Civil case pro se - awarded attorney fees

[Justimare]

What is the name of your state? Florida.
Through the Florida Bar Fee resolution program and after arbitration, I was awarded the reimbursement of Attorneys fees.
The attorney instead of reimbursing me, filed a lawsuit asking the court to vacate the award under the alegations that the the arbitrator lacked experience.
In response I filed 2 motions. Motion to dismiss petition and motion to confirm award.
Now the oposing party- who is an attorney got an attorney himself and is trying to take my depostion before trial. Trial is set for September 4.
The award is inly for 6k and I cannot afford to hire an attorney. I am single mom with a special needs child.
My question tonthis forum is how far in advance should I receive notice for deposition?.
Time is running short as trial is set for September 4th and I have not received any notice yet.

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state? Florida.
Through the Florida Bar Fee resolution program and after arbitration, I was awarded the reimbursement of Attorneys fees.
The attorney instead of reimbursing me, filed a lawsuit asking the court to vacate the award under the alegations that the the arbitrator lacked experience.
In response I filed 2 motions. Motion to dismiss petition and motion to confirm award.
Now the oposing party- who is an attorney got an attorney himself and is trying to take my depostion before trial. Trial is set for September 4.
The award is inly for 6k and I cannot afford to hire an attorney. I am single mom with a special needs child.
My question tonthis forum is how far in advance should I receive notice for deposition?.
Time is running short as trial is set for September 4th and I have not received any notice yet.

Have you informed the BAR Association that he has filed this suit against you? If not, you need to do so immediately. He is not supposed to do that. He is supposed to accept the arbitration decision.

 

[Justimare]

Have you informed the BAR Association that he has filed this suit against you? If not, you need to do so immediately. He is not supposed to do that. He is supposed to accept the arbitration decision.

Yes, I informed them. He has the right to appeal the arbitration’s decision, however he dis not open an appeal case in the court of appeals. Instead, he filed a lawsuit and paid the amount to the court registry.

 

[Litigator22]

What is the name of your state? Florida.
Through the Florida Bar Fee resolution program and after arbitration, I was awarded the reimbursement of Attorneys fees.
The attorney instead of reimbursing me, filed a lawsuit asking the court to vacate the award under the alegations that the the arbitrator lacked experience.
In response I filed 2 motions. Motion to dismiss petition and motion to confirm award.
Now the oposing party- who is an attorney got an attorney himself and is trying to take my depostion before trial. Trial is set for September 4.
The award is inly for 6k and I cannot afford to hire an attorney. I am single mom with a special needs child.
My question tonthis forum is how far in advance should I receive notice for deposition?.
Time is running short as trial is set for September 4th and I have not received any notice yet.

First things first. And the first thing is to dispel the confusion brought on by the caption to your question; to-wit: "Civil case pro se . . .".

That "pro se" business when taken with your admission that "I cannot afford to hire and attorney" strongly infers that you were not represented by an attorney in the basic court proceedings. Yet, you state that you were awarded "reimbursement of attorney fees".

Also, before such an award can be sanctioned your attorney of record would need to have formally attested as to the nature of the legal services provided on your behalf, the time devoted and the rate of charges. The courts don't draw these awards out of thin air!

So, were you represented by counsel in the initial court proceedings or not? Because if you did not in fact incur attorney fees, then the arbitration order awarding the "reimbursement of attorney fees" is void by definition.

In sum a litigant must have actually incurred such expense in order to be reimbursed for such expense. Ergo, pro se litigants are not entitled to be awarded attorney fees! Not even if the litigant is a licensed attorney appearing on his own behalf.

 

[not2cleverRed]

What a daft response. No typo: daft.

Justimare went through the Florida Bar Fee resolution program. That would innately imply that although Justimare had at one point been represented by the lawyer in question, there was a disagreement about the fee, and that Justimare entered this program in order to legally resolve it. One may represent oneself or be represented by an attorney for the arbitration. Justimare, no longer having money for a lawyer, did without and Jusitmare's former lawyer was ordered to reimburse Justimere.

The lawyer in spite of agreeing to entering into binding arbitration, wishes to wipe that slate clean because the decision was not in the lawyer's favor. The grounds in the petition for vacating the award are "arbitrator inexperience". Reading through Florida Arbitration Code Chapter 682.13 Vacating an award, it would seem that the arbitrator should be more concerned than Justimare, as the allegation seems to be that the arbitrator was inept.

I think either Justimare is misunderstanding the current legal action or Justimare's former lawyer is a complete fruitcake, which is why he was ordered to reimburse Justimare in the first place.

Were I Justimare, I would contact the Fee Arbitration Administer at the Florida Bar.

 

[quincy]

I am confused.

Isn't it the opposing attorney who was ordered to pay Justimare's own attorney fees?

 

[not2cleverRed]

I am confused.

Isn't it the opposing attorney who was ordered to pay Justimare's own attorney fees?

Justimare participated in the Florida Bar Fee resolution program. This is specifically for settling disagreements about legal fees between clients and lawyers.

 

[quincy]

Justimare participated in the Florida Bar Fee resolution program. This is specifically for settling disagreements about legal fees between clients and lawyers.

Yes. But it is the opposing attorney who is suing.

 

[LdiJ]

Yes. But it is the opposing attorney who is suing.

No, its her own former attorney. Basically the OP thought she was overcharged or underrepresented and entered the fee resolution program with the state BAR. The Arbitrator agreed with her and ordered her former attorney to refund her $6,000.

I think that the word "reimburse" rather than "refund" confused you.

 

[Taxing Matters]

He is supposed to accept the arbitration decision.

The Florida Bar arbitration system results in an arbitration award that can be attacked like any other binding arbitration result. The Florida Bar arbitration publication makes reference to that: "The award may be confirmed, set aside, modified, or corrected only in accordance with Chapter 682, Florida Statutes, as amended." While the grounds to modify or vacate a binding arbitration decision are few, the possibility does exist if the attorney can show one of those grounds exists. So the attorney is not obligated to just accept the decision no matter what. If there was some serious defect in the arbitration the attorney does have recourse for that. That said, for an award of $6,000 most lawyers would just accept that and move on. In particular the lawyer hiring another lawyer for this seems absurd. He may spend more in fees on that than what he is trying to save.

 

[LdiJ]

The Florida Bar arbitration system results in an arbitration award that can be attacked like any other binding arbitration result. The Florida Bar arbitration publication makes reference to that: "The award may be confirmed, set aside, modified, or corrected only in accordance with Chapter 682, Florida Statutes, as amended." While the grounds to modify or vacate a binding arbitration decision are few, the possibility does exist if the attorney can show one of those grounds exists. So the attorney is not obligated to just accept the decision no matter what. If there was some serious defect in the arbitration the attorney does have recourse for that. That said, for an award of $6,000 most lawyers would just accept that and move on. In particular the lawyer hiring another lawyer for this seems absurd. He may spend more in fees on that than what he is trying to save.

It could be an ego issue too. I had an uncle (now deceased) who was a lawyer who did some really bizarre things when his ego got involved.

 

[Justimare]

First things first. And the first thing is to dispel the confusion brought on by the caption to your question; to-wit: "Civil case pro se . . .".

That "pro se" business when taken with your admission that "I cannot afford to hire and attorney" strongly infers that you were not represented by an attorney in the basic court proceedings. Yet, you state that you were awarded "reimbursement of attorney fees".

Also, before such an award can be sanctioned your attorney of record would need to have formally attested as to the nature of the legal services provided on your behalf, the time devoted and the rate of charges. The courts don't draw these awards out of thin air!

So, were you represented by counsel in the initial court proceedings or not? Because if you did not in fact incur attorney fees, then the arbitration order awarding the "reimbursement of attorney fees" is void by definition.

In sum a litigant must have actually incurred such expense in order to be reimbursed for such expense. Ergo, pro se litigants are not entitled to be awarded attorney fees! Not even if the litigant is a licensed attorney appearing on his own behalf.

It could be an ego issue too. I had an uncle (now deceased) who was a lawyer who did some really bizarre things when his ego got involved.

At one point, few years back, I was represented briefly by this lawyer. Life happened - threw me a curve ball and no longer needed his representation. This lawyer did not open a case in court, did not file any documents with court, did not draft any documents whatsoever; in other words the lawyer did not take any legal action whatsoever. Reason why I sought refund of money paid to him in advance, through the Florida Bar Fee Dispute Resolution Program.
I believe this is an ego matter as well. When I contacted the Florida Bar again, they said I could file a complaint against the lawyer. Havent done so yet, but considering doing so.
For now, This lawyer now hired an attorney in his lawsuit against me trying to vacate the award.
They want to depose me and that is why I asked this forum, how far in advance should I receive a notice for deposition?.
Time is running short as trial is set for September 4th and I have not received any notice yet.

 

[TigerD]

Or the attorney could genuinely believe he is right.

 

[not2cleverRed]

At one point, few years back, I was represented briefly by this lawyer. Life happened - threw me a curve ball and no longer needed his representation. This lawyer did not open a case in court, did not file any documents with court, did not draft any documents whatsoever; in other words the lawyer did not take any legal action whatsoever. Reason why I sought refund of money paid to him in advance, through the Florida Bar Fee Dispute Resolution Program.
I believe this is an ego matter as well. When I contacted the Florida Bar again, they said I could file a complaint against the lawyer. Havent done so yet, but considering doing so.
For now, This lawyer now hired an attorney in his lawsuit against me trying to vacate the award.
They want to depose me and that is why I asked this forum, how far in advance should I receive a notice for deposition?.
Time is running short as trial is set for September 4th and I have not received any notice yet.

From what you have posted, you are being deposed as a witness; you are not personally being sued. Rather, your former lawyer is trying to get the award vacated based on the arbitrator's lack of professional conduct. If the award is vacated due to the arbitrator's unprofessional handling of the arbitration, there should be a rehearing with a new arbitrator. (Maybe they want to allege that the "inexperienced" arbitrator was unduly swayed by your feminine wiles.)

While I can understand your concern about when the deposition will be scheduled, none of know what the lawyer's up to.

They should try and take your deposition well before the trial - after all, in theory, as part of trial preparation they should want to have all depositions in hand to refer to for information. But maybe you're dealing with lifelong procrastinators. (That should reflect poorly on them, not you.)

 

[Taxing Matters]

Or the attorney could genuinely believe he is right.

He might. But this is simply a fee issue, a matter of money. It is not something that would reflect badly on his abilities and qualifications as a lawyer, impact future business, or anything else significant. It's just about $6,000. And spending potentially more than that to fight over $6,000 is just not logical. It does suggest some ego is involved. He doesn't like that his client beat him in arbitration pro se. My main area of practice is tax law. I tell clients that want to fight it out with the IRS over "principle" that the fight is pointless. Tax disputes (other than criminal cases, of course) are simply about money. And paying me, say, $5,000 to win on a $2,000 proposed assessment is just not logical. When a matter simply involves money ditch the ego and emotion and decide what will benefit your bottom line the most. And sometimes that means simply conceding and paying what's at issue rather than expending the money to fight it. Even if you're sure you can win.