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My attorney had asked another attorney for assistance and now I owe the second $3000

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blandwich

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Pennsylvania

Hi, my case may be a little complicated and I was hoping anyone would be able to assist.

My husband and I divorced in mid-2013. I had hired an attorney which I will refer to by his initials, P.M. I paid P.M. $3000 upfront for drafting the divorce settlement and to proceed with all legal matters. My husband sues me and P.M. claiming that we had falsified information on the divorce settlement in order to cheat him out of a larger settlement. I paid P.M. an additional $2000 upfront to deal with the claim. He said he or his partner would be able to represent himself in court and that everything would be fine. On the day of the trial the judge informs us that P.M. would not be able to plead his own case and that his partner wouldn't be able to as well since they are affiliated. So then P.M. tells us that he'll call upon his former boss, which I will refer to as R.D., to represent him and subsequently handle the case as a favor to P.M. He once again told us everything was fine and never mentioned any additional fees or payments and neither did R.D.

Everything was settled after the second trial and both attorneys never asked for any additional payment at the time. However, I just received a letter from R.D. claiming that I owe him $3000 for his services, and that he would send debt collectors if I do not do anything within 30 days. I sent him a letter basically explaining what P.M. told me and that I request a breakdown of how he came to that total. Haven't gotten anything back yet, but it's only been a couple days. I have contacted P.M. about it as well, and he said he would talk to R.D. I haven't heard back from P.M and he's been out of office for a week.

I find it suspicious that R.D. would suddenly claim I owe him for services from almost three years ago while never hearing anything from him prior. I never signed any agreement or acknowledgement of services from R.D. and have records of payments to P.M. I also find it odd that P.M. had been gone for a week after inquiring about this.

Are R.D.'s claims valid? Is there a statute of limitations on this claim? Would this fall under malpractice?

Any assistance or insight into this matter would be greatly appreciated.
 


quincy

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Pennsylvania

Hi, my case may be a little complicated and I was hoping anyone would be able to assist.

My husband and I divorced in mid-2013. I had hired an attorney which I will refer to by his initials, P.M. I paid P.M. $3000 upfront for drafting the divorce settlement and to proceed with all legal matters. My husband sues me and P.M. claiming that we had falsified information on the divorce settlement in order to cheat him out of a larger settlement. I paid P.M. an additional $2000 upfront to deal with the claim. He said he or his partner would be able to represent himself in court and that everything would be fine. On the day of the trial the judge informs us that P.M. would not be able to plead his own case and that his partner wouldn't be able to as well since they are affiliated. So then P.M. tells us that he'll call upon his former boss, which I will refer to as R.D., to represent him and subsequently handle the case as a favor to P.M. He once again told us everything was fine and never mentioned any additional fees or payments and neither did R.D.

Everything was settled after the second trial and both attorneys never asked for any additional payment at the time. However, I just received a letter from R.D. claiming that I owe him $3000 for his services, and that he would send debt collectors if I do not do anything within 30 days. I sent him a letter basically explaining what P.M. told me and that I request a breakdown of how he came to that total. Haven't gotten anything back yet, but it's only been a couple days. I have contacted P.M. about it as well, and he said he would talk to R.D. I haven't heard back from P.M and he's been out of office for a week.

I find it suspicious that R.D. would suddenly claim I owe him for services from almost three years ago while never hearing anything from him prior. I never signed any agreement or acknowledgement of services from R.D. and have records of payments to P.M. I also find it odd that P.M. had been gone for a week after inquiring about this.

Are R.D.'s claims valid? Is there a statute of limitations on this claim? Would this fall under malpractice?

Any assistance or insight into this matter would be greatly appreciated.
Whether the claims made by R.D. are valid or not depends on the contract you had with the firm.

It would not be unusual for a senior attorney/partner to charge a higher fee than a junior or associate attorney.
 

blandwich

Junior Member
Whether the claims made by R.D. are valid or not depends on the contract you had with the firm.

It would not be unusual for a senior attorney/partner to charge a higher fee than a junior or associate attorney.
Thanks for your reply. I don't recall signing any contract with either firm. I didn't even receive any form of receipt from the $3000 and $2000 payments made to the original firm (P.M.), nor a breakdown of how he came to that amount for his services. During the events in 2013 till now, neither attorneys mentioned anything about any additional fees and haven't kept in contact at all.
 

quincy

Senior Member
Thanks for this, it's really helpful. I now have some insight as to what is allowed when/if I hear back from either attorney. I'll update if anything new arrises.
An update would be nice.

Here are two additional links for you to look over, should you decide to file a complaint against one or both of the attorneys who assisted you in your divorce action and the lawsuit.

Information for Consumers on Pennsylvania Disciplinary Board: http://www.padisciplinaryboard.org/consumers/
Pennsylvania Disciplinary Board Complaint Forms: http://www.padisciplinaryboard.org/consumers/complaint-forms/

I am a bit surprised that you do not think you signed any contract with the attorneys. It is not unheard of for an attorney to work without a contract, but it is not all that common.
 

blandwich

Junior Member
Hey there, I just wanted to give an update to the situation. I spoke with my attorney, P.M., a while ago and he basically told me that he doesn't know anything about the other firm and to just ignore it. I checked the second attorney's website and it's been down for over a month now because the domain name expired and hasn't been renewed. His phone line was also out of service for a couple days. Haven't heard anything or received any other letters since so I'm assuming the claim of an overdue balance was a desperate attempt at a cash grab shortly before going out of business or retiring. For now, I won't file a complaint or do anything other than wait it out and hope that nothing will come of this. Thanks for the free advice!
 

quincy

Senior Member
Hey there, I just wanted to give an update to the situation. I spoke with my attorney, P.M., a while ago and he basically told me that he doesn't know anything about the other firm and to just ignore it. I checked the second attorney's website and it's been down for over a month now because the domain name expired and hasn't been renewed. His phone line was also out of service for a couple days. Haven't heard anything or received any other letters since so I'm assuming the claim of an overdue balance was a desperate attempt at a cash grab shortly before going out of business or retiring. For now, I won't file a complaint or do anything other than wait it out and hope that nothing will come of this. Thanks for the free advice!
That R.D. has taken down his website, disconnected his phone and stopped trying to collect $3000 from you sounds like positive news for you ... but it does not sound quite so positive for R.D.

I wonder what happened. Whatever happened, if your attorney told you to ignore any calls or contacts from R.D. and the other firm, that is what you should do.

You're welcome for the free advice, blandwich. Thank you for the thanks, and thank you for posting back with the update. :)
 

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