For years, the hardest conversations I’ve had are with people I couldn’t help.
Someone gets served with a debt collection lawsuit. The amount is a few thousand dollars. They can’t afford to hire a lawyer — and honestly, on a case that size, paying a lawyer’s retainer often doesn’t make financial sense. So they do what most people in that position do: nothing. And the collector wins automatically.
That’s the gap I built CaseDefender to close.
What CaseDefender is
CaseDefender is a self-help tool that drafts your court documents for you and teaches you how to run your own case against a debt collector — in any state, not just Arizona.
Here’s how the core of it works:
- Upload your court papers. CaseDefender reads the lawsuit and pulls out the details — who’s suing you, the case number, and every claim they make.
- Answer plain-English questions. For each claim: true, not true, or not sure. What you say decides which protections go into your document.
- Download, sign, and file. You get your finished Answer in Word and PDF, with step-by-step instructions for filing it with your court.
Most people finish in about ten minutes. And it’s free to build and preview your document — you only pay when you download it.
Why the Answer matters so much
If you’ve watched my videos, you’ve heard me say this a hundred times: the Answer is the one document you cannot skip.
When you’re sued and do nothing, the collector doesn’t have to prove the debt is yours. They don’t have to show the court a single document. They just win by default judgment — and then come the wage garnishments, bank levies, and liens.
The moment the court has your Answer on file, all of that stops being automatic. The collector has to actually prove their case. And as I’ve covered again and again, a lot of them can’t — especially debt buyers who purchased your debt for pennies on the dollar with little more than a spreadsheet.
That’s why the flagship tool is the Answer generator at casedefender.com/answer.
It’s the whole case, not just the Answer
A lawsuit doesn’t end when you file your Answer, so CaseDefender doesn’t either. It includes:
- Four document generators — your Answer, a Motion to Compel Arbitration (often the single strongest move available to you), Discovery Requests that force the collector to show what evidence they actually have, and a Settlement Letter with the protections that keep a deal from coming back to haunt you.
- All of my courses — ten of them, covering every stage: answering, arbitration, discovery, disclosure, summary judgment, settlement, trial, default judgments, and creditor-specific strategies for companies like Midland Credit Management, Portfolio Recovery Associates, and LVNV Funding.
- A step-by-step case roadmap — served, answer, arbitration, discovery, summary judgment, settlement, trial — so you always know where you are and what comes next.
The Answer generator is $69 as a one-time purchase. Packages that bundle in the courses and the other generators are available too, and everything is yours permanently.
Being upfront: what CaseDefender is and isn’t
Full transparency, because that’s how we do things around here:
CaseDefender is a separate company that I own. It is not Arizona Consumer Law Group, and it is not a law firm. It provides fill-in-the-blank documents, courses, and general legal information — it doesn’t act as your attorney, and using it doesn’t create an attorney-client relationship.
So which one is right for you?
- You’re being sued for less than $10,000, or you live outside Arizona: CaseDefender was built for you. Our firm only takes debt defense cases of $10,000 and up, and only in Arizona — CaseDefender is how I can still put twenty years of debt defense experience in your corner.
- You’re being sued for $10,000 or more in Arizona: that’s exactly what our debt defense practice handles. Book a free consultation and we’ll go over your case.
- You’re drowning in multiple debts, not just one lawsuit: bankruptcy may wipe out all of it at once — that conversation is free too.
Don’t let the deadline pass
Whatever route you take, the clock is already running. Most courts give you 14 to 30 days from the day you were served to respond — in Arizona it’s typically 20. Your exact deadline is printed on your summons, and missing it hands the collector a win they never had to earn.
If you’re going to fight this yourself, go start your Answer at CaseDefender today — it’s free to build and preview.
If you’re in Arizona and being sued for $10,000 or more, 📞 call (602) 887-6992 for a free consultation before your deadline runs out.
This article is general information and is not legal advice. CaseDefender is a separate self-help company owned by John Skiba; it is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. Deadlines and procedures vary by state and by court — if you’ve been sued, act before the response deadline on your summons.