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.
Then your circumstances differ entirely from that which I mistakenly assumed. Which was that the $6K was awarded to you to compensate for attorney fees that you incurred in the course of litigation and taxed as costs to be paid by your opponent. Not that you were seeking a refund of money paid to your own lawyer. Sorry for the misunderstanding.
Moving on - as to your filing a complaint against the lawyer. Why would you feel the need to do that inasmuch as you tell us that the lawyer has already filed a lawsuit challenging the arbitration award and seeking to set it aside?
Why can't you just respond to the complaint asking the same court to deny the challenge and confirm the award?
Regarding your question as to the advance time required for the taking of your deposition upon oral examination:
First of all such a deposition cannot taken within 30-days of the date of service of process upon the defendant unless permission is granted. (
Rule 1.310 (a) of the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure) :
Secondly, the notice requirement is somewhat odd in that it allows the taking of the deposition of any person and speaks of giving
reasonable notice to every other party in the action, but nothing is said with respect to giving notice to the deponent which can be "
any person". Very strange. (If curious, see for yourself *)
Anyway in the case of your deposition it would be "
reasonable" advanced notice, but not less than 30-days from date you were served with the complaint.
All that being said does not remove the obstacles you face in attempting to sustain the arbitration award without benefit of an experienced trial lawyer. Lawsuits can be made or lost in the discovery stage. An experienced trial lawyer can often get an unwitting party/deponent to unknowingly admit to conditions wholly favorable to his client. And damage control needs to be made on the spot - not at the time of trial when its too late.
Since you can't afford to pay an attorney representation what if any effort have you made to obtain pro bono representation? You might wish to start inquiring with the very organization that provided the arbitration.
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" A party desiring to take the deposition of any person upon oral examination shall give reasonable notice in writing to every other party to the action. The notice shall state the time and place for taking the deposition and the name and address of each person to be examined, if known, and, if the name is not known, a general description sufficient to identify the person or the particular class or group to which the person belongs. If a subpoena duces tecum is to be served on the person to be examined, the designation of the materials to be produced under the subpoena shall be attached to or included in the notice." Rule 1.310 (b)(1) of the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure