Discussions

I did something really stupid.  
My friends told me not to do it, and my parents told me not to do it, but I did it anyway.  
 
I lent some money to a friend.  
 
This wasn’t the $50 bucks till payday kind of loan.  
My buddy (well ex buddy I guess) was working two dead end jobs, and working over 80 hours a week when I called him March 2007.  
His life sucked. He was never home. He wasn’t able to spend time with his kids, grandkids, his father or his friends.  
He told me had been trying to buy a truck to start his own business. He had done his homework, and it sounded like he had a great opportunity with this company, but didn’t have enough cash, or credit to launch his business.  
 
That was me, 15 years ago. Good idea, but no cash or credit to make it happen. Fortunately for me, my bank manager at the time had faith in me, and gave me a $5,000.00 line of credit. Three years after I rec’d the line of credit, I had a business doing over 1 million in sales each year, and growing fast.  
 
So been there, done that. I wanted to help my friend.  
I gave him the money he needed after he plotted out how I would paid in full over 12 months, and hoped for the best.  
 
Year 1, all but 2 cheques bounced. Lots of excuses, lots of avoiding calls, lots of BS.  
Exactly the kind of thing that makes that warm fuzzy feeling you had when you agreed to help your buddy, fade quickly.  
 
So, here I am. 2400 km away from Brandon, and haven’t been able to get a hold of my buddy in over 8 months.  
 
Now I need to take buddy to small claims court.  
 
I’ve got all our emails, all the bounced cheques, and a slam dunk case.  
(Sadly for me, this is the third time I’ve been burnt lending money to friends, so I know the court process, and know I’ll win the case)  
 
I really don’t need to get a high priced lawyer involved, but since I’m a long ways away, I need some help filling the paperwork, serving the court summons, stuff like that. A good paralegal would be great.  
 
So, if anyone out here has anyone they can recommend for the job, I would appreciate it.  
I’ll keep everyone posted how things go.