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Is there a way to find out about lawsuit settlements?

Dawn-Moderator's picture

We are almost positive that biomom got a very big lawsuit settlement. We know that she had a good case and that she was getting a lawyer at the time. This has been about 5 years ago. Not too long after this time is when she starting spending A LOT of money. (new car, moved to a duplex for $825/month, etc.)

The case would have been a wrongful death case I think. Here is a little back ground. Back in Sept. or Oct. of 2000 biomom broke up with her boyfriend at the time and moved out of the house they were living in. She then got an apartment and immediately had another boyfriend(had him before she broke it off with the first one most likely). They were engaged shortly after that.(my husband and I had just gotten engaged in May of that year and were planning our wedding for May of 2001). We thought that this was strange. Then we started noticing that biomom looked pregnant and things seemed to start to make sense. Biomom and that boyfriend got married in March of 2001(two months before we did). By May, now husband of biomom had to go into the hospital to have a lung biopsy. He never came out. He died in the end of May. We heard that he was given too much sedative or something. Biomom never had this man's baby so then we didn't know if she was really pregnant or not. Anyway, biomom's mother told us that biomom was getting a lawyer and had a good case.

That is all of the info I have. I would really like to know if biomom got money from a lawsuit or settled out of court and how much she really got. Does anyone know if it is possible to find out this kind of information?

Dawn

ACopsWife's picture

You'd have to check with the county that the lawsuit was filed. Some medical malpractice lawsuits are made public, some are closed. I dont know what state you are in. Different states have different laws. Since she was recieving money so quickly, maybe it was an ins. settlement. They tend to pay in the first 30 days or at least a lot quicker than a malpractice settlement. Id check with the couthouse and see if they have an open lawsuit records policy. Good luck!!

Dawn-Moderator's picture

Thanks! I will look into checking at the courthouse.

Dawn

StressedSM's picture

I happen to work in the legal field and know that you can contact the Court the case was filed in and ask them to check for a civil case filed udner the name of the ex. You can tell them you would like a copy of the Settlement Agreement/Final Judgment/Jury Verdict (it could have resolved in a number of ways). She may tell you the figure over the phone, but maybe not. You may have to drive over and pick up a copy of the Order. Just go to the Civil Clerk. Also, in my state the court system is online. You can check case documents and status from your own computer. Maybe try and "Google" and see if you can find it. For instance, Oklahoma State Court Network, Or _______ County Courthouse. Good luck!

Dawn-Moderator's picture

Thank You! I am going to go try Google right now!!

Dawn

Dawn-Moderator's picture

The county that the case would have been in didn't have any access to records on their website. So, I called them on the phone. I found out that I will have to go to that county's courthouse and type in biomom's name in this computer that the public can access on their own. If she had any lawsuits tied to her name, they should come up.

On a side note, the lady on the phone wasn't very nice. She was grilling me as to who I was, etc. I wasn't about to give her my name! Yikes! I was starting to sweat!

I will be making a trip there sometime this week to see what I can find.

Thanks again for the info.

Dawn

Dawn-Moderator's picture

We went to the court house today and we did find some things out. We still need to do more research when we have more time. However, we found out that biomom still has lawsuits pending against a couple doctors, the hospital, etc. We know that at least one of the cases against the people or businesses that she was suing was closed. That one probably settled out of court and that is why she has all of this money to throw around. We didn't see anything in the file about amounts but as I said, we need to go over it with a find toothed comb. We just didn't have the time today.

I'm just glad we did find something out!!

Thanks for the help!

Dawn

lmae's picture

I think I read somewhere on this site that you live in the St. Louis area, if this is correct I can probably help you. I live in the St. Louis area as well and work for a law firm. Maybe I can help you find more info on this case you are researching. There is this website called Missouri casenet. You should be able to access some information from there. We use it to get case numbers, courts dates, etc. Give it a try. If you don't have any luck maybe I can help more.

Dawn-Moderator's picture

Thanks. We did find the case number already and we were able to look at about a 3 to 4 inch thick file at the county clerks office. However, we didn't find anything with $$ numbers. We will go back at look more closely when we have time.
This case would actually be in Illinois. Is there a similar site there? It would be great to find something out over the internet.

Dawn

lmae's picture

I can find out for you. I work very closely with a girl at work who used to handle our Illinois docket. I will see if she can help you. I think it has a lot to do with what county it happened in. Illinois is a hard state to handle when it comes to the courts. I live in Illinois and have had to contact the court houses for various reasons and I too have had to deal with unhappy court clerks (Madison County is the worst). Can you share any info with me? I understand the need for privacy but I am not sure if I will be able to access certain sites from home. I will do whatever I can to help you.