3 yrs ago my partner had a slip and fall accident. It was in a major location in which the property owner didn't take care of their lot and yes we were invited onto the property. My partner suffered a herniated disc and had to have surgery because of this. She was out of work for about 5 months. With the therapy, surgery, etc. Bills were piling up, we try to get the attorney to type up a letter that there would be a settlement. We wanted to get a small loan from our bank to just play catch up. The attorney refused. We had to resort to selling one of our cars, just to pay some of the bills and so we didn't lose our home. Only one month after the surgery my attorney said he wanted to settle. We really didn't want to yet but he was persistant and said if we didn't settle then we would likely end up with nothing.
Here is the thing, He got 33% of the settlement. The total settlement was $ 60,000. My partner got $ 20,000.00 and the attorney got $ 20,000.00 roughly and he got the other $ 20 thousand to pay all her medical expenses. Here is the thing. He didn't pay all her medical expenses and now my partner is being sent to collections for them. He will not return our phone calls. We did talk to another attorney and he informed us that an attorney that settles a medical lawsuit sooner than 2 yrs can be sued for medical malpractice. This is because of injuries that may show up later. Well this attorney had my partner settled within about 7 months. She still has problems with her back and just seen the surgen again. He said she will probably be wheelchair bound in 5 years cause the damages he couldn't repair and are just now showing up. Please people don't say we are the stupid ones and shouldn't have settled. We never had to sue before and didn't know any better.
What and if can we do anything now, especially cause of the collections.
Thanks
Upward Bound Precalc Tutor
You would definitly not sue an attorney for medical malpractice because he is not a doctor. You may be able to sue for attorney malpractice if you can demonstrate that the attorney did not obtain a settlement that made you whole AND that the reason for that was because of his negligence. That is actually a pretty tough case. You need to have a consult with a different attorney. Few attorneys like to take this kind of case because it involves
going up against one of their peers.
Since you settled, you signed papers which state
you agreed to the settlement and they probably indicated that you read, understood and are satisfied with the settlement and the papers probably give immunity to future
lawsuits to all parties involved. You cannot reverse this,
the court will follow that agreement to the letter, unless you
have OVERWHELMING proof that you did not get informed
of the content of the settlement.
Now, you need to deal with the medical agencies that are sending you to collections. They may be violating the law, particularly if your lawyer settled with them. Those
agencies are bound by any settlement they agreed to also
and may be violating the fair debt collection practices act
Orignal From: What to do????-Attorneys?
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