changing lawyers advice...please

[daisee]

florida. our lawyers office seems to be no help at all. they keep changing the people handling our case. also asking us to fill out paperwork with questions that they hold have all the answers to in their files, without giving us any advise on the best way to answer these questions. the newer people handling the case have no idea what was in our case from the beginning. seems they lost some of the important facts for our case. I dont feel comfortable with this law firm anymore, they are also a very largly known law firm. I need to know if I can change attornies, and if I do, what penelties will be held against us. possibly there is some way we can get aroiund being allowed to switch attornies.

this attorney wants 1/3 of the settlement but is doing nothing to earn it.

 

[ProResearch]

Hi daisee,

You need to get in touch with your attorneys and communicate your dissactisfaction with them. You can send them a letter outlining your problems with , and send it Certified - Return Receipt Requested snail mail..... or you can call them and tell them your concerns. Be specific and tell them how you feel you are being "jacked" around.......and that you would like to change attorneys.

Did you sign a "contract" stipulating the one-third payment upon recovery? Sounds like you did. You will need to negotiate that amount, but surely you will have to pay them something for their time.

If an attorney is truly doing *nothing* to earn their pay, then you could file a complaint with the local bar association (others might have something to say about this oor You can do a search on this web site for past posts and replies that may well fit your needs) .

But if you just feel they are not doing something, it may be that perhaps they *are* doing stuff behind the scenes that you do not know about, and you need to get that confirmation in a written form. Have you asked what is being done or if you can see the file on your case? Have you been adamant (and not passive) about your own interests? You have the right to KNOW what's going on...... ask for it and do not take no for an answer. Chances are, however, the attorney is doing things that you just don't know about. It's a possibility. On the other hand, if you know for sure they are just "jacking" you around, tell them frankly that you want out of your contract to represent you and that you will NOT pay the full price to have them represent you since they have violated that contract by not representing you fully, and ask if they will negotiate a price for work they have done. At any rate, I believe you will owe them *something.*

The other option is to consult with another attorney......and tell them everything and see what he/she says. Good "luck" to you! Let us know..... k?

 

[daisee]

channging lawyers advice...please

I already communicated my disatisfaction to the paralegal working on the case. the previous paralegal kept us upto date on everything and also knew all the important data in this case. the new paralegal (new as in past 10 months) doesnt know about any of the facts that I speak to her about and is asking me for letters etc. that should already be in this file. this is my daughters lawsuit, she was on a bus on her way to school, a concrete truck ran a stop sign and hit the bus on the side she was sitting on. my daughter had just taken the air force test thru her school and had plans to go into the service, they will not accept her anymore due to her permanent injury. her pelvic bone was broken in two places. the new paralegal has no knowledge of this (the old one did and the one before her). also the paralegal told me my daughter needs to see a second orthopedic for another opinion. my daughter has seen three upto now and two agree, all three she was sent to by this lawyers office.

when asking this paralegal to look thru her files and let me know what she is missing, cause obviously she is missing quite a bit if she doesnt know about the air force nor about three orthopedics instead of just one, she told me she wasnt going to argue with me. I explained to her she was missing important information and I was trying to let her know which she was missing. she informed me she would call me back later that afternoon with the attorney for a conference call. they have yet to call me back to this day. in the meantime my daughter has recieved a letter from them trying to get her to sign thats it ok for them to make a demand for settlement with a price on it.