Screwed by lawyer which helped husband screw me

[Tyblossom]

I had a terrible lawyer who when my husband filed, she didn't file a counter petition. I fired her after her not replying for a month and not showing up for court. I paid her $10,000 and then my new lawyer $10,000. We were 5 days from divorce after a year and a half and my husband dismissed it. I believe he has done this to remove all the deferred Comp money which is $80,000 and possibly run off to Michigan.

I'm sick. My lawyer said there was nothing she could do, because my former lawyer would have had to file a counter petition and she didn't.

I've been trying to contact my lawyer and she's no where to be found. I feel maybe some type of injunction could be filed. I'm guessing he has changed any beneficiaries now there's no divorce pending. What do I do?

 

[adjusterjack]

I suggest you contact a lawyer who is in the business of suing other lawyers for lawyer malpractice. They might work on contingency where you don't pay unless they win.

 

[Tyblossom]

Lawyers suing lawyers

I would think they are hard to find. I was thinking about filing a complaint with the bar and if they found her guilty I might be able to recover something.

My second lawyer I'm hoping will reply first thing in the morning to tell me if we can file something to stop him from taking out money. I just can't believe how I have been screwed by everyone. I wasn't even the one to file. He was.

 

[LdiJ]

I would think they are hard to find. I was thinking about filing a complaint with the bar and if they found her guilty I might be able to recover something.

My second lawyer I'm hoping will reply first thing in the morning to tell me if we can file something to stop him from taking out money. I just can't believe how I have been screwed by everyone. I wasn't even the one to file. He was.

Your second lawyer should tell you that you can turn right around and file for divorce yourself.

 

[Tyblossom]

Can I protect

Can I protect the retirement money? I'm sure he is planning to take it out and use it for his lawyer and probably paying his bills. He'd rather do that then let me have half. I'm so sick about this. I've been crying for two days. I can't believe this could be done when I spent a year and a half going through this and $20,000.

 

[Ohiogal]

Your second lawyer should have filed a countercomplaint and answer and requested permission to file instanter sometime during the time she was representing you. Why didn't the second lawyer do that?

 

[Ohiogal]

Can I protect the retirement money? I'm sure he is planning to take it out and use it for his lawyer and probably paying his bills. He'd rather do that then let me have half. I'm so sick about this. I've been crying for two days. I can't believe this could be done when I spent a year and a half going through this and $20,000.

File an ethics complaint against both attorneys. I see issues here. Immediately refile divorce pro se against your husband.

 

[Tyblossom]

I have no idea

I didn't go to law school. So I trusted I was paying for someone to protect my rights. I'm going to ask my brother who is speaking to a lawyer tomorrow he knows about what you said. My new lawyer said she couldn't file what my first one was supposed to. It sounds like that's not true and I'm being lied to. I can't tell you thanks enough for sharing with me and taking your time to do so.

 

[Ohiogal]

I didn't go to law school. So I trusted I was paying for someone to protect my rights. I'm going to ask my brother who is speaking to a lawyer tomorrow he knows about what you said. My new lawyer said she couldn't file what my first one was supposed to. It sounds like that's not true and I'm being lied to. I can't tell you thanks enough for sharing with me and taking your time to do so.

Your new lawyer could have attempted to file anything. I did go to law school and I am an attorney. Your new lawyer could have asked permission from the court to file -- it happens all the time.

 

[Tyblossom]

Letter I got from my lawyer on fourth of July.

Jennifer(husbands atty)filed a motion to dismiss the pending divorce case. She says it is because Jeff(husband) is angry that you have started other candy business ventures. I don't believe this is the real reason and I believe it is because he does not want to pay the maintenance at all. Just my opinion. The real big issue is that there is nothing I can do to stop the dismissal and this goes back to your prior attorney. She should have filed a counter-petition for divorce for you so that even if he dismissed your divorce petition would still be pending. That counter-petition if filed had to be filed back in early 2016 when she filed your response to the divorce petition. What this means is if you want the divorce we have to start over. The Judge has no choice but to grant the dismissal and it is in court tomorrow to do that. I am real sorry to tell you this and I tried to talk Jennifer out of it.

 

[Tyblossom]

She told me

She told me it's ok to start a business. I was trying to find a way to earn a business. I don't believe that's the reason at all though. I believe he wants to empty the retirement account and change beneficiaries and I don't believe my lawyer realized that. My lawyer hasn't contacted me since I realized this and I've been trying like mad to reach her in hopes she can stop him if I'm right.

 

[CJane]

So, she's still on retainer, and is offering to IMMEDIATELY file for divorce - which presumably would include an order restraining your husband from doing exactly what you're afraid he's going to do.

So why would you not take her up on that BEFORE you start wringing your hands? You can do that at the same time you look into possibilities of malpractice.

 

[CTU]

So, she's still on retainer, and is offering to IMMEDIATELY file for divorce - which presumably would include an order restraining your husband from doing exactly what you're afraid he's going to do.

So why would you not take her up on that BEFORE you start wringing your hands? You can do that at the same time you look into possibilities of malpractice.

I have to agree. And the underlined portion is, I believe, absolutely critical.

 

[Tyblossom]

Response from my first lawyer about what happened.

I turned over your whole file to your new attorney. We filed a Response to the Dissolution of Marriage--- we don't typically file a Counter-Petition in lieu of a Response since it costs more money and is rarely necessary. However, a Counter-Petition can be filed at any time with leave of court so if your new attorney had some reason to think it was necessary she could have filed it. She obviously did not think it was necessary. Regardless, you can file your own Petition and there are certainly remedies and recourses available to you if Jeff tries to dissipate or liquidate marital assets but I'm not your attorney anymore so you really need to reach out to her to discuss your options.

 

[Zigner]

Why do you feel a counter-petition was necessary, vs a response only?