yiayia10902
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ohio
If not for the internet and my need to find a legal document, I never would have discovered how a lawyer cheated me 30 years ago.
When I was 16 I was in a car accident and suffered head and neck injuries (which have cost me over a hundred thousand dollars to treat in the ensuing years). Due to my minor status, my father secured a lawyer to handle the case. Unfortunately, he never followed up with the lawyers to confirm that they were indeed working on a lawsuit against the person who hit the car I was riding in.
As the statute of limitations was nearing (2 years after I reached majority), I contacted the law firm myself to see what was going on since they had had the case for four years and I had heard nothing from them. I told them that I had been informed that I could sue their firm for prejudice if they did not file before the statute of limitations expired. They filed the next day.
About a month later, while I was convalescing from a different health issue, they called to say we had been offered a settlement of $3000 and they did not think we wold get much more if we went to court. I was not thinking clearly to begin with due to illness, and was also young and naive, and accepted the offer. They took their 40% and sent me a check for the balance.
Today, as I was searching the internet for some unrelated legal documentation, I came across the civil court record from this case. The law firm did NOT settle for $3000 as I was told, but instead for $30,000. They only gave me 10% minus their fee!
I did an internet search for the name of the firm and cannot find them. I am not even sure they are still practicing law at this point. I realize that a statute of limitations for filing against the law firm has long since expired, but do I have any recourse against these thieves? They are the kind of lawyers that give the rest of you a bad name!
If not for the internet and my need to find a legal document, I never would have discovered how a lawyer cheated me 30 years ago.
When I was 16 I was in a car accident and suffered head and neck injuries (which have cost me over a hundred thousand dollars to treat in the ensuing years). Due to my minor status, my father secured a lawyer to handle the case. Unfortunately, he never followed up with the lawyers to confirm that they were indeed working on a lawsuit against the person who hit the car I was riding in.
As the statute of limitations was nearing (2 years after I reached majority), I contacted the law firm myself to see what was going on since they had had the case for four years and I had heard nothing from them. I told them that I had been informed that I could sue their firm for prejudice if they did not file before the statute of limitations expired. They filed the next day.
About a month later, while I was convalescing from a different health issue, they called to say we had been offered a settlement of $3000 and they did not think we wold get much more if we went to court. I was not thinking clearly to begin with due to illness, and was also young and naive, and accepted the offer. They took their 40% and sent me a check for the balance.
Today, as I was searching the internet for some unrelated legal documentation, I came across the civil court record from this case. The law firm did NOT settle for $3000 as I was told, but instead for $30,000. They only gave me 10% minus their fee!
I did an internet search for the name of the firm and cannot find them. I am not even sure they are still practicing law at this point. I realize that a statute of limitations for filing against the law firm has long since expired, but do I have any recourse against these thieves? They are the kind of lawyers that give the rest of you a bad name!