What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Kentucky.
Here is the situation -- I hired a lawyer to represent me in an uncontested divorce in mid-late March. At the time, I considered this to be a godsend because this man only wanted a flat fee of $500 to prepare the paperwork/represent me/etc, while everyone else I had called wanted $700+. Later, I found him to be quite the opposite.
I met with his paralegal in March to answer the standard questions before they prepared the divorce papers. I signed the original decree about a week later, and my soon-to-be ex husband signed them April 24. However, due to the negligance of the lawyer, the papers were sent back because they did not include the fact that we do not have any children. The lawyer never notified me of this. In fact, the only way that I found this out was by calling the court house because the lawyer would not return any of my calls. After becoming aware of this, I called his office and informed his paralegal of the issue. She acted like she didn't know what I was talking about at first, but finally says, "Oh .. yeah .. that's right. You need to come in and sign the amended petition." OK, that's fine. I went down the next morning to sign the new decree and was informed that it would only take a couple of days after the ex was served with the new papers. Mind you, I signed the amended petition June 26, and it was not filed until July 23. Of course, I found this out later on my own. So I played the waiting game. Finally, at the end of August, I called the lawyer's office and was told that they had tried to serve the ex ONCE and were unsuccessful and never attempted to do so again. I did let them know that he spends every weekend in jail due to a domestic issue, so it would not be that hard to serve him with the papers. She also let me know that the case was set up for review on September 26. When September 26 rolls around, I went to the court house myself to find out what was going on. Turns out, the review hearing has been pushed forward to October 17. Fine. However, the clerk informed me that, if at that time, my lawyer still hadn't made an effort to serve the ex the case would be closed without finalization. This was the last straw for me. I have been patiently waiting for nearly 6 months for a divorce that should have been done in 30 days (we were only married for 4 months, have no children, no property, etc). The clerk had also let me know that the lawyer had attempted to serve the ex but the papers were returned on September 2 as undelivered because there was "no such street number", which I found to be quite odd since I used to live there. I was in a frenzy and called my mother who told me that she would go down to the lawyer's office with me to see what we could accomplish. Being as I was 18 when I started this process, I think the lawyer thought that he could take my money and that would be that.
We went to the lawyer's office (which is a 30 second walk from the court house, so it's not like he couldn't have checked up on the case from time to time), and I CALMLY asked for copies of everything that he had done for me. He agreed, but kept avoiding making the copies. I then brought up the fact that the papers had been sent back undelivered. His paralegal then chimed in with, "Well, we sent them to 393, which is the address you gave us." I told her that that was not the address that I have them originally, and that the original papers said 395. I let her know that this was the correct address because the ex had gotten the first papers and signed them. She then changed her tune and said, "Right .. we sent the amended papers to 395." She had stood there and lied to our faces. Of course, at this point, my mother and I were both frustrated and the fact that I had pointed out their dishonesty made the lawyer extremely angry. He stood up, practically pushed us out of the door and screamed, "Get the f!@# out of my office!" and called the cops. There was absolutly no excuse for this, especially considering the fact that he had done nothing to help further my divorce along.
I ended up going to the court house and getting a copy of the petition and summons to have the ex served myself, which took about 10 minutes, so it wasn't exactly a hard thing to do.
The question I have is this -- Do you think that I would be able to get my money back, if I were to take this man to small claims? He insisted that I wouldn't, but I honestly believe I would. Any feedback would be appreciated!
Here is the situation -- I hired a lawyer to represent me in an uncontested divorce in mid-late March. At the time, I considered this to be a godsend because this man only wanted a flat fee of $500 to prepare the paperwork/represent me/etc, while everyone else I had called wanted $700+. Later, I found him to be quite the opposite.
I met with his paralegal in March to answer the standard questions before they prepared the divorce papers. I signed the original decree about a week later, and my soon-to-be ex husband signed them April 24. However, due to the negligance of the lawyer, the papers were sent back because they did not include the fact that we do not have any children. The lawyer never notified me of this. In fact, the only way that I found this out was by calling the court house because the lawyer would not return any of my calls. After becoming aware of this, I called his office and informed his paralegal of the issue. She acted like she didn't know what I was talking about at first, but finally says, "Oh .. yeah .. that's right. You need to come in and sign the amended petition." OK, that's fine. I went down the next morning to sign the new decree and was informed that it would only take a couple of days after the ex was served with the new papers. Mind you, I signed the amended petition June 26, and it was not filed until July 23. Of course, I found this out later on my own. So I played the waiting game. Finally, at the end of August, I called the lawyer's office and was told that they had tried to serve the ex ONCE and were unsuccessful and never attempted to do so again. I did let them know that he spends every weekend in jail due to a domestic issue, so it would not be that hard to serve him with the papers. She also let me know that the case was set up for review on September 26. When September 26 rolls around, I went to the court house myself to find out what was going on. Turns out, the review hearing has been pushed forward to October 17. Fine. However, the clerk informed me that, if at that time, my lawyer still hadn't made an effort to serve the ex the case would be closed without finalization. This was the last straw for me. I have been patiently waiting for nearly 6 months for a divorce that should have been done in 30 days (we were only married for 4 months, have no children, no property, etc). The clerk had also let me know that the lawyer had attempted to serve the ex but the papers were returned on September 2 as undelivered because there was "no such street number", which I found to be quite odd since I used to live there. I was in a frenzy and called my mother who told me that she would go down to the lawyer's office with me to see what we could accomplish. Being as I was 18 when I started this process, I think the lawyer thought that he could take my money and that would be that.
We went to the lawyer's office (which is a 30 second walk from the court house, so it's not like he couldn't have checked up on the case from time to time), and I CALMLY asked for copies of everything that he had done for me. He agreed, but kept avoiding making the copies. I then brought up the fact that the papers had been sent back undelivered. His paralegal then chimed in with, "Well, we sent them to 393, which is the address you gave us." I told her that that was not the address that I have them originally, and that the original papers said 395. I let her know that this was the correct address because the ex had gotten the first papers and signed them. She then changed her tune and said, "Right .. we sent the amended papers to 395." She had stood there and lied to our faces. Of course, at this point, my mother and I were both frustrated and the fact that I had pointed out their dishonesty made the lawyer extremely angry. He stood up, practically pushed us out of the door and screamed, "Get the f!@# out of my office!" and called the cops. There was absolutly no excuse for this, especially considering the fact that he had done nothing to help further my divorce along.
I ended up going to the court house and getting a copy of the petition and summons to have the ex served myself, which took about 10 minutes, so it wasn't exactly a hard thing to do.
The question I have is this -- Do you think that I would be able to get my money back, if I were to take this man to small claims? He insisted that I wouldn't, but I honestly believe I would. Any feedback would be appreciated!