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Attorney faded out and didn't respond

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to my emails. State: FL Legal Matter: Employment Law and EEOC

I signed a letter of rep with an Employment Law Attorney. The attorney did not respond to my emails.

Attorney verbally told me how s/he would proceed with my matter.

Attorney did not respond to my emailed questions about the strategy or the demand for damages amount.

The demand letter (law suit was not filed), was never written and my atty never informed me that s/he received the right to sue letter 2 months ago.

There is a 90-day statute of limitation.

I kept emailing my attorney, "What's the strategy, when will you write the demand letter, what's going on with my case?"

I asked for my file back and then the attorney declined to rep me.

Q: When an attorney signs a letter of rep to rep a client in a specific matter involving a statute of limitations, doesn't s/he have an obligation to communicate with the client and respond to client's emails?

Knowing that there is only 1-month left, I have to scramble to find another attorney.

What if I can't find one due to my working schedule and the short time I have left?
 
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quincy

Senior Member
to my emails. State: FL Legal Matter: Employment Law and EEOC

I signed a letter of rep with an Employment Law Attorney. The attorney did not respond to my emails.

Attorney verbally told me how s/he would proceed with my matter.

Attorney did not respond to my emailed questions about the strategy or the demand for damages amount.

The demand letter (law suit was not filed), was never written and my atty never informed me that s/he received the right to sue letter 2 months ago.

There is a 90-day statute of limitation.

I kept emailing my attorney, "What's the strategy, when will you write the demand letter, what's going on with my case?"

I asked for my file back and then the attorney declined to rep me.

Q: When an attorney signs a letter of rep to rep a client in a specific matter involving a statute of limitations, doesn't s/he have an obligation to communicate with the client and respond to client's emails?

Knowing that there is only 1-month left, I have to scramble to find another attorney.

What if I can't find one due to my working schedule and the short time I have left?

.
Did you at any time meet with the attorney in person? Did you pay the attorney to represent you?
 

justalayman

Senior Member
So you kept emailing the guy. Great

Did you ever call the office or even more forceful; physically visit the office? Unless the demand for your file was via email and he responded, how would you know if he ever got the emails?
 

quincy

Senior Member
Original post, as a note, was reported for moderator review.

From the sounds of it, TpaSunrise never actually hired the attorney.
 
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Did you at any time meet with the attorney in person? Did you pay the attorney to represent you?
No - I never met the attorney face to face. It was all email exchange. I did not pay the attorney to rep me. The agreement was based on a 30% contingency if a settlement was offered or a 40% contingency if it was litigated.
 
Original post, as a note, was reported for moderator review.

From the sounds of it, TpaSunrise never actually hired the attorney.
When I signed the letter of Representation with the contingency fee agreement, then I did engage in a contractual agreement to be represented. The attorney had a fiduciary responsibility to me.

You know how EEOC cases require investigations (sometimes). It can take 6, 8 , 12 mos for the investigator to review and close the file.

My former Attorney cut through that process and asked for the right to sue letter which starts the 90-day clock ticking to get that lawsuit filed.

He never told me about the EEOC letter. I discovered it since I'm monitoring my charge and I noticed it was issued in May.

I called my attorney about that and he said, "I'll send it over to you." He never did.

I called and said, "How much are you asking for (damage) what's the strategy, when are you filing?"

He said, he'd file 2 weeks ago and he never did.

I threatened to file a bar complaint and he discontinued representing me.

He wasn't fulfilling his side of the agreement, in that he NEVER responded to my email with the above questions about my right to sue letter and when the suit will be filed.
 

quincy

Senior Member
No - I never met the attorney face to face. It was all email exchange. I did not pay the attorney to rep me. The agreement was based on a 30% contingency if a settlement was offered or a 40% contingency if it was litigated.
Ahh. Well therein could lie the problem. :)

I recommend you find an attorney local to you, sit down with the attorney to discuss your legal issue, sign a contract with the attorney if you like the terms of his representation (and if you like the attorney) and go from there.

I do not see that you have any complaint to file against the attorney with whom you conversed solely by email.

Edit to add: I just read your additional post. If you have a signed contract with the first attorney, you should have it read over by another attorney in your area to see what it says.
 
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So you kept emailing the guy. Great

Did you ever call the office or even more forceful; physically visit the office? Unless the demand for your file was via email and he responded, how would you know if he ever got the emails?
Great Questions: I moved 4 hrs away in the same State for other work.
Yes, I called the office. I have phone appointments evidenced by "calendy" appointment software that attorney used.

Yes, the demand for my case was email. He got my emails he had to respond to the one where I said, "I'm filing a complaint b/c you neglected to file the lawsuit, give me my file back, I now have to find another attorney." Oh yeah, he emailed me right back.
 
Ahh. Well therein could lie the problem. :)

I recommend you find an attorney local to you, sit down with the attorney to discuss your legal issue, sign a contract with the attorney if you like the terms of his representation (and if you like the attorney) and go from there.

I do not see that you have any complaint to file against the attorney with whom you conversed solely by email.

Edit to add: I just read your additional post. If you have a signed contract with the attorney, you should have it read over by another attorney in your area to see what it says.
Thank you to everyone here who responded to my post.

I didn't know that not meeting with the original attorney contributed to some of this. It sounds like just the email representation arrangement contributed to this. He never saw me in person, and he didn't charge a consult fee, so he had no vested interest from the start.

So - now I have an appointment this week and I will PAY the attorney for the consultation. I'm happy to do so b/c now he will meet me too.

My prior attorney said he won't impose a lien and sent me an email stating that.

This new prospective attorney is board certified, highly qualified and experienced.

I look forward to meeting with him. I'm preparing my emails and documents succinctly so he can get the answers he needs to make an informed decision.

I am new here to this forum (glad to be here), and thank you for reading and responding to my posts.
 

quincy

Senior Member
What you are doing now is what I was about to suggest. :)

When you meet in person with, and hire, this new attorney, you can have this new attorney read over your email exchanges with the first attorney.

We appreciate the thanks, TpaSunrise. Good luck.
 

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