Dear Santa

Years ago, I remember my mom demanding that we kids write letters to Santa.  We'd rummage through the Sears catalogs searching for toys that we'd never get.  I mean, we'd write down whole pages and never see any of it.  Got great stuff every Christmas, great memories of Christmas morning, but nothing I ever asked for.

I don't know what it was with Santa but I can't remember a single thing I asked for that I ever got - until I got a credit card.  Things changed after that.  Oh, yeah - Nerf, here I come.  After a while, though, I learned that while having a credit card was all fun and games, you had to pay off the balance - eventually.  What with December being the month of debt, I can already see the line of people coming into my law library with legal problems.

Take, for instance, the couple that came in just the other day.  Now that was a couple that understood the power of a credit card!  They had 23 credit cards between them for a combined total debt of $438,201.32 (for which they were now being sued).  So, couple, standing in front of me tells me they're being sued for money had and received. This is a common law count that credit card companies use all the time to get their money.  Basically, the complaint says 

• You asked for a credit card, 
• We gave you a credit limit (i.e. virtual money), 
• You bought a lot of stuff on credit (i.e. a loan), 
• We now want our money (plus all that interest that has been built-up over time)

So, now, couple is in front of me, their local county law Librarian, trying to find a way to have their cake and eat it too (i.e. get out of having to pay for their spending sprees). I noted that they might have a hard time with that but suggested they take a look at:

• California Affirmative Defenses (TR, Vol. 2, Chp. 59)
• Williston on Contacts (TR)
• Norton Bankruptcy Law and Practice (TR)

and off they went crafting their strategies.  Yep, they were in for a long haul but good thing they knew better than to rely on Google for their legal research efforts.  Good thing they knew that utilizing the mad legal research skills possessed by their local county law Librarian was their best chance at having a merry ho, ho, ho.

And to all, a good night.