Attorney Malpractice in a Divorce?

[shallwescuba]

What is the name of your state? Minnesota

During the settlement of my divorce, it was determined that I be awarded $12,200 from my ex, using the Schmidtz formula. The Judge ruled that the money could be paid from her QUADRO account. We appealed stating that this money was in after-tax dollars and allowing her to pay me through the QUADRO would make me pay tax on the money twice. The Judge agreed, and instead placed a marital lien on our house. The Judge also required me to pre-pay Realtor Fees. I had asked my Attorney to have this pre-paid Realtor fee go into a trust account, he did not request it to the Judge.

The Judge did not order her to sell the house, the Judge did not award me interest until the house might sell (should she decide to sell), the Judge did not set a time fram for selling the house, nothing. My Attorney's only response to this was that "The Court will not allow her to sit on this house forever". This does not seem to be the case. My ex could basically die in the house before I would ever receive any of this money, assuming I am still alive.

I tried to appeal this decision later but in doing so upset my Attorney, he quit 1 week prior to the court hearing. I could not find another Attorney to replace him. During the hearing, the Judge said my motion was "frivelous" and ordered me to pay her Attorney fees.

During the marriage, I helped my ex repay tens of thousands of dollars to her parents for living expenses while she returned to school to obtain her post graduate degree and toward her student loans. During the divorce, I was in school fulltime, so I asked my Attorney to see if I could get some type of spousal support from her. My Attorney failed to make this request during the divorce trial, but later sent a letter to the Judge requesting this, the Judge responded back with "No, you should have asked for this during the divorce trial".

Do I have a Malpractice Case against my former Attorney?

[weenor]

Only if you can prove the attorney breached a standard of care in handling the case and only if you can prove that you would have gotten a lot more from the judge had the attorney handled the case differently.