D
DarthD
Guest
This happened a couple of years ago so it is probably too late to do anything but I am interested in what anyone has to say.
My wife and I hired an attoreney for a simple birth certificate problem with our oldest daughter. Due to problems when we first met I was not on her birth certificate and we were going to correct this.
The charge was $500 which we paid up front. All I had to do was go infront of a judge and state that I am the father and it is done. My wife did not need to be present.
When I arrived at the courthouse I was alarmed to see my wife's mother and her ex-husband sitting in the courtroom. We have had many problems in the past with my wife's mother. I could not find my lawyer anywhere so I called my wife and told her to find the lawyer to see what is going on. I drove home to pick up my wife because I felt she needed to be there in case her mother was planning something bad. (She does not like me and does not want me to be the father. She does like my wife's ex though. I was trying to avoid paying the extra money for a DNA test which I know her mother would have insisted on.)
When I got home my wife had the lawyer on the phone. He said My wife's mother had left a message on his answering machine a week prior yelling and cursing that I am not the father and he is a crappy lawyer for taking the case.
Should he not have informed me of this little issue?
Court started a 9:00. It was now 9:20. He told me I had to be back by 9:30 which is impossible as it is a 15 minute drive. He said if I am later than 9:30 the judge is an "a@@hold" and will hold my case until all others have been heard if I am late, and he is NOT going to stay there that long. I told him "I hired you to be there no matter how long the case takes. My case may come up last anyway because he calls them at his discretion. There is no set order. You had to be prepared to be there all day anyway"
He refused and said he will charge another $250 to reschedule. Right there he defaulted on our contract. He refused to do what I hired him to do. So what if I was a little late. It made no difference. He was bound by our contract to be there until the case was called. An I was on time to begin with but the situation changed when I saw my wife's mother there. In my opinion she needed to be present and the lawyer was nowhere to be found to question.
Like an idiot, I paid him the money to reschedule. The day before the court case he called and said my wife's parents are sueing me for visitation rights. They want every other weekend, every holiday, and the entire summer. I said no way! I am currently not restricting their access to the child and there is no way I will agree to some legal contract that gives them more rights than a divorced father. He told me I am being ridiculous and he will charge another $500 if I do not agree with their demands. I fired him on the spot and attained another attourney out of town. She spoke with my wife's parent's attorney and they quickly dropped their suit and we had everything taken care of a few weeks later. (My new attorney was almost an hour late to the courtroom and it did not affect anything.)
I deserve a Full refund of the money that the lawyer STOLE from me. I wrote to the Bar and they just blew me off. I appealed and they still blew me off. I found out later that there have been many many complaints about this lawyer. Also, he is good friends with my wife's parent's lawyer. (we live in a small town)
Is there anyway to get my money back?
My wife and I hired an attoreney for a simple birth certificate problem with our oldest daughter. Due to problems when we first met I was not on her birth certificate and we were going to correct this.
The charge was $500 which we paid up front. All I had to do was go infront of a judge and state that I am the father and it is done. My wife did not need to be present.
When I arrived at the courthouse I was alarmed to see my wife's mother and her ex-husband sitting in the courtroom. We have had many problems in the past with my wife's mother. I could not find my lawyer anywhere so I called my wife and told her to find the lawyer to see what is going on. I drove home to pick up my wife because I felt she needed to be there in case her mother was planning something bad. (She does not like me and does not want me to be the father. She does like my wife's ex though. I was trying to avoid paying the extra money for a DNA test which I know her mother would have insisted on.)
When I got home my wife had the lawyer on the phone. He said My wife's mother had left a message on his answering machine a week prior yelling and cursing that I am not the father and he is a crappy lawyer for taking the case.
Should he not have informed me of this little issue?
Court started a 9:00. It was now 9:20. He told me I had to be back by 9:30 which is impossible as it is a 15 minute drive. He said if I am later than 9:30 the judge is an "a@@hold" and will hold my case until all others have been heard if I am late, and he is NOT going to stay there that long. I told him "I hired you to be there no matter how long the case takes. My case may come up last anyway because he calls them at his discretion. There is no set order. You had to be prepared to be there all day anyway"
He refused and said he will charge another $250 to reschedule. Right there he defaulted on our contract. He refused to do what I hired him to do. So what if I was a little late. It made no difference. He was bound by our contract to be there until the case was called. An I was on time to begin with but the situation changed when I saw my wife's mother there. In my opinion she needed to be present and the lawyer was nowhere to be found to question.
Like an idiot, I paid him the money to reschedule. The day before the court case he called and said my wife's parents are sueing me for visitation rights. They want every other weekend, every holiday, and the entire summer. I said no way! I am currently not restricting their access to the child and there is no way I will agree to some legal contract that gives them more rights than a divorced father. He told me I am being ridiculous and he will charge another $500 if I do not agree with their demands. I fired him on the spot and attained another attourney out of town. She spoke with my wife's parent's attorney and they quickly dropped their suit and we had everything taken care of a few weeks later. (My new attorney was almost an hour late to the courtroom and it did not affect anything.)
I deserve a Full refund of the money that the lawyer STOLE from me. I wrote to the Bar and they just blew me off. I appealed and they still blew me off. I found out later that there have been many many complaints about this lawyer. Also, he is good friends with my wife's parent's lawyer. (we live in a small town)
Is there anyway to get my money back?