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Dr. Frenchenstein
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I think my lawyer falls into the second category. Does anyone know what the deal is with filing a grievance on a lawyer? Is it like shooting a rhino with a .22, and will only piss him off, ultimately getting me stomped to death? Will it seriously shit in his cheerios? Do i get any sort of satisfaction besides the fact that his cheerios have been shat in?
Long story short: He represented me in a case against the seller of my house. We won (sort of... settled), and now the plaintiff refuses to pay, or even show up to court. The last resort is a body attachment warrant, which i asked my lawyer to file. He said he did it (a lie), ignored my calls and emails for a time, said he would do it (another lie), ignored me again, and then lied about filing it a third time. This is over about a 6 month period.
I essentially wrote him a letter and said that i thought he was pretty lax in representing me, and my lawyer friends said i should probably file a grievance. he is now acting like a butthurt prick, and trying to pawn me off on another lawyer. Saying: he doesn't feel comfortable filing this or representing me further, and would have to charge me at his normal rates to file the paperwork. i don't want to give this jerkoff another dime, let alone have him represent me further. Honestly, i don't want to give his buddy any money either. i basically said in my letter: i don't want to file a grievance, b/c it gets me nowhere as far as getting this judgement. I just want him to do what he said he'd do 6 months ago. Now i think i would like to kick this guy's dick in the dirt on principle.
Am i being needlessly petty? i don't mind being petty, as long as i'm not being unreasonable. What say you H/A'ers?
I really hope my posts on these boards can be mined for evidence when i finally snap and go Falling Down, i'd like my insanity defense to be ironclad.
Long story short: He represented me in a case against the seller of my house. We won (sort of... settled), and now the plaintiff refuses to pay, or even show up to court. The last resort is a body attachment warrant, which i asked my lawyer to file. He said he did it (a lie), ignored my calls and emails for a time, said he would do it (another lie), ignored me again, and then lied about filing it a third time. This is over about a 6 month period.
I essentially wrote him a letter and said that i thought he was pretty lax in representing me, and my lawyer friends said i should probably file a grievance. he is now acting like a butthurt prick, and trying to pawn me off on another lawyer. Saying: he doesn't feel comfortable filing this or representing me further, and would have to charge me at his normal rates to file the paperwork. i don't want to give this jerkoff another dime, let alone have him represent me further. Honestly, i don't want to give his buddy any money either. i basically said in my letter: i don't want to file a grievance, b/c it gets me nowhere as far as getting this judgement. I just want him to do what he said he'd do 6 months ago. Now i think i would like to kick this guy's dick in the dirt on principle.
Am i being needlessly petty? i don't mind being petty, as long as i'm not being unreasonable. What say you H/A'ers?
I really hope my posts on these boards can be mined for evidence when i finally snap and go Falling Down, i'd like my insanity defense to be ironclad.
Dr. Frenchenstein on
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I can't be much help in finding a replacement but if he hasn't filed and you've paid him money, then, by golly, that's paying for a service that hasn't been delivered.
Your lawyer sounds like a total shitbird. I don't know where you live, but where I practice, lawyers have been reprimanded and fined for the kinds of things you've described.
Find another, different lawyer (preferably through word-of-mouth). Use that other lawyer.
And if you look at the website for your state Bar Association, they probably have a procedure for filing a grievance against a lawyer there. I would do so.
Also, don't pay him another dime. Do you have him in writing saying he would do these things that he never did, or is it just over the phone?
http://www.deltabravo.net/custody/atty-complaint.php
They provide a kind of form letter for submitting a complaint
Here are some warnings they give though
Also I am not a lawyer and this isnt legal advise just some info I found on the internets
Do you have e-mails or something else in writing that could help prove your case? "He told me repeatedly that he'd filed it" will not go down nearly as well as "I have this e-mail conversation in which I was told he'd filed it on XX/XX/XXXX."
I'm going to back this up. At this point you should be looking for other lawyers (ideally ones your lawyer friends connect you with).
Steam: CavilatRest
Yeah I'm suspicious he'd need to prove much. His settlement was accepted, then the dude reneged on it. They'd get that far and go "so the client asked you to do something about this, you didn't, the client says you would do it numerous times and you didn't... uh... so got anything you want to add?"
The guy will likely only face censure though (which is still plenty bad because it will follow his license for the rest of his life), probably not even warranting a suspension. Disbarment is almost certainly out. I know in IL, attorneys usually only get disbarred for committing a felony or misusing client trust funds (or for being Blago!)
I only have his most recent response saying he'll file the paperwork, i do have an email that i sent, with no response. i'm 99% sure all his promises to file the work was over the phone. and most times i'd call his office, he'd be busy, and he'd never call me back. I would imagine the court would see that the next step in the case was the warrant, and it wasn't done. i guess it'd be my word against his if he said "oh well you never asked me to follow through."
Oh, and I called the number of the lawyer that he recommended, just to see what kind of fee he'd charge, and the number wasn't even valid.
Did you pay a retainer?
whether or not a client has paid an attorney has little bearing on a lawyer's duties to a client. a lawyer may end representation of a client for something like nonpayment, but only in situations where it is CLEAR to the client that the attorney-client relationship has ended, or in extreme situations.
otherwise, if an attorney knows that a client believes an attorney-client relationship exists, and that attorney makes representations that he or she will undertake legal services on behalf of the client, regardless of payment, the attorney is obligated to respect that relationship, provide competent legal representation, and keep the client informed of significant facts and events in the client's case.
steam | Dokkan: 868846562
This. Filipino basically quoted the model rules of professional responsibility, which is a body of law that all attorneys have to abide by.
If you want to file a grievance, which you should, just contact your state's bar association. They handle attorney discipline and shit like that; they may not be able to help you get the problem resolved, but they certainly can get you the information you need in order to file the complaint.
One of my friends told me i don't really NEED a lawyer at this point, moving forward is just forms and crap that i can do myself. So i'll probably go that route.