Problem with Existing Attorney
John S
Help:
I have a situation with my existing attorney. I am executoring an estate
for some very old people and money was loaned by the deceased to some
people. The people who got the money didn't want to pay back the debt so
it became necessary to take them to court. After spending around 40,000
on various legal fees this attorney sends me a bill for an additional
33,000 to take it into court. He estimated that based on 8 days in court
(it took 3 1/2 days) and so many hours of preperation that should be the
legal fee. All the discovery had been completed by this time.
We had a conversation and I told him to give me a figure to carry this
thing to the end the whole process. I wanted to talk to the recepients
of this estate and give them some kind of idea of what this would cost
and let them decide if they thought it was worth proceeding. After all
it's their money so I thought I'd let them decide. Well anyway there was
about 250,000 in total involved.
Well we reached an agreement that I would pay him 40,000 and give him
1/3 or anything collected in excess of 198,000. He sent me a fax
(contract) which I didn't fully understand I signed it and sent him a
check for 40,000. We won the case and got a judgement for 245,000. He
comes back and tells me they might appeal the case and he want's 12,000
additional. I'm not trying to beat him out of anything I have paid all
the court costs and other fees for depositions etc etc and have paid as
he asked for it, but I thought we had a deal and that was that. I have
already paid the equivalent of what would be 1/3 of the entire
judgement. Well when he asked for 12,000 additional I told him to stop
and just box all the evidence and other legal papers and write me a note
as to what filings were outstanding. I went on a little trip 2 days
later, and when I get back I have a letter from him that he filed papers
for depositions from the defendants about their assets. Now I told him
to stop and he just decides to do what he wants to do and as long as I
told him to stop I'm not going to pay him for anything else. I made
myself very clear in that respect. Now that papers have been served on
these people what do I have to do hire another lawyer to protect me from
my own lawyer.
I'm not trying to rap anyone here but I need to be able to get out of
this guys reach. Over all he did a good job but with the evidence I had
and the deposition he got from the deceased I think just about any
attorney could have gotten a favorable judgement on this case. I handed
it to him on a silver platter including witnesses notated wire transfers
checks etc. Even paid for a jury consultant.
All I am trying to do is insulate the recipients from winding up paying
the entire estate in legal fees. After all these people dont have much
and so far it has been a very expensive proposition and I still haven't
been able to retrieve one cent of the judgement. All expenses and
nothing to show for it and he's on the phone looking for 12,000 more "in
case they should appeal the verdict". Now our discussion was that the
40,000 and a percentage of the estate was to be the final payment except
for other expenses (court filings, copying fees and court reporter
charges), and I paid those bills as they were sent in here. This guy has
no sense when it comes to billing practices and the worth of the service
v/s what can be gained.
The judgement was laid down in April and he hasn't done a thin except
put leins on a couple of houses and the way he dragged his feet he gave
them plenty of time to hide assets. I had a lawyer look at the contract
that I signed and he tells me that it was only for the judgement and
that's not at all what we discussed before I sent him the check. Now
what can I do to get some relief from this guy. I made a mistake signing
the paper but if you looked at the estimate that he sent me it doesnt
make any sense that I would pay him more than he asked for and give him
a percentage on the top of it for exactly the same serivce. I'm not a
charitable foundation. Is there any way I can go to a legal authority
and get some kind of relief on this matter. Any ideas or advice would be
appreciated.
John S.
Bucky Narod
I am an independent associate for Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. We
are a 25 year old publically traded company that provides access to the
top rated law firms around the country for less than you spend on a cup
of coffee per day. Please E-mail me with your fax # and I will send
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Thanks,
Bucky