As a defendant in the law suit filed by the Socorro Electric Coop, you may wish to file a response or risk the possibility that the SEC wins by default. The more people that file a response, the stronger the case, in that it shows more strongly that the members do in fact want the SEC to adhere to the bylaws that the member-owners passed at the last annual meeting. If you wish to respond, you have several options:

• Respond for yourself by hiring your own attorney
• Respond for yourself by acting as your own attorney
• Respond as part of a group of other members, sharing an attorney

We won't spend too much time on the first two options. Representing yourself can be tricky because of the need to understand some arcane details of the law. You can do it, and some have, but it takes more time and thought than the other options. On the other hand, it doesn't require any cash. The second option, hiring your own attorney, allows you to customize your response, including filing any counterclaims or other special items of interest to you. However, as you might expect, this can be an expensive proposition. Unless you're deep pocketed, it could be cost prohibitive.

The third option is to join a group of other member-owners, and respond as part of the group. This means that the costs for the attorneys can be shared, keeping costs low, while still filing a high quality response tailored by attorneys who understand all of the legal issues.

There is a group of member-owners that have worked with local attorneys to represent many members simultaneously as a single group. It costs nothing to participate in the group - the attorney fees will be covered by donations (and you are encouraged, but not required, to donate) or possibly by an award of attorney's fees by the court in the event that the SEC board loses the case. In other words, you can be a member of the group at no cost to you. However, you must file paperwork indicating that you wish to be represented as part of this group. The form is attached here. You can print it out, fill in the blanks on the form, sign it, and mail it in for no cost; this will make you a part of the group that is being represented. It's that simple.

Further information is provided in the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list, here. Remember, there is a deadline looming and you should act as soon as possible. In order to be a respondent, you should be a member-owner of the cooperative, meaning you receive an electric bill from the Socorro Electric Coop in your name.