Signed contract to pay my legal fees not honored, am I forced to pay?

[ep2727]

North Carolina

I have a signed contract with a Chinese company that I do 100% of the development work, and the Chinese and my partner pay 100% of patent attorney fees. They told me in December '16 to pay $1,600 and the lawyer will be paid off, yet I recently found that was not the case and the lawyer wants me and my partner to pay an overdue $10,000. I checked and most of the $10k does not even have to do with my business, my "partner" says he cannot be sued because he keeps everything in his kids/sister's names and that they'll come after my home if I don't continue to work for him and the Chinese for free.

I have a strong feeling to go into the patent attorney's office tomorrow and demand I be removed from the bill. Should I just go? Can I even BE removed, could it backfire? I can't imagine they can make me responsible for my "partner"s legal fees the rest of my life, what recourse do I have?

 

[quincy]

North Carolina

I have a signed contract with a Chinese company that I do 100% of the development work, and the Chinese and my partner pay 100% of patent attorney fees. They told me in December '16 to pay $1,600 and the lawyer will be paid off, yet I recently found that was not the case and the lawyer wants me and my partner to pay an overdue $10,000. I checked and most of the $10k does not even have to do with my business, my "partner" says he cannot be sued because he keeps everything in his kids/sister's names and that they'll come after my home if I don't continue to work for him and the Chinese for free.

I have a strong feeling to go into the patent attorney's office tomorrow and demand I be removed from the bill. Should I just go? Can I even BE removed, could it backfire? I can't imagine they can make me responsible for my "partner"s legal fees the rest of my life, what recourse do I have?

You cannot just walk into an attorney's office and demand to be removed from a bill.

Well ... I guess you CAN do that, but it is not apt to go over well.

I recommend you see another attorney in your area for a personal review of your current business. It appears to be a bit of a mess.

 

[ep2727]

I recommend you see another attorney in your area for a personal review of your current business. It appears to be a bit of a mess.

That's putting it mildly but it is not MY business it's one I have an agreement with "The $10k does not even have to do with my business."

I'm sorry but there's absolutely no way this is legal, I was asking here for advice not insults. I will try to gather money from family/friends to hire a lawyer obviously but I was asking if there is another recourse, there almost always is but this area is not my specialty.

 

[quincy]

That's putting it mildly but it is not MY business it's one I have an agreement with. If that's true I've stumbled upon a very lucrative new business: offer kids a chance then rack up legal bills in their name, since apparently there's nothing they can do I'd make out big time, I just need to move my house to my Mom's name first. ("the $10k does not even have to do with my business.")

I'm sorry but there's absolutely no way that's legal, I was asking here for advice not insults. I will try to gather money from family/friends to hire a lawyer if I have to but it sounds like a very expensive way out.

What does your partnership agreement say? What sort of agreements have been drawn up and signed between you, your partner and the Chinese company? Who hired the patent attorney (you, your partner, the Chinese company, your business)?

Your legal obligations should be spelled out in these contracts.

I did not mean to insult you but it seemed clear from your first post that you would need a personal review by a professional in your area. We cannot do contract reviews on this site.

Good luck.

 

[ep2727]

I recommend you see another attorney in your area for a personal review of your current business. It appears to be a bit of a mess.

That's putting it mildly but it is not MY business it's one I have an agreement with. If that's true I've stumbled upon a very lucrative new business: offer kids a chance then rack up legal bills in their name, since apparently there's nothing they can do I'd make out big time, I just need to move my house to my Mom's name first. ("the $10k does not even have to do with my business.")

I'm sorry but there's absolutely no way that's legal, I was asking here for advice not insults. I will try to gather money from family/friends to hire a lawyer if I have to but it sounds like a very expensive way out.

 

[quincy]

That's putting it mildly but it is not MY business it's one I have an agreement with. If that's true I've stumbled upon a very lucrative new business: offer kids a chance then rack up legal bills in their name, since apparently there's nothing they can do I'd make out big time, I just need to move my house to my Mom's name first. ("the $10k does not even have to do with my business.")

I'm sorry but there's absolutely no way that's legal, I was asking here for advice not insults. I will try to gather money from family/friends to hire a lawyer if I have to but it sounds like a very expensive way out.

You posted this post already ... and I already responded.

 

[ep2727]

Thank you for your reply, I understand it's just been a huge source of stress for a long time. Basically:

What does your partnership agreement say?
What sort of agreements have been drawn up and signed between you, your partner and the Chinese company? Who hired the patent attorney (you, your partner, the Chinese company, your business)?
-There is no partnership agreement, I was told it was an LLC and found out too late there never was one.
-The only written agreement states they will pay the patent fees in exchange for the right to exclusively manufacture the units.
-My partner hired him, I didn't know I was personally on the agreement until my partner started to threaten me, I'm not even 100% sure he's telling the truth that I'm on it, it never occured to me because of the written agreements.

EDIT: I have the signed copy that the Chinese agreed to pay in original hard copy. I've never seen anything official that I have to pay just his word, I think I might have a strong case but I'm not sure, I may have access to free legal help through a university program I work with, I will check on that tomorrow.

 

[quincy]

Thank you for your reply, I understand it's just been a huge source of stress for a long time. Basically:

What does your partnership agreement say?
What sort of agreements have been drawn up and signed between you, your partner and the Chinese company? Who hired the patent attorney (you, your partner, the Chinese company, your business)?
-There is no partnership agreement, I was told it was an LLC and found out too late there never was one.
-The only written agreement states they will pay the patent fees in exchange for the right to exclusively manufacture the units.
-My partner hired him, I didn't know I was personally on the agreement until my partner started to threaten me, I'm not even 100% sure he's telling the truth that I'm on it, it never occured to me because of the written agreements.

EDIT: I have the signed copy that the Chinese agreed to pay in original hard copy. I've never seen anything official that I have to pay just his word, I think I might have a strong case but I'm not sure, I may have access to free legal help through a university program I work with, I will check on that tomorrow.

If you can find free legal help through the university, that would be great. I imagine the last thing you want right now is another attorney bill.

I suggest you gather together copies of EVERYTHING you have in writing (documents of any kind, including emails and texts) that relate to your business arrangements - with your partner, the Chinese company, the patent attorney. You will want to take these with you for review. If you were never provided with the patent attorney contract, ask your partner for a copy or, if he won't give you a copy, ask the patent attorney to send you one.

Something sounds very off about the business agreements.

Good luck.

 

[ep2727]

Something sounds very off about the business agreements.

Good luck.

Thank you. I mainly wanted confirmation that this does not seem "standard," it felt like I was going crazy. I've saved everything, agreements, emails, notes for years. Every Thursday there is a lawyer at the university's small business center I belong to, I've used him before I will try to assemble everything and bring it to him this week or next. Thanks.

 

[quincy]

Thank you. I mainly wanted confirmation that this does not seem "standard," it felt like I was going crazy. I've saved everything, agreements, emails, notes for years. Every Thursday there is a lawyer at the university's small business center I belong to, I've used him before I will try to assemble everything and bring it to him this week or next. Thanks.

You're welcome, ep2727. I appreciate the thanks.

Good luck.