On Thanksgiving morning in 2024, my ex-partner took our dog out for a walk while I was getting ready to head to my parents house. I was still in my room when I heard commotion outside. I ran downstairs and my ex told me what had happened - they said the dog had lunged at a child and nipped them. By the time they finished explaining it, the child's parents were at our door.

I was the one who came outside to talk to them. I showed them the dog's vaccine records on my phone, tried to reassure them that their child was going to be okay, and did everything I could to de-escalate. There was no visible mark. I genuinely thought it was handled. I never heard another word about it.

Almost a full year went by. In that time, I lost my job when the company I worked for closed a massive number of locations all at once. I lost my home shortly after. I was living at my parents' place, trying to rebuild, when an envelope showed up on their doorstep addressed to me. It was a legal summons.

I had no money for an attorney. I reached out to law firm after law firm - nothing. I kept working, kept checking the case online, kept trying to figure out what I was supposed to do. When a hearing date finally appeared on the docket, I prepared the only way I knew how: I spent weeks reading case law, drafting statements, and studying procedure so I could at least show up and not make things worse.

A few days before the hearing, I checked the case one more time. The hearing had been cancelled. A default judgment had been entered against me - without a hearing, without my testimony, without anyone ever asking for my side of the story. I didn't even know it had happened until I saw it on a screen.

A friend who was studying law helped me file a motion to set aside that default. It bought me time, but they were clear: that was the extent of what they could do. I needed a real attorney.

I started over. More outreach, more rejections. I eventually found an attorney willing to take my case. I scraped together enough to sit down with her for a consultation, and she confirmed everything I was afraid of - this situation is complicated, the default judgment makes it more so, and I cannot walk into a July hearing without proper representation. To move forward at all, she needs a deposit just to access the case file.

I'm not asking for a miracle. I'm asking for a fighting chance to actually be heard. My ex was the one walking the dog that day. I was the one who came outside and tried to make it right. I've been trying to make it right ever since.

Anything you're able to give makes a difference. Thank you for reading this far.