What is the name of your state? Iowa
I need a little guidance, please. I am/was in the midst of a civil rights claim and FMLA violation against a former employer. We are/were currently in the discovery phase. Yesterday was my deposition (by the defendants attorney).
My attorney has now asked me to drop the case. This is not necessarily what has me upset but rather the lack of attention to detail by the attorney representing me. Since I started this, there were errors made by my attorney in the case filed with the Iowa Department of Civil Rights (facts not stated correctly), time lines missed (interrogatories), even the case filed in
federal court had at least three incidents listed that wern't real/how they occurred. One of the more blatant mistakes was my attorney listed me as being evicted from an apartment - this never happpened. Each time I approached her to say there were errors, her reply was I didn't need to worry, happens all the time, etc etc etc.
In the deposition, the defendants attorney used information acquired during discovery to dispute my claim. It was aparent my attorney had never looked at any of this prior to the deposition. I became (more concerned) when we did the preparation last Thursday b/c she made comment she's been so busy and her sister was gravely ill, etc. Our preparation consisted of "you will do fine". Well, I didn't. And I received a call last night from my attoney and another attorney in the firm recommending I drop the case because I didn't have as much concrete evidence to support my claim and the defendant was "well documented". Obviosly I am extremely upset I had to sit through a deposition - a very gruelling deposition.
Having said all that, my question is what can I do about this. I now know my attorney did not prepare. She led me to believe I had a strong case when all along I said I had no witnesses. The information presented yesterday was part of discovery and it was obvious she'd not looked at any of it. The case was a contongency case but I am/was billed for incidentals. So now I am going to receive a bill and this person didn't even take the time to adequately prepare because had they, based on what she and the other attorney in the firm told me last night, we never would/should have gone to deposition - we would have dropped a long time ago. (not that I nessarily agree with this but at this point I think it's too late to do anything else).
Oh - regarding the FMLA violation: the attorneys said we could probably win that but it would only be a moral victory and cost me $2000 - $3000.
What are my options?
I need a little guidance, please. I am/was in the midst of a civil rights claim and FMLA violation against a former employer. We are/were currently in the discovery phase. Yesterday was my deposition (by the defendants attorney).
My attorney has now asked me to drop the case. This is not necessarily what has me upset but rather the lack of attention to detail by the attorney representing me. Since I started this, there were errors made by my attorney in the case filed with the Iowa Department of Civil Rights (facts not stated correctly), time lines missed (interrogatories), even the case filed in
federal court had at least three incidents listed that wern't real/how they occurred. One of the more blatant mistakes was my attorney listed me as being evicted from an apartment - this never happpened. Each time I approached her to say there were errors, her reply was I didn't need to worry, happens all the time, etc etc etc.
In the deposition, the defendants attorney used information acquired during discovery to dispute my claim. It was aparent my attorney had never looked at any of this prior to the deposition. I became (more concerned) when we did the preparation last Thursday b/c she made comment she's been so busy and her sister was gravely ill, etc. Our preparation consisted of "you will do fine". Well, I didn't. And I received a call last night from my attoney and another attorney in the firm recommending I drop the case because I didn't have as much concrete evidence to support my claim and the defendant was "well documented". Obviosly I am extremely upset I had to sit through a deposition - a very gruelling deposition.
Having said all that, my question is what can I do about this. I now know my attorney did not prepare. She led me to believe I had a strong case when all along I said I had no witnesses. The information presented yesterday was part of discovery and it was obvious she'd not looked at any of it. The case was a contongency case but I am/was billed for incidentals. So now I am going to receive a bill and this person didn't even take the time to adequately prepare because had they, based on what she and the other attorney in the firm told me last night, we never would/should have gone to deposition - we would have dropped a long time ago. (not that I nessarily agree with this but at this point I think it's too late to do anything else).
Oh - regarding the FMLA violation: the attorneys said we could probably win that but it would only be a moral victory and cost me $2000 - $3000.
What are my options?