certificate of trial readiness

[beesweet]

What is the name of your state? PA.
Sorry for repeating myself - I did post this on another forum, but had no answers, so I thought I'd try here.
I have an ongoing lawsuit that seems to be dragging on forever. Is my lawyer obligated to notify the opposing lawyer in the suit of his intention to file a Certificate of Trial Readiness before doing so?
Thanks for any help that you can offer.

 

[seniorjudge]

What is the name of your state? PA.
Sorry for repeating myself - I did post this on another forum, but had no answers, so I thought I'd try here.
I have an ongoing lawsuit that seems to be dragging on forever. Is my lawyer obligated to notify the opposing lawyer in the suit of his intention to file a Certificate of Trial Readiness before doing so?
Thanks for any help that you can offer.

What did your lawyer say when you asked this question?

 

[beesweet]

I haven't asked him yet. The last time that I spoke to him, he told me that he was going to file the certificate with the court and then I got a cc letter that was sent to the opposing lawyer in the case.

 

[seniorjudge]

I haven't asked him yet. The last time that I spoke to him, he told me that he was going to file the certificate with the court and then I got a cc letter that was sent to the opposing lawyer in the case.

Sounds to me like it got filed.

 

[beesweet]

Actually...the letter stated that it would be filed in 15 days. I just wondered why we had to notify the opposing lawyer before filing the actual paperwork with the court. We've had a history of the opposing lawyer filing paperwork to stall the court date.

 

[meganproser]

He’s letting the other attorney know that he plans to file the certificate, so that if the other attorney is NOT READY, he can speak up, sparing himself and your attorney the hassle of arguing readiness via formal procedure. By giving the other guy plenty of warning, your attorney is making it harder for the other guy to claim he is NOT ready, once the cert. has been filed.

In other words, your attorney files his readiness cert., but if the other guy is not ready, he files a cert. in opposition. Your attorney is trying to give the other guy notice that if he’s not ready he better get ready.

Your guy is doing his job. I suspect he’s working on a contingency, lol.

 

[seniorjudge]

Actually...the letter stated that it would be filed in 15 days. I just wondered why we had to notify the opposing lawyer before filing the actual paperwork with the court. We've had a history of the opposing lawyer filing paperwork to stall the court date.

Q: I just wondered why we had to notify the opposing lawyer before filing the actual paperwork with the court.

A: This is probably required by your local rules; even if it isn't, what your lawyer did is always a good idea in your lawsuit.

 

[beesweet]

Considering it's been almost three years since the beginning of the lawsuit, I'm starting to lose patience and confidence in the legal process. It seems to me that there shouldn't be any surprises pop up now, but I also wonder how clear peoples memories are expected to be 3 years after the fact.
As I mentioned earlier, the opposing lawyer has filed much paperwork which has stalled the approach to the court. I just wondered if I should suspect my lawyer of the same.

 

[meganproser]

In my opinion you should always suspect your lawyer of everything.

Seriously though, if you are paying someone, you ought to be watching and learning about everything they are billing you for. There are attorneys who will oppose every motion when they don't really need to. $$$ for them.

There are MANY ways for an attorney to milk a case. Unfortunately, you can't supervise them unless you take the time to learn about the various issues that are the subject of these motions.

It's a real luxury to put your legal matters in someone else's hands and trust them completely.

It’s like telling your mechanic to pick your car up once a month, replace anything and everything as he deems necessary, and just send you the bill. The expression “absolute power, absolutely corrupts” comes to mind.

 

[beesweet]

The reason I'm in a lawsuit to begin with is because I was too trusting...the more involved I get, the less trusting I become.
thanks for all the advice.