Lawyer Negligent?? Do we have any recourse?

[aseedgrows]

What is the name of your state? Washington
My 16 year old daughter (K) was at a friends home where both parents were present and the mom was playing drinking games with my daughter and her friends. K brought her own alcohol and her lawyer was told this at the first meeting we had with him. K left in her vehicle and had a terrible accident and almost died. When the "mom" came to the ER, she said "I should have taken her keys". I'd just been told K needed immediate surgery so I didn't process what this mom had said to me until later. We had told K's lawyer that we wanted to take legal action against the parents that allowed her to drink at their house and even played drinking games with her, I think this is called negligence. K's lawyer had a deal on the table for Reckless driving in the 1st degree. The morning of the court date, he called and wanted us to meet him 15 minutes before K's appointed time for court. He said he'd talked to his colleagues and that K should plead guilty to the alcohol related offense which would make the law suit against the parents easier, so K plead guilty to a DUI. A week or so later, the lawyer wanted to meet my husband and I and preceded to tell us that because the mom didn't hand my daughter an alcoholic beverage, there was no legal grounds to sue and that he had found a similar lawsuit that was lost and that the defendants' of this other law suit then filed claim against the plaintiff and lawyer. We were quite upset that my daughter, yes we made her pay for her lawyer, had spent almost $3 of her hard earned money, almost all she had earned that year, for the same outcome she could have gotten from a free defender. My daughter wrote her lawyer a letter asking for a refund since he should have finished case A or at least researched case B completely before giving her the bad advice. He did not pay her back. Do we have any recourse against the lawyer??? Was he technically negligent? Also, the parents were never even talked to about their actions that night....
Is this something that is grounds for the Lawyers Bar to be contacted??

[donovanatee]

"because the mom didn't hand my daughter an alcoholic beverage, there was no legal grounds to sue"
RCW 66.44.270
Furnishing liquor to minors — Possession, use — Penalties — Exhibition of effects — Exceptions.

(1) It is unlawful for any person to sell, give, or otherwise supply liquor to any person under the age of twenty-one years or permit any person under that age to consume liquor on his or her premises or on any premises under his or her control. For the purposes of this subsection, "premises" includes real property, houses, buildings, and other structures, and motor vehicles and watercraft. A violation of this subsection is a gross misdemeanor punishable as provided for in chapter 9A.20 RCW.

If what you're saying is true, it appears that the friend's mom broke the law by permitting K to consume liquor in her house. Have you asked the police about charging her with this crime?

The DUI and Furnishing liquor to minors are criminal matters. The gross negligence
lawsuit is a civil matter. It would have been wise to deal with the criminal matter(s)
aggressively first by vigorously defending your daughter's DUI case and seeking crimnal
complaints against the mother who allowed her to drink in her home.

Sounds like the lawyer took the 3K and bailed. Since K really was driving under the influence, it would be hard to blame the lawyer for advising her to tell the truth.
However if what you say is true, he did give you bad information about the law regarding
the other mom furnishing her with alcohol.

If he was hired to represent K in the criminal matter only, I'm not sure what recourse
you would have regarding his advice about a civil matter.

You may want to find another attorney to pursue a civil suit against the mother for allowing her to consume alcohol in her home. It is certainly gross negligence to knowingly allow a 16 year old girl to drink alcohol in your home and allowing her to get into a car and drive afterwards. You may have to prove that the other mom actually did permit
this activity in her home. Has she actually admitted to letting K drink alcohol in her house that night?