Lawyer forgot to file entry...help!

[olikolik]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ohio

In June, I was awarded temporary custody of my child. In the Magistrate's decision it also stated that my weekly child support payment should be held in escrow from July 1 until the conclusion of our next court decision.(full custod) It also stated at the end that my lawyer was responsible for filing the entry.

Fast forward to this month. I was awarded full custody of my child, and in the final order it was ordered that all escrowed monies be turned over to me.

After recieving my final order in the mail, I contacted the child support office to find out how long it would be before I would get the escrowed money. They told me that they have no escrowed money because they never recieved any order to hold it. I went to the court to find out if they had record of sending the order to child support only to find out that they court had not yet recieved a the final entry from my attorney.

Bottom line is that my attorney did not file the entry and send it to cs therefore costing me over 1500 in monies that were sent out instead of being escrowed.

What is the proper way to handle this? The lawyer did a good job for me in court so I do not want to handle it wrong with him, but I do want to know what would be customary in this situation. Should I expect him to waive the 500 dollar balance that is owed and call it even, or should I ask for reimbursement of all monies lost due to the error?

Any info is appreciated.

[Ohiogal]

The magistrate ordered all moneys escrowed in HIS decision which was then filed. Why is it your attorney's fault? What entry was your attorney to file? Seriously. Why wasn't a copy of the magistrate's decision sent to CSEA by the court?

[olikolik]

A magistrate's decision is not accepted by cs. They have to have a judgement entry signed by a judge. It was my attorney's responsibility to submit the entry to the court per the magistrate's order. The court never sent out a copy because they never recieved the entry.

A magistrate's decision has to be signed by a judge, and then a judgement entry is sent out making it official.

[Ohiogal]

Originally Posted by olikolik

A magistrate's decision is not accepted by cs. They have to have a judgement entry signed by a judge. It was my attorney's responsibility to submit the entry to the court per the magistrate's order. The court never sent out a copy because they never recieved the entry.

A magistrate's decision has to be signed by a judge, and then a judgement entry is sent out making it official.

That is NOT true. CS can accept a magistrate's decision. Happens all the time in Ohio. Maybe your county doesn't do it that way but many in Ohio do. Especially since after 10 days if no one objects, the magistrate's decision is accepted.

[olikolik]

I am just going off of the info provided to me by the cs. They would not accept the magistrate's desision for whatever reason. They will only act upon a judgement entry signed by the judge. I assumed they were within their rights to do so, but I am not an attorney so I do not know.

Assuming cs is within their rights to not accept the order,and that my attorney failed to submit the entry as ordered in the magistrate's decision and that in turn caused me around $1,500 can you tell me if would be reasonable of me to ask for the law office to pay this to me or what the proper resolution to this would be in your opinion.

[Ohiogal]

Originally Posted by olikolik

I am just going off of the info provided to me by the cs. They would not accept the magistrate's desision for whatever reason. They will only act upon a judgement entry signed by the judge. I assumed they were within their rights to do so, but I am not an attorney so I do not know.

Assuming cs is within their rights to not accept the order,and that my attorney failed to submit the entry as ordered in the magistrate's decision and that in turn caused me around $1,500 can you tell me if would be reasonable of me to ask for the law office to pay this to me or what the proper resolution to this would be in your opinion.

Well see I am a lawyer, licensed to practice in Ohio who practices in SEVERAL COUNTIES in Ohio and Magistrate's Decisions have ALWAYS been accepted by CSEA in those counties. So what county are you in that has decided they can go against a court order?

I am NOT going to assume that CS was within their rights. I would contact the attorney and discuss this with him to see if he can force the issue with CSEA.

[olikolik]

I am only trying to get an answer to my question of the right way to proceed with my attorney because I do respect him and do not wish to cause any tension by assuming he should be responsible for the loss of money. I was not questioning your resume or status as an attorney so I hope it did not come across that way.

The county that I am dealing with is Allen.

I have spoken with my lawyer and have found that he had sent the judgement entry to the plaintiff's attorney to be signed and it was not returned. It would seem to me that it is still the law office's responsibility to ensure the entry is returned and filed in a resonable amount of time.

He plans to file a motion that will get a judgement against the party that recieved the money that was supposed to be escrowed. I am not sure I will ever see this money again as the plaintiff does not work or own any property therefore even if I get the judgement it may go unsolved.

I just want to know for my own mind if my attorney is in anyway, morally or legally, responsible for the loss of money.

Thanks for your time and info.

[Ohiogal]

Originally Posted by olikolik

I am only trying to get an answer to my question of the right way to proceed with my attorney because I do respect him and do not wish to cause any tension by assuming he should be responsible for the loss of money. I was not questioning your resume or status as an attorney so I hope it did not come across that way.

The county that I am dealing with is Allen.

I have spoken with my lawyer and have found that he had sent the judgement entry to the plaintiff's attorney to be signed and it was not returned. It would seem to me that it is still the law office's responsibility to ensure the entry is returned and filed in a resonable amount of time.

He plans to file a motion that will get a judgement against the party that recieved the money that was supposed to be escrowed. I am not sure I will ever see this money again as the plaintiff does not work or own any property therefore even if I get the judgement it may go unsolved.

I just want to know for my own mind if my attorney is in anyway, morally or legally, responsible for the loss of money.

Thanks for your time and info.

No he is not.

[olikolik]

Thank you for the answer.