How Can I Sue A Lawyer?
Many times you put your trust in people that do not have your best interest at heart. Unfortunately this could occur even when you hire a lawyer to defend you and your rights. If you feel that your lawyer did not bring your case to justice you have the right to sue, however you must have the following information in order to support your case.
Records of All Your Work Together
The most important thing to have on hand when you want to sue a lawyer is all your records of your case. This includes but is not limited to your phone calls, contracts between you and the lawyer, meetings, and so forth. Having everything on paper and recorded is a sure way to help support your case against him.
Proving Your Case
Besides the records you need to be able to prove your case. You need to show the court that your lawyer was not working in your best interest. For example, if he kept canceling your meetings and not returning your phone calls this can help your case. Also, if he charged you very high fees and did not do the work he was supposed to do. Make sure you keep a record of everything including when he did not show up for your hearings or even passed on the work to his assistant.
Taking It To Court
Once you have all the proof against your lawyer it is now time to sue. This process could be very expensive, but it may be well worth it. Make sure you have a strong enough case built against the lawyer before proceeding. You also want to make sure you get a lawyer that is not associated with the one you are suing. Not having any connections will help your case and increase your chances of winning.
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Before suing, send a detailed complaint to the Bar Association in your city/area. They have a Grievance Committee set up to police lawyers. So, file a grievance and write it well. Explain that the attorney is either guilty by ommission, meaning he did NOT do things he should have done, or gultiy by commission, meaning he DID things he should not have done. He may be guilty both ways. They will handle it from there. If it has been egregious negligence or breach of contract or malfeasance, he could be disbarred. The Bar Association can also refer you to another lawyer. In any event, your lawyer will be called to task.
Examples of guilt by ommission: He did not depose key witnesses timely, and waited until the other side deposed this witness, often qquite a long time after the fact. This means he is either cheap or he took a payoff from somewhere to ruin your case. Key witnesses should be deposed very early on in a case when memory of the facts are fresh. If he does not return calls, emails, and does not send you copies of court correspondence, this is also bad. If he never shows you copies of depositions that have already been taken, or conceals evidence that will help your case, this is bad. The latter is an example of malfeasance. I have been the victim of an insane lawyer who is guilty of all the above and then some. I cannot get rid of him because he is residing in the American territory where I was injured and filed suit, but I no longer live there. So I tired to get other lawyers from there involved but he ran them off. I have a lot of evidence that proves wilfull malfeasance. After three years, we finally had a bogus mediation with the defense attorney and I was offered a ridiculous sum of money for my injuries. I wrote a long treatise and sent it to my lawyer, exposing all I know about what he has done wrong. I have asked him to re-negotiate or we will try the case. In any event, I am still going to the Bar Association to report both lawyers.
Hello, I have seen this post somewhere else before, are you the original author?
The attorney in question in my case handled a Trust of the estate of my mother and step father. It was an irrevocable trust. Then, after my mother passed away, at my step father’s request, he drew up amendments that changed the distribution of the assets considerably. The court ruled that this was wrong and the amendments were thrown out. Unfortunately the assets were already distributed and are irretrievable. Our lawyer who handled the case, refuses to go further, although he feels we are in the right. Apparently there has developed ties between his family and this lawyer and could not continue to handle our case. I think he was pressured by his firm to drop it. I cannot find a lawyer willing to sue another lawyer, they seem to stick up for each other. I feel I have a good case, but need to find the right lawyer who has the guts to take it up.
I hired a lawyer and after more than a year the only thing I have in hand is two poorly written, and potentially damaging, letters. There are no copies of motions filed, which he has been asked to do repeatedly, no dates for meeting, and no paper work showing what, if anything, has been done. A professional lawyer should send a monthly statement of work rendered. At this juncture he has been told to either produce the paperwork, return the money or I will go to the bar association.
Nice artcile
Very important information! This can happen to anyone, and when it comes to firing a lawyer, it is better to use some of the tips in this post!