What is the name of your state? CA
My partner was arrested the Friday before Thanksgiving. The bail was set too high for me to post immediately, but I knew, based on the charges, that it would likely be lowered at the arraignment. The holiday break was approaching. A friend put me in touch with an attorney she knew by telephone. He told me that if I let a public defender take the case that my partner would probably not be arraigned until after the holiday weekend, but that if I were to hire him, he would be able to "push things along" faster. We agreed upon a fee, and he accepted the case. We met and I payed him the following morning. There was no paperwork of any kind exchanged or signed between he and I. He seemed disorganized and unprofessional, but since he was referred by a friend I gave him the benefit of the doubt. His performance in the courthouse was unimpressive at best, but the bail was lowered just enough for me to post bail. Incedentally, I'm a union member, so I would have received the same discount from the bail bondsman with or without a private attorney.
To make this long story shorter, I later discovered that this attorney was severely in debt, has a drug problem, and was allegedly supposed to "turn himself in" for a case he himself was involved in shortly before my partner's pre-trial hearing. When I tried to contact him his cell phone was disconnected, so we didn't expect to see him at pre-trial. He showed up there demanding an additional thousand dollars to which I refused. We ended up turning the case over to a public defender, and pre-trial was postponed another month and a half. Is the money I paid him lost?What is the name of your state?
My partner was arrested the Friday before Thanksgiving. The bail was set too high for me to post immediately, but I knew, based on the charges, that it would likely be lowered at the arraignment. The holiday break was approaching. A friend put me in touch with an attorney she knew by telephone. He told me that if I let a public defender take the case that my partner would probably not be arraigned until after the holiday weekend, but that if I were to hire him, he would be able to "push things along" faster. We agreed upon a fee, and he accepted the case. We met and I payed him the following morning. There was no paperwork of any kind exchanged or signed between he and I. He seemed disorganized and unprofessional, but since he was referred by a friend I gave him the benefit of the doubt. His performance in the courthouse was unimpressive at best, but the bail was lowered just enough for me to post bail. Incedentally, I'm a union member, so I would have received the same discount from the bail bondsman with or without a private attorney.
To make this long story shorter, I later discovered that this attorney was severely in debt, has a drug problem, and was allegedly supposed to "turn himself in" for a case he himself was involved in shortly before my partner's pre-trial hearing. When I tried to contact him his cell phone was disconnected, so we didn't expect to see him at pre-trial. He showed up there demanding an additional thousand dollars to which I refused. We ended up turning the case over to a public defender, and pre-trial was postponed another month and a half. Is the money I paid him lost?What is the name of your state?