Lawyer Failure

[murryw]

My lawyer is not responding to my calls or letters and I found out that my lawyer was given another job with an big law firm in the city. Two questions:

1. If my lawyer put my retainer in his personal checking account is that allowed, and he still has not given me a contract.

2. My lawyer has failed to file court papers and documents and its been 3 months now.

I could file a complaint with my state bar but its very complex in the way they make you file the complaint, I must write a complaint for each the Lawyer and the Firm and the other side lawyer and firm. it sucks...


Any advice.

 

[lawrat]

I am a law school graduate. What I offer is mere information, not to be construed as forming an attorney client relationship.

Question #1: If my lawyer put my retainer in his personal checking account is that allowed, and he still has not given me a contract.

Answer #1: no, that is not allowed. Also, you are owed that money, plus interest. It is called embezzlement. This is both a crime and a civil breach. I.e. you can sue him and have the state charge him with a crime. Now, lawyers are supposed to take retainers and/or client funds and put in a trust account. the lawyer can take out costs, but this account can never be in his own checking account!

Question #2. My lawyer has failed to file court papers and documents and its been 3 months now.

Answer #2: you have what is called a negligence suit against your lawyer. The threshold for you to prove generally boils down to this: you would have won your case if your attorney WAS NOT negligent. I.e things like failing to file papers, especially with statutes of limitations...that is a lot of proof right there.

Do file a complaint with the bar association, but also contact the American Bar Association and find a lawyer who will sue your former one.

 

[HomeGuru]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by murryw:
My lawyer is not responding to my calls or letters and I found out that my lawyer was given another job with an big law firm in the city. Two questions:

1. If my lawyer put my retainer in his personal checking account is that allowed, and he still has not given me a contract.

2. My lawyer has failed to file court papers and documents and its been 3 months now.

I could file a complaint with my state bar but its very complex in the way they make you file the complaint, I must write a complaint for each the Lawyer and the Firm and the other side lawyer and firm. it sucks...


Any advice. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

This person did wrong on both counts. You have a chance to file the complaints so do it. Haven't you figured it out that they made it a hassle to complain in writing on purpose to deter you from filing? If you do not do it, who will? If you are not going to be proactive accept the staus quo. Do nothing and accept getting ripped off. If I were you I would want this attorneys' license and head handed to me on a silver platter. In addition to the your local State Bar Assocation, file a complaint with the State Office that licenses attorneys (say Office of Disciplinary Council), the BBB, the big employer law firm in the City, The Supreme Court...............