Escaping a civil lawsuit due to limited assets
The background:
I was the architect for an apartment project 10+ years ago in South Carolina. I did this project as a sole practitioner and not as a corporation. At the time I did the apartments there was a 13 year Statute of Repose in effect. The apartments changed ownership over the years several times and eventually a developer bought them about two years ago and converted them into condominiums. The developer who converted the apartments and the new condominium home owner's association sued me as the architect and the original builder which also happened to be the majority owner of the original apartments accusing us of contributing to construction defects that led to water infiltration and damage to the apartments. The original builder was a corporation. The original builder is being accused of a number of things but in general he is being accused of not doing his job and allowing the buildings to be built poorly and in violation of building codes etc. I as the architect is being accused of a number of things also but in general I am being accused of not designing the buildings in a fashion to keep the water out and for not catching the defective work when I did my construction administration site visits during actual construction of the apartments. I believe the total damages are in the $750,000 to $1,000,000 range. The original builder of the apartments has done very well over the years and has current net assets that in all likelihood exceed $1,000,000. I on the other hand as an architect came from a very poor family and have not managed to build significant net assets. My total net assets would not exceed $40,000 to $50,000 and much of that is in the equity I have in my primary residence in North Carolina. I do not have Errors and Omissions insurance to cover this situation. The builder has insurance that will cover his legal expenses but I do not think it will cover actual monetary losses. If we are found negligent by the courts, I anticipate that the courts will assign a percentage of the damages to the builder and percentage to me as the architect. The builder I believe could manage his part but I would have no option but to file personal bankruptcy to save my home and I have made the attorney who is suing me aware of this fact. After talking to a North Carolina bankruptcy attorney and giving him my financials, If I file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, I estimate my total losses assuming the court takes my non-exempt property would be in the $25,000 range that would be divided up among all my creditors. In essence the people suing us has a much greater potential to get money from the builder than they do from me as the architect. The original builder and I still maintain a very good relationship and they are suing their original subcontractors who did the alleged defective work to attempt to cover themselves but they are not suing me as the architect in that they know I have such limited resources.
The question:
In that this, I believe, is all about money, why would the attorneys for the claimants in this case even want me to be a part of the lawsuit in that any percentage that the courts would assign to me will in all Likelihood would be extremely hard for them to actually get or they would at most get a small percentage of it? It seems like they should focus their efforts on the builder which has the biggest asset reserve and attempt to hold them accountable for the total loss and perhaps offer me a deal to at least get something without all the expensive effort on their part.
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