My Attorney has threatened to withdraw

[stevemowry]

"You might at this point start to ask your own attorney in Rhode Island your questions (if you believe that attorney is actually your attorney - I have my doubts)."


We have had discussions regarding my representation status but I remain a bit confused.

What determines if an attorney is actually my attorney?

On the last page of the Complaint filed in US District Court lists the 5 Plaintiffs and then lists "By their Attorney" below that. The format is as follows where I am Plaintiff 3.

Plaintiffs,
Plaintiff 1, Plaintiff 2, Plaintiff 3,
Plaintiff 4, and Plaintiff 5

By their attorney,
__/s/ Plaintiffs' Attorney
Plaintiffs' Attorney, #WXYZ
LAW OFFICE OF Plaintiffs Attorney
Address
Telephone
Fax
email address


Then the Parties page from PACER for the case has the following format.

LAWSUIT NAME
_______________________________________________________

Rhode Island District Court
Judge: Judge's name
Referred: Assistant's name
Case #:
Nature of Suit
Cause

_____________________________________________________

Parties (6)
_____________________________________________________
Last checked: date

Defendant
Defendant's name Represented By
Defense Attorney 1
Law firm 1
Defense Attorney 1's email

Represented By
Defense Attorney 2
Law firm 2
Defense Attorney 2's email
_________________________________________________________

Plaitiffs
Plaintif 1 Represented By
Plaintiffs' Attorney
Plaintiffs' Attorney's Law firm
Plaintiffs' Attorney's email
_________________________________________________________

Plaintif 2 Represented By
Plaintiffs' Attorney
Plaintiffs' Attorney's Law firm
Plaintiffs' Attorney's email
_________________________________________________________

Plaintif 3 Represented By
Plaintiffs' Attorney
Plaintiffs' Attorney's Law firm
Plaintiffs' Attorney's email
_________________________________________________________

Plaintif 4 Represented By
Plaintiffs' Attorney
Plaintiffs' Attorney's Law firm
Plaintiffs' Attorney's email
_________________________________________________________

Plaintif 5 Represented By
Plaintiffs' Attorney
Plaintiffs' Attorney's Law firm
Plaintiffs' Attorney's email


Additionally, Plaintiffs' attorney filed a Protective Order in my name only, Plaintiff 3; however, the PO was denied and the Order to Compel testimony was granted (my previous post).

I am also listed as one of 5 Plaintiffs within the Settlement Agreement proposals


Now quincy has his doubts but I have no documentation that indicates that Plaintiffs' attorney does not represent me; all Court documentation seems to indicate that the Plaintiffs' attorney is my representative in the Lawsuit. However, I have not signed any Retainer Agreement. Frankly, Plaintiffs' attorney has refused to show me the Retainer Agreement that he executed with Plaintiff 1 and Plaintiff 2. He also refused to show me the Complaint but I subscribed to PACER and downloaded the Complaint along with other Court documents. He did email me a copy of the Order to Compel testimony after I had downloaded it from PACER and he did email the answers to the interrogatories but I had to make several requests and finally after warning Plaintiffs' attorney of a potential complaint of my own to the Bar's disciplinary board did he email the answers to the interrogatories, which are not available for download on PACER. I had requested transcript copies of Plaintiff 1's, Plaintiff 2's, Plaintiff 5's and Defense witness 1's depositions but he refused to send them to me.

Note that the Plaintiffs' attorney has threaten to withdraw representation of all Plaintiffs, not just me.

Then my question is simple "is Plaintiffs' attorney My attorney?"

Plaintiffs' attorney has never given me a straight answer to that question.

 

[quincy]

... What determines if an attorney is actually my attorney? ...

... Additionally, Plaintiffs' attorney filed a Protective Order in my name only, Plaintiff 3; however, the PO was denied and the Order to Compel testimony was granted (my previous post).

I am also listed as one of 5 Plaintiffs within the Settlement Agreement proposals

Note that the Plaintiffs' attorney has threaten to withdraw representation of all Plaintiffs, not just me.

Then my question is simple "is Plaintiffs' attorney My attorney?"

Plaintiffs' attorney has never given me a straight answer to that question.

If the attorney IS your attorney, you should be getting "straight answers" to your questions. It certainly appears to me that the attorney is not acting like your attorney. Perhaps this is because you have signed no contract with the attorney and have not paid him to represent you. I don't know.

Following are links to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 19 Required Joinder, and Rule 20 Permissive Joinder. See if these could apply.

Rule 19: https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcp/rule_19
Rule 20: https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcp/rule_20

Again, try to get answers from the attorney you believe is your attorney - or seek out the assistance of another attorney in your area to personally review the case. There are more questions raised by your postings than can be answered easily without the personal review. Good luck.

 

[justalayman]

He sure isn't acting like he is your attorney. In fact, he is acting just like a co-plaintiffs attorney would act when he isn't also representing you.
Why he is listed as your attorney is curious.

Maybe a point blank query; if you are my attorney, what contingency agreement have we signed? As I see it, I won't owe you anything if money comes our (the plaintiffs) way.




But what is this about a protective order? You live in Thailand, right? No US order is going to mean a thing over there. One has to wonder: are the defendants chasing you around the world?

 

[quincy]

Very little of this is making sense.

There is definitely a lot of information missing from the tale being told.

All I can see at this point are reasons why an attorney might want to withdraw from the case.

 

[stevemowry]

The two Plaintiffs that executed the Retainer Agreement in the USA are siblings. The Attorney was retained with money from an Estate that I had a claim to an equal share in that Estate with the other Plaintiffs defined by a Will. Effectively I did pay 20% of the Retainer in good faith. I did give indication in writing (email) that I concurred on the Retainer Fee and the Contingent Fee with the two Plaintiffs who executed the RA.

Based on the above I told Plaintiffs' attorney that I believed that we had an implied agreement and he needed to represent me in a reasonable manner. He ignored me. I have never seen the actual Retainer Agreement but I have requested a copy of it several times.


"But what is this about a protective order? You live in Thailand, right? No US order is going to mean a thing over there. One has to wonder: are the defendants chasing you around the world?"

I begged Plaintiffs' attorney to just schedule my Deposition as any other willing witness to avoid the mess of an Order to Compel the uncompelable. My concern was that my testimony could be invalid if compelled to testify. I even sent him contact information for two local hotels that could support a video conference before the Motion to Compel was heard. Subsequent to the Order to Compel he then proposed that he ship me a computer as the A/V equipment; I assumed a Notebook. I actually agreed to this. I felt bad for him. He claimed that he lacked computer skills. Like most of his arguments, this was an argument of convenience. Does anyone have any idea how many computers there are in Thailand, population 70 million? So if your need a car in Thailand does one ship it over from the USA because they lack mechanical capability?

 

[justalayman]

Paying an attorney's fee does not make you a client. Signing a contract/retainer does. In fact, (as an example), if my child needed the services of an attorney and I hired one for her and paid 100% of
The fees. The attorney could not disclose privilaged information to me unless my daughter allows it. I would not be the client and the attorney would have no obligation to me.


You do not have an implied agreement with the attorney. Either he is bound legally and ethically to act as your attorney or he isn't. Based on your further postings it sounds like he isn't.

As to what you posted after that; it makes absolutely no sense. Your quotation of my statement about the protective order makes even less sense being included in your post.

 

[quincy]

The two Plaintiffs that executed the Retainer Agreement in the USA are siblings. The Attorney was retained with money from an Estate that I had a claim to an equal share in that Estate with the other Plaintiffs defined by a Will. Effectively I did pay 20% of the Retainer in good faith. I did give indication in writing (email) that I concurred on the Retainer Fee and the Contingent Fee with the two Plaintiffs who executed the RA.

Based on the above I told Plaintiffs' attorney that I believed that we had an implied agreement and he needed to represent me in a reasonable manner. He ignored me. I have never seen the actual Retainer Agreement but I have requested a copy of it several times.


"But what is this about a protective order? You live in Thailand, right? No US order is going to mean a thing over there. One has to wonder: are the defendants chasing you around the world?"

I begged Plaintiffs' attorney to just schedule my Deposition as any other willing witness to avoid the mess of an Order to Compel the uncompelable. My concern was that my testimony could be invalid if compelled to testify. I even sent him contact information for two local hotels that could support a video conference before the Motion to Compel was heard. Subsequent to the Order to Compel he then proposed that he ship me a computer as the A/V equipment; I assumed a Notebook. I actually agreed to this. I felt bad for him. He claimed that he lacked computer skills. Like most of his arguments, this was an argument of convenience. Does anyone have any idea how many computers there are in Thailand, population 70 million? So if your need a car in Thailand does one ship it over from the USA because they lack mechanical capability?

I assume your last two questions are rhetorical and the rest of your post is for clarification purposes.

Your deposition was apparently put on hold when the attorneys for the parties saw hope for a settlement. You may still need that computer if an agreement cannot be reached.

The advice to contact for answers the attorney handling this suit (if you find it possible), or another attorney (if the attorney handling the suit does not respond) remains the advice.

 

[stevemowry]

Well there is just one more point. I hope this one makes sense to you because it makes no sense to me. When I asked Plaintiffs' attorney if I could contact the Defense directly myself. He quickly replied that I could not; it would break etiquette because I was represented by counsel. Clearly this was not an argument of convenience and was highly credible.

 

[justalayman]

Well there is just one more point. I hope this one makes sense to you because it makes no sense to me. When I asked Plaintiffs' attorney if I could contact the Defense directly myself. He quickly replied that I could not; it would break etiquette because I was represented by counsel. Clearly this was not an argument of convenience and was highly credible.

If that is the case, it appears the attorney is guilty of multiple ethics violations.

 

[quincy]

Well there is just one more point. I hope this one makes sense to you because it makes no sense to me. When I asked Plaintiffs' attorney if I could contact the Defense directly myself. He quickly replied that I could not; it would break etiquette because I was represented by counsel. Clearly this was not an argument of convenience and was highly credible.

Okay. The attorney indicates with that statement that you are his client. Tell him that, as your attorney, he should keep you informed of all that is going on in the case or you will file a complaint with the state Bar. Then file a complaint if he does not respond to your questions.

I do not see how our guessing at what is going on is all that helpful.

 

[stevemowry]

"Tell him that, as your attorney, he should keep you informed of all that is going on in the case or you will file a complaint with the state Bar."


Okay and ironically we have gone full circle. I did exactly that and then he claimed I was threatening him and he gave that as his reason for notice of withdrawal. He did not claim that the settlement status was reason for withdrawal. His reason was that I threatened to file a complaint with the Bar's Disciplinary Board.

I would prefer to settle and bury this nonsense in the confidentially and nondisclosure terms of a Settlement Agreement. If the case does not settle then I will file a complaint. I may return with questions, if that happens.

 

[stevemowry]

Wait, if there is a strong indication that the guy is my attorney and I need a contract to have an attorney, then I must have an implied contract. There is no written contract. The guy has in fact been my attorney since the complaint was filed in RI Superior Court in November 2014, two years ago. The Complaint identifies him as "their" Attorney; their being Plaintiffs. Then it turns out he must obtain authorization from the court through a Motion to withdraw his representation. I really appreciate your sincere comments but I still believe that there is an implied contract. The Court Records and documentation facilitate tracking of his representation for two years. There is nothing in the Court Records or documentation that indicate that he does not represent me.

Attitude is at least 90%!

 

[justalayman]

This is from the Rhode Island Legal Ethics which are the rules of conduct for lawyers in Rhode Island

All contingency fee agreements are required to be in writing. RI Rule 1.5(c). Fees in a domestic relations matter contingent upon securing of a divorce or in the initial application for alimony or support, or a property settlement in lieu thereof, are not permitted. Therefore, it is presumed that contingent fees are allowed in domestic relations matters in all other situations. RI Rule 1.5(d). See also RI Eth. Op. 91-78 (1991) where it was opined that a contingent fee arrangement was permissible in the collection of child support arrearages but not for increased child support. Subject to the guidelines in RI Rule 1.5(a) it is permissible to have a mixed fee arrangement including both a fixed fee and a contingency fee for services provided in a litigation matter. RI Eth. Op. 92-42 (1992).

The first line: all contingency fee arrangement are REQUIRED to be in writing. That means your agreement MUST be in writing so, did you sign a contingency fee agreement or not?

 

[quincy]

Wait, if there is a strong indication that the guy is my attorney and I need a contract to have an attorney, then I must have an implied contract. There is no written contract. The guy has in fact been my attorney since the complaint was filed in RI Superior Court in November 2014, two years ago. The Complaint identifies him as "their" Attorney; their being Plaintiffs. Then it turns out he must obtain authorization from the court through a Motion to withdraw his representation. I really appreciate your sincere comments but I still believe that there is an implied contract. The Court Records and documentation facilitate tracking of his representation for two years. There is nothing in the Court Records or documentation that indicate that he does not represent me.

Attitude is at least 90%!

Please either ask your attorney/not attorney your questions or review all of this with an attorney in your area, stevemowry.

We are getting nowhere on this forum because no one here knows anything about the case you are involved in as plaintiff/witness.

None of what you are saying adds up and it is silly for us to continue to guess at what is going on.

Good luck.