My mother is going through a divorce and she and I decided to go see this attorney who's add said "free consultation." We simply needed an attorney to negociate a buy-out price against my stepfather to obtain the house...nothing further. But this attorney wouldn't listen to us and instead would be chatting about his experience dealing with other cases not related to our desires. I'm farely familar with the law and I knew up front that he wasn't suited for our needs.
We left before an hour and then tried to make my mother sign a retainer agreement and I told him that my mother would need at least a day to think about it. Then he said "Well if you don't take your case with me I will charge you for this consulation since it's free only for 30 minutes." FIRST OF ALL, THERE WAS NO PLACE IN THE ADD THAT SPECIFIED A TIME FOR THAT FREE CONSULATATION. SECOND, HE SHOULD HAVE TOLD US ABOUT THE
2006-07-20 06:55:37 · 18 answers · asked by christiansareawesome 4 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
WE DIDN'T SIGN ANYTHING!!!!!
2006-07-20 07:02:12 · update #1
wait till he takes you to small claims court, then counter sue...
Also try to get the case on Judge Judy or People's Court or something...he'll drop it like a hot coal.
2006-07-20 07:00:07 · answer #1 · answered by jimvalentinojr 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
1
2016-05-28 17:12:01 · answer #2 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First, I am not an attorney.
You didn't sign anything and the ad said "free" without specifying the amount of time. He should have offered up front how long his 'free' consultation lasted. You talked for an hour and the first half hour was supposed to be free. That means he's charging $700 per hour! Did he do work for your mother because he presumed that he was representing her? Anyway...
Write him a certified letter (since he's asking for $350 I would be really formal and send it by certified mail), state specifically that you do not want him to represent you. You should address the $350.00 and the 'free' consultation in your letter. Tell him that you dispute you owe him any money and that he is not to impair your credit in any manner whatsoever. Ask him to respond to you in writing within x days of the date of the letter and state that if he fails to answer you within x days, you will consider the matter resolved and that you do not owe him any money.
If he responds and continues to demand the money, you can send him another certified letter and tell him that if he pursues the claim, then you will pursue all legal rights and remedies afforded to you by law including reporting his conduct to the state bar disciplinary commission for review of his 'free consultation' and misleading wording of his ad.
You should make notes of what was discussed during the meeting and you should keep a copy of the ad until the matter is completely resolved in writing.
In favor of the attorney, perhaps he misunderstood from the tone of the meeting and presumed your mother wanted him to represent her. Perhaps he did a lot of work under the resumption he was representing her? (Although if she didn't sign the contract at the meeting, I'm not sure how he could presume so...) Perhaps this can all be cleared up with a formal, but nicely written letter.
Good Luck.
2006-07-20 07:38:27 · answer #3 · answered by vbrink 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you still have the ad and it does not give a time limit for the consult then I would show it to him and threaten to take your complaint to a legit lawyer. I would also tell him you are going to report him to the Better Business Bureau. Hopefully she didn;t sign anything....and whatever you do do don't sign anything from here on out either! It's hard when dealing with a shady lawyer. I had a bad experience too but it didn't turn out very well. Best of luck to you and I hope you have an amazing day!
2006-07-20 07:02:38 · answer #4 · answered by silent.peace 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First of all if trhe free consultation was for thirty minutes he should have told yoy that at the beginning or at least after thirt minutes were up. Sounds like he wanted to entice you into hiring him. Alot of people do this. He would not have charged you if you hired him. It is not a proper practice.
If you have already hired another lawyer, see if your lawyer will send him a letter to get him to drop the fee since what he did is highly unethical. If you don't have a lawyer, you could send him one yourself and tell him that you are considering filing a complaint with the state bar's grievance committee.
2006-07-20 07:03:47 · answer #5 · answered by ovrwrkdlawyr 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I work at a law office (as a receptionist) and sadly they can stiff you.
Good news: There are invoices here that they have been trying to serve for the past ten years and if they are less than 500 they usually just forget about them.
Thats considering most of their checks are for around 15000-300000. So it probably depends on how much the lawyer is making.
2006-07-20 07:01:11 · answer #6 · answered by K<3C 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yeah.. a lot of SOB attorney/lawyers out there...
'Free' always doesn't mean 'free' these days..
So I always have to ask the question.. 'to what extent?'
well, personally I would rather give him the $350 and get over with..
Just because I don't want to go through the hassel of going through another law suit when going through a divorce.
2006-07-20 07:03:45 · answer #7 · answered by Air 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Contact the state bar association of the state you live in and ask for a complaint form. Outline what took place and they will discipline him. He can be suspended from practicing law and fined and even go to jail. He has violated the ethics in the practice? of law.
2006-07-20 07:00:50 · answer #8 · answered by acmeraven 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You need to talk to your states bar association. This sounds like a bait and switch. They can let you know what is proper in these circumstances. They can also direct you to a list of lawyer who deal in this area of law.
2006-07-20 07:01:44 · answer #9 · answered by Kenneth H 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Write the local Bar Association with your question, and send him a carbon copy. Explain it just as you explained your question--he's acting too unprofessional.
2006-07-20 06:59:51 · answer #10 · answered by Love2Sew 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋