• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

Hired attorney was possibly working against me

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

Mike703

Member
What is the name of your state? Virginia (case took place in Tennessee jurisdiction)

This topic had me a little curious so maybe I can have my curiousity answered....

In 2002, I was being sued by my ex for child support in Tennessee (even though I was awarded custody by the state of Virginia, me ex had run off to Tennessee and went into hiding for 6mos until they could establish residency - long story; my fault for not being more agreesive in the situation). I had posted my situation on a website in hopes of trying to find a lawyer in east Tennessee area who could help me. I had an attorney respond and told her of my situation at the time. I decided to hire her due to the fact so knew the lawyer working with my ex (which I found to be a very bad idea on various levels). On the phone she would tell me all of the awful things my ex's lawyer claimed i was doing (I was a deadbeat, I abandoned my daughter....) . I would tell her that these things were not true and of course would send her any kind of documentation she needed. I gave this woman proof that my ex had avoided service of her petittion to come to VA court, all of the documentation the process server had given me stating all the times he had gone to her mother's house (which was all of the information I had, not to mention where I saw her last), uncashed checks that were sent my ex fed-ex (and were signed for by my ex), I even had proof that my ex had lied about her residency. My lawyer at the time had be feeling 100% confident that this hearing would be a piece of cake.

Well on the actual day of the hearing, my ex's lawyer is throwing all of the before mentioned allogations at me right there in front of everybody (I believe his exact words were "he's nothing more than a common deadbeat"). I had waited for my lawyer to finally stand up in my defense and actually use some of the documentation I sent her to show the judge that these people were up to no good and that they were lying, but my lawyer just sat there and acted as if she had no idea what the other attorney was talking about. Her only argument was that I had a court order in VA that gave me custody (In which my ex's lawyer claimed they had no knowledge of me suing them for custody and everything I did was done without them knowing). Well of course the judge was feeling sympathetic and gave my ex complete custody of our daughter (my ex who had since married some other guy and was not letting me have ANY access to my daughter).

In the continuing support and visitation dispute (which went on for another 2 1/2 years), I was finally able to find another lawyer, who upon looking at the documentation, told me that I should never have had to go to court in Tennessee and that the case should have been thrown out on 2 separate cases (I was told that any lawyer should have picked up on it) due to the fact that :

1. The Tennessee petition was filed by my ex a month after she left VA and was still a VA resident at the time.
2. The case should have been heard in Juvenile court and not Chancery court. (I had mentioned this to the lawyer I had in the original case and she disagreed with me that it did not matter. I also found out that the judge we were going before at the time was EXTRMELY old school and had absolutely NO intention of giving me custody of my daughter even before the hearing).

After talking with the most recent lawyer I had, it finally hit me as to why everything happened the way it did and also realized that the first lawyer I had was only helping to set me up for failure. I would think that if she wasn't too sure about family law she would not take my case but would instead refer me to one of her assoiciates. I have already paid this woman well over $1,000 and is still to this day sending me invoices for and additional $1,000. I have no intention of paying as I feel she really did not do anything but give me false hopes (I never signed any kind of retainer agreement with her).

Just out of curiousity, can any kind of grevience be filed with the American Bar Association regarding the incident? I would like to make sure she does not do this to anybody else. It took me years to recover emotionally and financially.
 


seniorjudge

Senior Member
Mike703 said:
What is the name of your state? Virginia (case took place in Tennessee jurisdiction)

This topic had me a little curious so maybe I can have my curiousity answered....

In 2002, I was being sued by my ex for child support in Tennessee (even though I was awarded custody by the state of Virginia, me ex had run off to Tennessee and went into hiding for 6mos until they could establish residency - long story; my fault for not being more agreesive in the situation). I had posted my situation on a website in hopes of trying to find a lawyer in east Tennessee area who could help me. I had an attorney respond and told her of my situation at the time. I decided to hire her due to the fact so knew the lawyer working with my ex (which I found to be a very bad idea on various levels). On the phone she would tell me all of the awful things my ex's lawyer claimed i was doing (I was a deadbeat, I abandoned my daughter....) . I would tell her that these things were not true and of course would send her any kind of documentation she needed. I gave this woman proof that my ex had avoided service of her petittion to come to VA court, all of the documentation the process server had given me stating all the times he had gone to her mother's house (which was all of the information I had, not to mention where I saw her last), uncashed checks that were sent my ex fed-ex (and were signed for by my ex), I even had proof that my ex had lied about her residency. My lawyer at the time had be feeling 100% confident that this hearing would be a piece of cake.

Well on the actual day of the hearing, my ex's lawyer is throwing all of the before mentioned allogations at me right there in front of everybody (I believe his exact words were "he's nothing more than a common deadbeat"). I had waited for my lawyer to finally stand up in my defense and actually use some of the documentation I sent her to show the judge that these people were up to no good and that they were lying, but my lawyer just sat there and acted as if she had no idea what the other attorney was talking about. Her only argument was that I had a court order in VA that gave me custody (In which my ex's lawyer claimed they had no knowledge of me suing them for custody and everything I did was done without them knowing). Well of course the judge was feeling sympathetic and gave my ex complete custody of our daughter (my ex who had since married some other guy and was not letting me have ANY access to my daughter).

In the continuing support and visitation dispute (which went on for another 2 1/2 years), I was finally able to find another lawyer, who upon looking at the documentation, told me that I should never have had to go to court in Tennessee and that the case should have been thrown out on 2 separate cases (I was told that any lawyer should have picked up on it) due to the fact that :

1. The Tennessee petition was filed by my ex a month after she left VA and was still a VA resident at the time.
2. The case should have been heard in Juvenile court and not Chancery court. (I had mentioned this to the lawyer I had in the original case and she disagreed with me that it did not matter. I also found out that the judge we were going before at the time was EXTRMELY old school and had absolutely NO intention of giving me custody of my daughter even before the hearing).

After talking with the most recent lawyer I had, it finally hit me as to why everything happened the way it did and also realized that the first lawyer I had was only helping to set me up for failure. I would think that if she wasn't too sure about family law she would not take my case but would instead refer me to one of her assoiciates. I have already paid this woman well over $1,000 and is still to this day sending me invoices for and additional $1,000. I have no intention of paying as I feel she really did not do anything but give me false hopes (I never signed any kind of retainer agreement with her).

Just out of curiousity, can any kind of grevience be filed with the American Bar Association regarding the incident? I would like to make sure she does not do this to anybody else. It took me years to recover emotionally and financially.
Q: Just out of curiousity, can any kind of grevience be filed with the American Bar Association regarding the incident?

A: No. The ABA is merely a lobbying organization.
 

Mike703

Member
seniorjudge said:
Q: Just out of curiousity, can any kind of grevience be filed with the American Bar Association regarding the incident?

A: No. The ABA is merely a lobbying organization.

So would you have any suggestions??
 

Mike703

Member
seniorjudge said:
I read your whole post.

Listening to just your side, you haven't made a case for anything.

This was in fact just a question of curiousity, really nothing more. Thank you for not replying with any ignorant comments....
 

seniorjudge

Senior Member
Mike703 said:
This was in fact just a question of curiousity, really nothing more. Thank you for not replying with any ignorant comments....
To quote the immortal Stymie (he of the Little Rascals fame), "I ain't showing my ignorance to nobody!"
 

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top