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Looking for the type of lawyer to call and recommendations on
someone specific to handle this. Basically, my mother was
accused of shoplifting at a grocery store and held for quite
awhile without being told why. She was humiliated and knows
that she didn't do anything wrong (turns out she actually even
overpaid for her purchase!) but decided to forget the
incident... Until a letter arrived a month later asking her to
reimburse them $200 for their time in processing her paperwork
(police were not called). The store does not publish their
phone number and my mom refuses to step foot in the store, she
is so upset. The letter came from corporate offices so it has
gone up a few levels. We want to talk to an attorney.
I assume a civil attorney is who we would call? Anyone have any
recommendations on good local attorneys (Oak/Berk)?
Anon
From your post, I'm not sure why you want an attorney. If it is
to have help in convincing the store to drop the reimbursement
request, you might want to get more information first. You
could write to the person who sent the letter, asking the basis
for the store's contention that your mother should reimburse
it. Is the store relying on a specific law? Is there some
other legal basis for it's claim? You might also mention that
your mother ultimately was vindicated and that the emotional
toll of the incident for her was much higher than the paperwork
fee that the store voluntarily elected to incur. If she is a
regular customer, that might be worth mentioning also. Once you
have their response, this may help in deciding whether an
attorney is needed. Many attorneys these days charge $200 or
more per hour, and this may be an instance where you can resolve
the matter yourself. On the other hand, if you are
contemplating pursuing some sort of action against the store,
you should factor in the stress that will cause for your
mother. In such case, the store almost certainly will depose
her and that is never a fun experience. If you really do want
an attorney in your area, there is a web site that may help:
http://www.lawyers.com. I haven't had experience with the site
personally, tho', and cannot say anything about the attorneys
listed there. Best of luck!
anon
Anon
I am the Exec Dir of a trial lawyer group and suggest you give
us a call - ask for Mailia or Juliette we'll be happy to give
you some names of folks who practice in the East Bay and might
be able to help you. 415-956-6401. To start you off you might
try John Hill at 510-588-1000 or Cheryl White at 415-596-9454
or Chris Dolan 415-421-2800. Good luck to you.
Juliette
I feel like I have read somewhere about that business of
charging $200 for processing paperwork related to a shoplifting
incident as being some kind of scam - I just don't remember
what. It was something along the lines of the sender of the
letter not actually being the store - the letter just made it
look that way to frighten the person into sending the money. But
I just don't remember the details. Anyway, I am a lawyer, and I
would be happy to call whoever sent you the letter and at least
find out what it is they think they are doing. It certainly
sounds outrageous.
Fran
Give Elena Condes a call at 525-4243. I worked with her on a
family law case (I'm an attorney) and I thinks she also deals
with criminal and some civil cases. She is very nice and pretty
agressive in court. If she can't help you, she may have a
referral.
AB
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