S
samsausage
Guest
Hello, This is for the state of Missouri, This is a long post...
I have a problem with my attorney who is representing me in a fraud case. In this case I’m suing the executer of my deceased mother’s estate for embezzling funds in excess of $50,000 + punitive damages. (note I was a minor at the time of my mothers death)
I am now 23, but at the time of seeking representation was 20 years old, please forgive me for being naïve on certain legal issues, and organization I hope you understand that not very many 20 year olds are put in my situation, also the mental anguish made me want to look the other way, causing this to go on for an extended period of time. But I do feel like I was taken advantage of due to my young age and inexperience. Also I moved to this country from Germany when I was 13 years old, therefore my vocabulary and knowledge about this country where rather limited.
When I originally sought legal advice for this case I was referred to my current attorney by a friend. I went to meet with this attorney and he said it looked like I had a good case and that he would gladly represent me. Unfortunately I agreed to pay this attorney on an hourly basis, instead of striking a contingent fee based deal. (I didn’t even know what contingent was) The hourly rate agreed on was $250 per hour.
To make a very long story shorter, several years of filing paperwork, and investigation where done. The case never made it to court because I was forced to settle for $10,000 last Fall. I had to settle for $10,000 because I was quickly running out of funds. (at $250 an hour it goes quick) I have paid my attorney from $25,000 - $30,000+ to date, this has effectively left me without funds to persuade the case further. Therefore the low settlement amount.
I feel my attorney has broken the following Rules of Professional conduct set forward by the state of Missouri:
Rule 1.4 Communication
Rule 1.5 Fees
Rule 8.3 (a) Reporting Professional Misconduct
Rule 8.4 (a) Misconduct
The reasons are as follows:
1.4 My attorney has called me less than 10 (ten) times in the last three years. He hasn’t contacted me at all in the past three months. When I do call him he’s busy or not in the office. I then leave a voicemail. They RARELY get answered; I usually have to call back five times to get him on the phone once.
1.5 I asked him if he would change payment to contingent fee based. He refused; I think he did this because he knew that the plaintiff did not have any funds to pay a settlement. Yet he failed to communicate this concern to me and happily charged me $250 an hour.
8.3 (a) The plaintiffs attorney had a serious conflict of interest, which should have been obvious to my highly experienced attorney. This wasn’t brought up by him (my attorney) until almost two years into the case. Yet my attorney failed to report the Professional Misconduct.
Also and maybe most importantly, six months ago I finally ran out of money and couldn’t pay my attorney fees. He withheld my settlement payments ($500 a month) until the debt was paid. Three months ago the debt to my attorney was paid of. So I patiently waited for my payments to be sent to me. They where not sent to me. I contacted him and after calling six times finally got him on the phone, (he never answered my voicemails, took me three days to reach him) he immediately started the conversation by apologizing. He said that the checks have not been cashed and he will send them to me! Unsure if the plaintiff had the funds in his account! He also said that he “forgot” about them. Funny, he didn’t have a problem cashing them when I owed him money! This could seriously affect my case and restitution payments! I haven’t received the checks yet, so I don’t know if they will bounce.
I don’t want to sue my attorney. I have lost so much money over the years that I am simply sick of attorneys in general. I was suppose to pay for my education with this money and now I’m out even more money than before I started this case.
I’m simply at a loss and doubt I will ever recover any funds.
I would like to know what I should do. I do feel like this incident should be reported, but I don’t want to spend months having to worry about it, and I don’t want to have to spend thousands of dollars that end up getting me in a worse financial position than before.
Regards,
I have a problem with my attorney who is representing me in a fraud case. In this case I’m suing the executer of my deceased mother’s estate for embezzling funds in excess of $50,000 + punitive damages. (note I was a minor at the time of my mothers death)
I am now 23, but at the time of seeking representation was 20 years old, please forgive me for being naïve on certain legal issues, and organization I hope you understand that not very many 20 year olds are put in my situation, also the mental anguish made me want to look the other way, causing this to go on for an extended period of time. But I do feel like I was taken advantage of due to my young age and inexperience. Also I moved to this country from Germany when I was 13 years old, therefore my vocabulary and knowledge about this country where rather limited.
When I originally sought legal advice for this case I was referred to my current attorney by a friend. I went to meet with this attorney and he said it looked like I had a good case and that he would gladly represent me. Unfortunately I agreed to pay this attorney on an hourly basis, instead of striking a contingent fee based deal. (I didn’t even know what contingent was) The hourly rate agreed on was $250 per hour.
To make a very long story shorter, several years of filing paperwork, and investigation where done. The case never made it to court because I was forced to settle for $10,000 last Fall. I had to settle for $10,000 because I was quickly running out of funds. (at $250 an hour it goes quick) I have paid my attorney from $25,000 - $30,000+ to date, this has effectively left me without funds to persuade the case further. Therefore the low settlement amount.
I feel my attorney has broken the following Rules of Professional conduct set forward by the state of Missouri:
Rule 1.4 Communication
Rule 1.5 Fees
Rule 8.3 (a) Reporting Professional Misconduct
Rule 8.4 (a) Misconduct
The reasons are as follows:
1.4 My attorney has called me less than 10 (ten) times in the last three years. He hasn’t contacted me at all in the past three months. When I do call him he’s busy or not in the office. I then leave a voicemail. They RARELY get answered; I usually have to call back five times to get him on the phone once.
1.5 I asked him if he would change payment to contingent fee based. He refused; I think he did this because he knew that the plaintiff did not have any funds to pay a settlement. Yet he failed to communicate this concern to me and happily charged me $250 an hour.
8.3 (a) The plaintiffs attorney had a serious conflict of interest, which should have been obvious to my highly experienced attorney. This wasn’t brought up by him (my attorney) until almost two years into the case. Yet my attorney failed to report the Professional Misconduct.
Also and maybe most importantly, six months ago I finally ran out of money and couldn’t pay my attorney fees. He withheld my settlement payments ($500 a month) until the debt was paid. Three months ago the debt to my attorney was paid of. So I patiently waited for my payments to be sent to me. They where not sent to me. I contacted him and after calling six times finally got him on the phone, (he never answered my voicemails, took me three days to reach him) he immediately started the conversation by apologizing. He said that the checks have not been cashed and he will send them to me! Unsure if the plaintiff had the funds in his account! He also said that he “forgot” about them. Funny, he didn’t have a problem cashing them when I owed him money! This could seriously affect my case and restitution payments! I haven’t received the checks yet, so I don’t know if they will bounce.
I don’t want to sue my attorney. I have lost so much money over the years that I am simply sick of attorneys in general. I was suppose to pay for my education with this money and now I’m out even more money than before I started this case.
I’m simply at a loss and doubt I will ever recover any funds.
I would like to know what I should do. I do feel like this incident should be reported, but I don’t want to spend months having to worry about it, and I don’t want to have to spend thousands of dollars that end up getting me in a worse financial position than before.
Regards,