This blog presents a case study of a pro se plaintiff who successfully litigated against a defendant without having to hire an attorney. The case involved a defendant (Faruki) who borrowed $10,000 from the Plaintiff (Thomsen). After repaying $1,600 of the loan, Faruki then refused to repay the balance due of $8,400.
Thomsen realized that the expense of hiring an attorney to sue Faruki for repayment of the loan would have cost $5,000 to $10.000! But Thomsen whose only income was Social Security benefits of $1,500 per month could not afford to accept the loss of the $8,400 unpaid balance on the loan. As a result, Thomsen felt that he had nothing to lose by representing himself in litigation against Faruki to get a court judgment which would force Faruki to repay the loan. Since Thomsen was retired, he certainly had the time to learn enough about the breach of contract legal process to handle the litigation himself. And, ultimately Thomsen was right.
Thomsen sued Faruki on August 8, 2022. On June 5, 2024, the court awarded a judgment of $23,010.22 to Thomsen against Faruki. This included the amount of unpaid loan balance of $8,400, interest due at the rate of 10% per year, litigation costs incurred by Thomsen as well as punitive damages for elder abuse. And since Thomsen was given a fee waiver by the court due to his indigent condition, it did not cost Thomsen anything for court fees. This alone saved Thomsen at least $1,000 in court costs. And these waived court costs will have to be paid by Faruki in addition to the judgment amount given above.
Photo No. 1: Neil Thomsen on the left, Bill Faruki on the right. Photo taken in 2017 in the prison library at the Federal Prison Camp in Duluth, MN. What a couple of badasses!
Neil Thomsen is a 77 year old retired Civil Engineer, Accountant, Tax Preparer, Wine Grape Grower, and Convicted Felon. He was born and raised in Central Minnesota but has spent most of his adult life in California living in San Francisco Bay Area, Lake County, Central California and San Diego.
He received a Diploma of Mining Technology from the British Columbia Institute of Technology in 1974, Bachelor of Science degree in Geology from the University of Minnesota, Duluth in 1976 and a Master of Engineering in Civil Engineerng (Geotechnical Engineering) from the University of California at Berkeley in 1981.
Thomsen lived and worked in British Columbia from 1969 to 1979. Besides attending the British Columbia Institute of Technology he worked as a field gelogist for two mining exploration companies in Northern British Columbia. His claim to fame in this time period was to discover the Red Chris Mine (copper and gold) located near Iskut, BC in northwestern BC.
Pro Se Plaintiff: Neil Thomsen
Defendant: Faruki
Belal K. Faruki (AKA Bill Faruki) was born in Karachi, Pakistan in 1971. He emigrated to California in his late teens.
Documents Submitted to Court
I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It's easy.
California Limited Civil Rules
I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It's easy.
Post-Judgment Costs Incurred by the Plaintiff
According to California Civil Law, post-judgment costs incurred by a plaintiff are added to the Judgment Debtors debt. That is the cost of forcing a Judgment Debtor to pay the Judgment to the plaintiff are added to and paid by the Defendant. This means that ultimately, it costs the plaintiff nothing to force the Judgment Debtor to pay to pay the plaintff the Judgment Debt.
California Limited Civil Rules
Helvetica Light is an easy-to-read font, with tall and narrow letters, that works well on almost every site.
Are You Qualified and Capable of Pro Se Litigation?
Many people assume that it is impossible for anyone but a licensed attorney to pursue litigation on their own behalf. And for many people that is true.
FEATURES
I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It’s easy. Just click “Edit Text” or double click me to add your own content and make changes to the font.
01
Feature Name
I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your text and edit me.
02
Feature Name
I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your text and edit me.
03
Feature Name
I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your text and edit me.
PROJECTS
