistrate judges of limited tenure are sometimes referred to as Article I
judges. Article I judges are not subject to the Article III protections. For example, these judges do not enjoy life tenure, and Congress may reduce their salaries.
Because Article III of the United States Constitution vests the judicial powers in courts to which the judges are appointed for life (and which are therefore called
Article III tribunals), decisions of a magistrate judge are subject to review and either approval, modification or reversal by a district judge of that court, except in civil cases where the parties
consent in advance to allow the magistrate judge to exercise the jurisdiction of the district judge. Read
more here
PACER - Public Access to Court Electronic Records
PACER (acronym for Public Access to Court Electronic Records) is an electronic public
access service of United States federal court documents. The system is managed by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts. It allows users to obtain case and docket information from the
United States district courts, United States courts of appeals, and United States bankruptcy courts.
Each court maintains its own system, with a small subset of information from each case is transferred to the U.S. Party/Case Index, located in San Antonio, Texas at the
PACER Service Center, server each night. Records are submitted to the individual courts using the Federal Judiciary's Case Management/Electronic Case Files (CM/ECF) system, and usually accepts the
filing of documents in the Portable Document Format (PDF) through the courts' electronic filing system. Each court maintains its own databases with case information. Because PACER database systems
are maintained within each court, each jurisdiction will have a different URL. Read more here
The United States Congress has given the Judicial Conference of the United States authority to impose user fees for electronic access to case information. All registered
agencies or individuals are charged a user fee.
The fee, as of 2006, to access the web-based PACER systems is $0.08 per page. Prior to January 1, 2005, the fee was $0.07 per page. The per page charge applies to the
number of pages that results from any search, including a search that yields no matches with a one page charge for no matches. The charge applies whether or not pages are printed, viewed, or
downloaded. There is a maximum charge of $2.40 for electronic access to any single document.
In March 2001, the Judicial Conference of the United States decided that no fee would be owed until a user accrued more than $10 worth of charges in a calendar year. If
an account does not accrue $10 worth of usage between January 1 and December 31 of a year, the amount owed would be zeroed. In March 2010, that limit was effectively quadrupled, with users not billed
unless their charges exceed $10 in a quarterly billing period
PACER allows online access to court documents and pleadings for .08 cents a copy from the comfort of you home or office. Florida state court charges $1.00 per page for
copies and there is no online access. You must travel to the courthouse, wait in line, and pay $1.00 per page, plus gas and parking. For PACER you will need an account. Read more here
PACER login US District Court, Middle District of
Florida
Official Website, PACER, Case Search Sign In
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