Hi, I'm from upstate New York and I've been cheated by two different attorneys that were hired to defend me in a criminal case.
Lawyer "A" was instructed from the day he was hired to prepare for a trial, and that no plea bargains were acceptable. Eight months into the matter he decided on his own to accept a crappy plea bargain on my behalf. He even set a date with the court for me to appear.
When he contacted me and told me what he did, I immediately fired him and contacted a different lawyer. I cannot prove anything with lawyer "A" because I had no witnesses to any of the conversations.
I contacted a different lawyer but this time I brought a witness with me.
In our initial visit with lawyer "B", we could not have been more clear about the reason for the firing of lawyer "A". Also, we could not have been any clearer about what would be expected from him, (lawyer "B").
He accepted my $5000.00 with the complete understanding that I wanted the case to go to trial and he should spend absolutely no time working on a plea bargain, and that NO plea bargains offered by the court would be accepted.
This was witnessed by my sister who also participated in that and all subsequent conferences.
Well, it turns out that he spent no time gathering evidence in my defence or preparing for a trial, and he was working on a plea bargain the whole time!! I have positive proof of this.
We found this out the day before the trial was schedualed to begin!
This left me with 2 choices: Go to trial the next day with a lawyer who was in no way prepared to defend me and wind up in prison, or accept a plea bargain.
So, under duress I was forced to accept a plea bargain. Now the next 3 years of my life are ruined.
Is this malpractice? If yes, what can I do?
Thanks in advance for any help.
What recourse do I have, if any?What is the name of your state? NY
Lawyer "A" was instructed from the day he was hired to prepare for a trial, and that no plea bargains were acceptable. Eight months into the matter he decided on his own to accept a crappy plea bargain on my behalf. He even set a date with the court for me to appear.
When he contacted me and told me what he did, I immediately fired him and contacted a different lawyer. I cannot prove anything with lawyer "A" because I had no witnesses to any of the conversations.
I contacted a different lawyer but this time I brought a witness with me.
In our initial visit with lawyer "B", we could not have been more clear about the reason for the firing of lawyer "A". Also, we could not have been any clearer about what would be expected from him, (lawyer "B").
He accepted my $5000.00 with the complete understanding that I wanted the case to go to trial and he should spend absolutely no time working on a plea bargain, and that NO plea bargains offered by the court would be accepted.
This was witnessed by my sister who also participated in that and all subsequent conferences.
Well, it turns out that he spent no time gathering evidence in my defence or preparing for a trial, and he was working on a plea bargain the whole time!! I have positive proof of this.
We found this out the day before the trial was schedualed to begin!
This left me with 2 choices: Go to trial the next day with a lawyer who was in no way prepared to defend me and wind up in prison, or accept a plea bargain.
So, under duress I was forced to accept a plea bargain. Now the next 3 years of my life are ruined.
Is this malpractice? If yes, what can I do?
Thanks in advance for any help.
What recourse do I have, if any?What is the name of your state? NY
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