One day Bridgette was home weeding the front beds at our house.
A man walked up to her and was pleasant enough and announced that he had come to serve on us a lawsuit. But he assured her, it really isn’t very much (just under $5000 – small claims) so hopefully we could pay it given it was far less than all the other troubles we were going through. Wow.
I believe this man was sent from the CT based accounting firm that had filed our taxes for almost 10 years. We originally had hired a smaller local firm where I knew the owner. Back then we were a “big hedge fund startup” coming out of NY and we chose them above national accounting firms for the value of the relationship. Alas, the owner sold to a larger firm several years prior. Now we were dealing with employees who’s hands were “tied”. I had made a personal appeal to work our last bill out over time, but when that request was escalated to management and accounts payable and credit, the answer was a definitive “no”.
Following the principals the Lord had given us, once we appealed for mercy and it was denied, we left the outstanding bill in God’s hands. So they sued. Thank God that our attorney Jack Robinson was willing to take on all comers. Defender of the weak. That was his nature. He was a fighter. He loved Winston Churchill for the same reasons.
Jack’s stated goal for us was always to “reverse all judgments and to defend us against all lawsuits”. This was similar to the word I felt the Lord had for us, which was for Him to defend us (when we are weak, He is strong on our behalf – 2 Corinthians 12:10) to “recover all” (similar to when David and his “mighty men” and their families were attacked by the Amalekites at Ziklag – 1 Samuel 30:8)
So, we responded to the suit with a counter suit. This was Jack’s idea of how to not only fight them off, but to win. He asked me – did they make any mistakes on your taxes or do anything that created a problem for you? I racked my brain. And then the Lord brought to mind the tax return last year where they had made a mistake on our taxes, the IRS sent us a letter, and we had to refile the return and pay more, potentially including penalties and interest. When I had asked the accounting firm “how did this happen?” their response was “our software we use had the error built into it”.
Well, that’s exactly what we needed.
The Small claims process in CT allows for a “counter-claim” section built right into the form. We counter claimed the exact amount they claimed. We included the email exchange of the admission of the error and I believe the resulting IRS letter.
On the day leading up to the court day we offered to avoid the trial and settle. In exchange for no money, plaintiff would agree to withdraw their suit, wipe out the debt and in exchange we would stipulate to the usual liability wavers.
They accepted!
I think what this illustrates is the grace of God. The proceeding verse in 2 Corinthians 12:9 states…
My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.
Praise Him who defends the weak!