lawyer lied about charges

[JoeyBingoBoyz]

What is the name of your state?california

i recently contacted an attorney for a felony case, and during the initial consultation i was informed by him that i had 2 bench warrents for 2 failure to pay traffic tickets wich resulted in 2 more misdemeanor charges that he would take care of at the same time. Originally, one of the tickets was an infraction(fine only) and the other was a misdemeanor (probation and fine). I asked if i could just go pay the tickets off immediately but he said that because of the current status of them I would still have the warrant and new charges to deal with, so he would get both traffic misdemeanor cases moved to be heard with the felony case and get one sentence. This cost an additional $1000 dollars, which was the same amount of the outstandinding traffic fines. I new i was late on the fines but didnt know about the new status, but when the lawyer mentioned the tickets before i did, i believed what he told me about them. Time goes on and lawyer informs me that D.A. has not filed charges yet and when the D.A. files charges i will be contacted with new arrainment date. The following week i call case manager for update, she says lawyer went to court pertaining to my case but not exactly sure about the details (which is what I will be told in all following conversations). Two days later I call and am told the lawyer is going to court to talk to the D.A. about my case. The next day im told that lawyer had to return to court again for some reason, but shes not exactly sure why. Well today I call and they tell me still no word from the D.A. on the felony charge but they took care of the 2 misdemeanors and cleared the bench warrants, and they got the payments re-installed and my first payment is due Jan 10, 2006. I want told any of this, and this is not what he said would do, but he says because i havent been charged with the felony yet he needed to take care of the warrants before i was arrested. I feel like i was scammed right there, but I call the court clerk and she tells me that even before the most recent court proceedings, i never had any kind of warrants for F.T.P. or any kind of new charges. Even thought they were delinquent the court hadnt addressed them. She says i could have came in myself and payed in full on one of the tickets but would have to see the judge on the misdemeanor ticket that had probation, but i could have done that my self, and asked if i coud pay it off, just like the lawyer did.
Sorry this has been so long, but I feel lied to and scammed. I just need help and advice on where to go or who to contact about this problem. As a side note, i have not actually ever talked to my attorney, only the original consultant whom I made the agreement with and the case manager (secretary) who relays messages. When i informed her i was confused about what was going on and ask for specifics she says the computers are down, the lawyer is out and has the paperwork or she is waiting for the paperwork to arrive at her office. When i ask to talk to the lawyer, i am told that they have left for the day.

Ok, sorry again for rambling on, i just have a lot going on in my head but am not sure of anything. I would appreciate any helpful advice, thankyou

[JETX]

First, did you ask a LEGAL question in there somewhere?? If so, I didn't see it.
Second.....
Sounds to me like you need to have a good 'sit down' with your attorney and try to resolve what appears to be a misunderstanding.

[shawnintennesse]

Well it dosent sound like a communication problem to me. It sounds like your lawyer isnt doing what you paid him to do.
I would address him or her with your concerns.

[JoeyBingoBoyz]

I just found out, through my county court website online case information that my attorney that handled the traffic tickets was listed as attorney conflict panel and the only new proceedings were payment extensions

PHILLIP M MORRIS

CLERK CONNIE REYNOLDS

ATTORNEY CONFLICT PANEL - (ACTUAL NAME DELETED)-Present.

PURSUANT TO SECTION 977 PC, COUNSEL PRESENT WITHOUT DEFENDANT.

-

PROCEEDINGS

PAYMENT EXTENSION ON MONTHLY FINE PAYMENTS GRANTED TO RESUME 01/10/2006.

-

CUSTODY STATUS

CASE CUSTODY - PROBATION.

============= MINUTE ORDER END ================

CASE CLOSED.

CASE CLOSED.

I get the phone# to the conflict panels office from the clerk. I call it and ask why my attorney is listed as a conflict attorney (public defender), she says that my attorney does both public defender cases and private cases, it must have been a typo. I also find out she does contract cases with the firm I hired. So the firm i hired contracted with another lawyer without telling me. Is this legal? And can the hired law firm refuse to give me the contact info for the contracted attorney and require that i only deal with them. Will they drop me me for breach of contract if i do contact this attorney?