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My Attorney has threatened to withdraw

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stevemowry

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Superior Court of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

My Attorney has threatened to withdraw. I am a retired senior living in SE Asia. I am one of five Plaintiffs in Civil Litigation. We are presently negotiating a settlement but have deadlocked over Plaintiffs' consideration terms but not amount. Circumstance is like execute a proposed Agreement or he will quit or maybe you did not sign the proposal, so he quits. I have objected to the threat in my reply. I am not involved in any criminal activity whatsoever. I am actually under a Court Order in the Lawsuit to testify (discovery); however, that was put on hold while terms of a settlement were being negotiated.

What can I expect?

What are my options?
 
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LdiJ

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Superior Court of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

My Attorney has threatened to withdraw. I am a retired senior living in SE Asia. I am one of five Plaintiffs in Civil Litigation. We are presently negotiating a settlement but have deadlocked over Plaintiffs' consideration terms but not amount. Circumstance is like execute a proposed Agreement or he will quit or maybe you did not sign the proposal, so he quits. I have objected to the threat in my reply. I am not involved in any criminal activity whatsoever. I am actually under a Court Order in the Lawsuit to testify (discovery); however, that was put on hold while terms of a settlement were being negotiated.

What can I expect?

What are my options?
When an attorney is on contingency and threatens to quit it generally means that the attorney is losing money because he believes that his clients are not being reasonable and he cannot afford to continue to fund the suit. If a much bigger payout was possible the attorney likely would not threaten to quit.
 

quincy

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Superior Court of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

My Attorney has threatened to withdraw ... I am one of five Plaintiffs in Civil Litigation ...
Clarify, please: Are you one of the plaintiffs, or are you one of the plaintiffs' witnesses?

Here is a link to your other thread: https://forum.freeadvice.com/civil-litigation-46/deposition-thailand-626119.html

LdiJ mentioned "contingency" but I do not see where you say the attorney was hired on a contingency basis.
 

stevemowry

Junior Member
Clarify, please: Are you one of the plaintiffs, or are you one of the plaintiffs' witnesses?

LdiJ mentioned "contingency" but I do not see where you say the attorney was hired on a contingency basis.

Hi,


I am a plaintiff and a potential witness.

Yes, the attorney executed a contingent fee Retainer Agreement with two of the Plaintiffs in the USA.
 
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justalayman

Senior Member
Hi,


I am a plaintiff and a potential witness.

Yes, the attorney executed a contingent fee Retainer Agreement with two of the Plaintiffs in the USA.
So are you a plaintiff bound by the same contingency agreement or not? If not, why do you believe you are a plaintiff in the suit?

If so, why the odd wording "the attorney...with two of the plaintiffs in the usa"?
 

quincy

Senior Member
Hi,


I am a plaintiff and a potential witness.

Yes, the attorney executed a contingent fee Retainer Agreement with two of the Plaintiffs in the USA.
I am still confused. A "contingent fee retainer agreement?"

You do not appear to be a plaintiff. You appear to be a witness for the plaintiffs - in which case, you are not a party to any settlement agreement.
 

stevemowry

Junior Member
Please don't be confused. I am one of 5 Plaintiffs named in the Complaint. I am listed as one of 5 Plaintiffs on PACER along with 2 Defense Attorneys and the Plaintiffs' Attorney under Parties. I am a Plaintiff.

I am also a witness under Court Order to testify in Thailand. However, my Deposition was put on hold to allow time for settlement negotiations. We have deadlocked on Plaintiffs' consideration distribution.
 
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quincy

Senior Member
Please don't be confused. I am one of 5 Plaintiffs named in the Complaint. I am listed as one of 5 Plaintiffs on PACER along with 2 Defense Attorneys and the Plaintiffs' Attorney under Parties. I am a Plaintiff.
So you filed the suit, along with 4 others? You retained the attorney? You signed the contract with the attorney, with a retainer fee and a contingency agreement?

And you are a witness for the plaintiffs, of which you are one?

Your explanation has not eliminated the confusion.
 

stevemowry

Junior Member
"So you filed the suit, along with 4 others?" Yes

"You retained the attorney?" Not really, an attorney entered an appearance in my name. I am 10,000 miles away.

"You signed the contract with the attorney, with a retainer fee and a contingency agreement?" No, under advice of the attorney, two of the Plaintiffs in the USA signed a contract with the attorney, with a retainer fee and a contingency agreement.

"And you are a witness for the plaintiffs, of which you are one?" Yes.
 

stevemowry

Junior Member
Will the Judge allow the Plaintiffs' Attorney to quit before I testify?

There is an Order to compel my testimony via video deposition in Thailand.
 

quincy

Senior Member
"So you filed the suit, along with 4 others?" Yes

"You retained the attorney?" Not really, an attorney entered an appearance in my name. I am 10,000 miles away.

"You signed the contract with the attorney, with a retainer fee and a contingency agreement?" No, under advice of the attorney, two of the Plaintiffs in the USA signed a contract with the attorney, with a retainer fee and a contingency agreement.

"And you are a witness for the plaintiffs, of which you are one?" Yes.
So you did not contract with any attorney. You are not a party to the agreement with the attorney.

I recommend you have your situation personally reviewed because, quite frankly, what you are saying makes little sense.

I can't tell you whether the judge will allow the attorney to withdraw from the case. It is possible.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
"So you filed the suit, along with 4 others?" Yes

"You retained the attorney?" Not really, an attorney entered an appearance in my name. I am 10,000 miles away.

"You signed the contract with the attorney, with a retainer fee and a contingency agreement?" No, under advice of the attorney, two of the Plaintiffs in the USA signed a contract with the attorney, with a retainer fee and a contingency agreement.

"And you are a witness for the plaintiffs, of which you are one?" Yes.
So who is your attorney? If you have not signed a retainer with any of the attorneys involved, it would appear you don't have one. Distance would not prevent you from retaining an attorney.
 

quincy

Senior Member
So who is your attorney? If you have not signed a retainer with any of the attorneys involved, it would appear you don't have one. Distance would not prevent you from retaining an attorney.
Is this making as little sense to you, justalayman, as it is to me? :)
 

justalayman

Senior Member
Is this making as little sense to you, justalayman, as it is to me? :)
yep.

I wonder what the filing says regarding who his attorney of
record is. I suppose it could be he did retain the single plaintiff's attorney but doesn't realize he did. Or
It may be he is not represented and the attorney that made an appearance on his behalf was limited to that appearance.

Ya, the more I try to figure it out the less sense it makes.

the other thing that doesn't make sense to me is this;

However, my Deposition was put on hold to allow time for settlement negotiations. We have deadlocked on Plaintiffs' consideration distribution.
The use of the term consideration itself is odd but accepting he meant compensation, it still brings in so many questions.
 

quincy

Senior Member
yep.

I wonder what the filing says regarding who his attorney of
record is. I suppose it could be he did retain the single plaintiff's attorney but doesn't realize he did. Or
It may be he is not represented and the attorney that made an appearance on his behalf was limited to that appearance.

Ya, the more I try to figure it out the less sense it makes.

the other thing that doesn't make sense to me is this;


The use of the term consideration itself is odd but accepting he meant compensation, it still brings in so many questions.
stevemowry confused with his last thread, too.

Perhaps stevemowry can benefit from reading the Rhode Island Attorney Rules of Professional Conduct. It won't hurt him to read through the Rules, at any rate, to see when and for what reasons an attorney can withdraw from a case.

But I am having a hard time seeing that stevemowry even has an attorney. He appears to be just a witness in a case.

Here is a link to the Rules: https://www.courts.ri.gov/PublicResources/disciplinaryboard/PDF/Article5.pdf
 
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