Ex-Attorney wants full debt now- or garnishing

[milked]

What is the name of your state?FL
My former attorney has sent me a copy of the suit she is going to file for Breach of Contract, and is demanding I pay her $5000 now, and $400 for the next 9 months or she will garnish my wages. I plan to dispute the validity of the total, as I feel she was responsable for some of the excess time costs, due to her habitually showing up late to court, and exagerating the time she spent reading Emails, ect.. I also plan on paying the final total debt, but I never expected to have to pay it all within such a short time period.

The main problem I have with this is we had no contract regarding the fees she assessed after the retainer was spent. Every time it would come up I would tell her I could only afford $100-200/ month, and she would say "don't worry, we will work something out." For four months she continued to represent me (and accrue unpaid fees) under this arrangement. I have always paid her at least $100/ month. Only after we ended our relationship did I get a letter saying I needed to pay $5000 now, and $400/ month for the next 9 months.

The Engagement letter I signed says that at "any time an attorney retaining lein may attach to secure the payment of fees which you owe or a charging lein may be filed in any pending litigation." Our litigation is no longer pending, correct? My case was settled 6 months ago. Doesn't this mean that this no longer applies? I understood that to mean that while we were litigating a charging lein may be filed, not afterward. Am I correct?

The letter also says that I will agree to sign a promissary note upon request to secure unpaid fees. She never presented me with anything. Should I argue that she did not follow her own proceedure for extending me credit?

I need to respond to the letter which says I have breached the contract, and asking if I dispute the validity of the debt within 2 weeks. I don't know how to proceed. Should I respond that there was no legal contract regarding the payment of fees other than my paying $100/ month, which was an oral understanding reached during litigation? Should I just state that the engagement letter has no provision for WHEN the unpaid fees will be paid, and that I am paying them in the same way which was acceptable to my lawyer while she was still representing me?

I have also found that in contract law she had a duty to mitigate damages when the contract was breached. If not paying the full amount owed is breach of contract, then shouldn't she have taken steps to mitigate damages before ringing up 3 more months worth of unpaid fees? (offering to leave as counsel, accepting my offer to do alot of the work myself). State common law also holds that a charging lein may be placed if there is an avoidance of payment, or if there is a dispute as to the amount of fees. As long as I am paying, and my payment does not reflect any dipute as to the total ( I have not informed her that I dispute the total yet) , then does this not protect me?

I informed her of what I could pay, and she continued to represent me and ring up fees. She had many opportunities to inform me if her expectation was that I would have to pay everything within such a short time period, but did not do so. Everytime I told her that I could only afford $1-200/ month, did she not have a duty to inform me that this would not be acceptable?

What should I do? How should I respond to the initial letter saying I've breached a contract, and have to pay all now, or they will sue?

Please help. The attorney lead me to believe that I should settle and let Mom be primary residential parent to our 1-yr old. In the last 6 months, Mom has (as I told my attorney) shown herself to be unable to care for the child, and now I am the primary residential parent on a temporary court order. I accomplished this without the help of any attorney. Unfortunately it is only temporary, so I still pay some support (I guess I could have used an attorney with that issue), and 100% of the daycare. I am currently operating at a deficit of $2-300/ month. If my wages are garnished, I will not be able to provide the home that my son needs. He has no other place to go, as Mom admitts she can not take care of him, and has no place for him. How does the "head of household exemption" apply in my case?

[moburkes]

Originally Posted by milked

What is the name of your state?

US Law Only - WHEN POSTING A QUESTION, YOU MUST INCLUDE THE NAME OF YOUR STATE

[milked]

FL
Please help.

[moburkes]

He can't get a judgment against you until he files a lawsuit and wins. THEN, he can and will and should get a wage garnishment against you. You used his services, and now you must pay. What is so hard about that?

[milked]

Is there some kind of contract law which states that if the time period for repayment of credit is not written down, then you have to pay immediately? Contracts are supposed to have definite terms regarding payment. I believe the responsability was on her to draft such terms, and absent a time period for payment, I am assuming that paying her the way which was acceptable while she was representing me should continue to be acceptaple.
I can't believe you would say this is that simple. You cant keep telling someone, "that's ok, we'll work something out, don't worry..." then slap them with a lawsuit, can you?

[Chien]

It’s a long story, and I don’t wish to sound dismissive by short-circuiting it, but I don’t think that any of the many ideas that you’ve had to get around paying the full amount that’s due, including an implied agreement to accept $100/mo., are going to work.
It’s speculation, because you only mention the retainer in passing, but I would be very surprised if your engagement letter didn’t spell out an hourly rate at which the retainer was to be absorbed. I would be equally surprised, if you didn’t receive periodic statements reflecting the services and amounts which were reducing it. I didn’t read FL Rules of Professional Conduct, but it would be most uncommon, if the former was not mandated and both did not occur. That’s going to be the contract that your “implied oral agreement” won’t transcend.
A charging order is not limited to *your* litigation. As stated in your engagement letter, it can be applied to any pending litigation; in that sense, it’s analogous to a judgment lien.
If you think the billing was out of line, there may be a statutory mechanism for resolving fee disputes.
As far as arguing that she had a duty to mitigate damages, I think that’s a questionable argument in this context and one which would fail in light of her professional duty to represent you vigorously and diligently. Beyond that, you could have chosen to terminate the relationship.
She has no obligation to accept what you want to pay in the way of installments; she has a right to be paid in full for services rendered.
I’ve touched lightly on most of your questions/contentions because, while I think she prevails on the issue of payment, I also think that you can claim the head of household exemption. I found your explanation of amount and duration of present payments a bit confusing but, if it amounts to an explanation that you’re paying 50%+ for the support of a dependent (and that was my interpretation), I don’t believe that FL case law requires that the dependent be domiciled with you. If my conclusion is correct, the exemption is available, even if the temporary order is not made permanent, and you seem to imply that it might be. (When you refer to “providing a home”, I’m not sure if you’re speaking literally or figuratively, but either way appears to work.)

[debtcollector`]

This is the same thing you were told last time you posted this question.

[url]http://forum.freeadvice.com/showthread.php?t=362685[/url]

DC