Can a lawyer hold my escrow account against fees I owe to him?

[junechilde]

What is the name of your state? NY

A very long story … in brief, I hired an attorney in a landlord/tenant matter and he kept dragging the case on and on with pre-trial agreements even though I specifically told him I never wanted to sign one at all … he frequently rescheduled in Court for no reason … he charged me for things that had to be done in Court because he didn’t do them in advance as he should have, like requesting an interpreter … he frequently showed up late to our court dates, causing postponements … etc., etc. A case that should have wrapped in six months took over a year and is still technically not finished.

I have gotten no more result than if I had gone to Court without an attorney --- only now I owe one thousands of dollars.

Since our last court hearing, my attorney has stopped taking my calls and will not release my escrow account money. I had to go to the bank to get more money to pay my landlord so as not to be in breach of the last stipulation I signed. I am lucky I had the extra money or I would've ended up in the street. I presume the lawyer is holding my escrow account because I haven’t paid him. (I have no intention of paying him, but I never told him that -- and he never sent me a final bill, either).

I want to dispute his charges, and I also want my escrow money back. What can I do?

[stephenk]

contact the Bar Association and ask about resolving a fee dispute with an attorney.

[junechilde]

Yes but what about my escrow account money? Is he allowed to keep it?

[Rhubarb297]

Originally Posted by junechilde

Yes but what about my escrow account money? Is he allowed to keep it?

What "escrow account money?" Are you referring to the retainer you paid when you hired him? If you are, he is supposed to bill off of the retainer and then start billing you when the retainer is paid out. I doubt there is any retainer left by now.