Louisiana is my home state.I am wanting to settle community property,I have hired an attorney going on 5 years now and the only thing he has acomplished is to get an appraisal of the property and home.I have already paid him a total of $5200.00 for his services.I need to proceed to either finish what he started or make him pay me a refund and go some where else.But he seems to keep coming up with all these excuses.Help,Help PLEASE how can I get my money back or services I paid for?What would be my next step?
You're not likely to get a refund. If the attorney has been working on your settlement for 5 years, $5,200 is not a huge amount of money. At $260 per hour, that's only 4 hours per year.
Since I don't know what is taking so long nor what his 'excuses' are, so it's impossible to say if you've been overcharged. I would ask him to explain in very simple language why it has taken 5 years to divide community property and once you understand the reason, you will be in better position to make a decision. If you post the reason here, someone can tell you if it's reasonble.
Bottom lines is:
1. If he did enough work to justify the bill, you can't get it back. If you think he did work that you didn't request or authorize, you could ask, but that's not likely to be the case.
2. If you think that another attorney can complete the job faster, then interview other attorneys and change if you wish (make sure to read the agreement with your current attorneys to see if there are any repercussions or hidden costs to terminating).
3. If you really think that he's defrauding you, you can always file a complaint with the State Bar, but there is nothing in your post to indicate that you'd have a legitimate complaint.
