Act Now!

The other day I had a woman come into our library at about 3:00PM in the afternoon frantically (i.e. freaked out of her mind) looking/begging for legal assistance.  Seems she had been served with a complaint 30 days prior and, with the clerk's window closing at 4:30PM, she had to have an answer stamped and filed now (as in TODAY)! 

In my mind I'm thinking, "Why?!"  Way did you wait until the 11th hour to answer your complaint?  Was it because your dog ate your homework?  Was it because you had to take your kids to soccer practice everyday, all day?  Was it because you had to stop to make your husband another sandwich?  Was it because your mother-in-law dropped by to give you yet another #%@#!%^@# tip on how to be a better wife to her baby boy and mother to her grandchildren?  Was it because you just didn't think it was all that important until your pooka casually suggested (because that's how they roll) you get on over to the law library to get information on how to file your answer?

Sad that she had to wait and start with the screaming and yelling and begging for more time; time which no court (or sane attorney) in the world would give her.  Notwithstanding her desperate plight, I suggested she quickly browse California Forms of Pleading and Practice (Lexis; Vol. 3, Ch. 26; Answers).  I also suggested (if she had a few extra seconds) that she take a look at American Jurisprudence Pleading and Practice Forms (West).  Long story short, she didn't get her answer filed in time and left the library the same way she came in with the screaming and the yelling and the speaking in diverse (possessed) tongues.

If you ever find yourself in a similar bind, don't wait to get help - run (as in RUN FAST) to your nearest county law library and let your local county law Librarian help you find what you need LOOOOOOOOOOOONG before you need it.