I recently hired a lawyer to draft a stipulation of judgement since my defendant agreed to settle, for a civil case in amount of 10K.
The lawyer and I signed an agreement where I paid him $ 600 of retainer to help me close the case.
We agreed that there will be no litigation services unless separate retainer is executed.
The lawyer read my case, drafted the stipulation( basically filled out a form, which included few check boxes), and asked me and the defendant about agreed terms verbally.
After completing the paper work, he asked me to contact the defendant for her to sign. I suggested that he should do this but he said " I am not hired to do any litigatino work" This opened up a big can of worms. The defendant and I cannot communicate- she got emotional and said she cannot agree with the terms. I told her that I am not lawyer to answer these questions and she needs to contact the lawyer. As a result of all of this, the lawyer charged me for $ 20/email and he wrote me an invoice of $ 700, and was very rude to me saying that " I thought this was going to be an easy thing to do as filling out a form and close the matter". I said I hired him to do the " lawyer work" that he will need to communicate on my behalf. He considered this " litigation work".
Now after this, the defendant finally signed and the lawyer agreed to help me file it to the court with no other charge. It has been a week since he said he received it from the defendant. The court has not received it yet so I contacted the lawyer about the status. He said that he won't file the papers untill I have paid him the $ 700 balance.
I consider this a malpractice. He basically held on my papers without contacting me and risking me now that the court might dismiss my case due to the delays. I appreciate comments on this situation.
One key question is " what is litigation work"? why would I hire a lawyer to do this if he is only going to fill out a form?
Maj. T.J. "Snark King" Kong
You seem to believe there is a difference between "lawyer work" and "litigation work." I'm curious as to what you think this distinction is.
cloned247
I'm in the same boat. Paid a guy a retainer fee, he promised the world. The very next day, after getting my money, all I got was his voicemail or that he is unavailable. Left messages but wouldn't return my calls. Now I understand why lawyers are crooks!!!
Albert Einstein
You contracted for him to draw up a judgment - period! You have asked him to do more. He has the right to charge you more. There is no malpractice. If you do not want to pay him the $ 700 (which you should do) then ask him to return the form and you can file it with the clerk of the court. All you have to do is go to the courthouse, go in the clerk's office, and ask that it be filed.
jsmack19
Litigation work is pretty much anything that is adversarial, meaning between two or more parties. Otherwise people can write will's, do real estate closing, administer trusts, which are not litigious things. However, for lawyers, all possible fees must be reduced to writing, you should report him tot he bar so that he files the paperwork, but look at the agreement you signed with him, you may have to arbitrate any fees issues.
Artemis Agrotera
I don't see anything in your fact pattern to indicate there has been malpractice. I do see that you, as the client, may have had unreasonable and/or unrealistic expectations.
You hired the lawyer to draft the stipulation for a mere $ 600. That sounds perfectly reasonable.
If you want the lawyer to EXECUTE the stipulation I would expect you to have a pay a minimum of $ 1,500. You negotiated the agreement with the defendant. It is perfectly reasonable for the attorney to hand you the form to take it to the defendant.
You were dead bang wrong in telling your defendant to communicate with your lawyer. YOU negotiated the settlement terms with her and you did not retain the attorney to do anything but draft a pleading. It is not this attorney's function under the terms of the contract you have described for him to have any contact with the defendant whatsoever. A $ 700 invoice for all of the extra work you forced the attorney that was above and beyond what you actually hired him to do sounds perfectly reasonable.
Orignal From: Tips: Should I report this lawyer to State Bar for malpractice?
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