I hired an attorney for a personal injury from an auto accident. I feel like I am having to keep on him to find out what is going on. For example: We had a questions from the defendants attorney to answer. Which we did and met with our attorney to go over our answers. I wasn't sure on something from my past, so he was going to do a background check. Let me know what came up, if anything, answer the question asked accordingly and send a copy of our answers to us and to the defendant's attorney. This was back in Sept. I called at the end of Oct. asking about it, he hadn't done the background check yet. Not a problem, he'll take care of it. Well, it's the end of Nov. now and I haven't heard back. Now, we also have an appointment for depositions at the end of Dec. I am concerned that this attorney sucks badly. Is it normal for an attorney to be this way? Yes, I realize I'm not his only client.
2006-11-24 12:28:29 · 15 answers · asked by fiestyredhead 6 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
Absolutely normal. The wheels of justice turn very very slowly, largely in part due to the discover process. You are in the early stages of discovery. This is a tedious process, especially in personal injury cases. The questions you referenced are known as "interrogatories". Your attorney probably filed the answers, or if he didn't, he might have made an agreement with defendant's attorney for an extension of time. In the grand scheme of things, this is not a very big deal. Remember that there is a lot of stuff that goes on behind the scenes between counsel. Discovery takes FOREVER. For a personal injury case, you might be looking at boxes of documents that the attorney has to put together and send out. Also, there are typically a dozen or so requests for medical records and subpoenas that have to be sent out to the hospitals in order to get your medical records. It's a pain, and a time consuming pain at that.
Your best bet would be to write him a letter and ask for a status update of your case. Find out what discovery requests have been served, what discovery the defendants have produced, what additional depositions have been scheduled. Tell him you understand that he has other cases and clients and that he is a busy guy, but that you want a monthly status report detailing what has been done in the last month to move the case forward, and what his next plan of action is going to be. Ask him to place the sending of this status report on his calendar. (Keep in mind he's going to bill you for the time it takes to write this report.)
Also, if you want to monitor what papers have been filed in your case, search for the website of your local county/circuit court. You should be able to search by party name, or if you have any of the pleadings, the docket number. This way, you can check for yourself to see what has been filed.
Your attorney does not have an obligation to call you everytime something happens with your file. However, this does not mean he can ignore phone calls or requests for information. It seems like he is moving the case along. Keep in mind that any delays might be because of conflicts in his schedule or opposing counsel's schedule, not necessarily laziness or ambivelence. Request the status report. If he doesn't start providing you with updates, talk to a representative of the state bar association to lodge a complaint.
Good luck.
2006-11-24 13:52:43 · answer #1 · answered by dasvidas 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Totally normal, unfortunately. My husband has been in federal prison for 26 years, and I have encountered TWO attorneys in that time---TWO attorneys--who were courteous and returned my calls and did not act like I was wasting their time.
John Grisham writes fiction, okay? Anyone who tells you to report this behavior to the bar has never hired an attorney. We've been through this with both civil and criminal cases, and have had years of my husband's life wasted while they let stuff sit for months, only to decide they couldn't handle it. On to the next attorney, who also takes a deposit and then tells us how busy he is when we call to ask how things are going....
I had to conclude that they cannot afford to care about their clients. There are too many of us, and some people WILL harass them to death. Those are usually the ones facing six months probation for reckless driving and can't deal with it, and want drug tests and to talk to the judge personally and have the cop take a lie detector test....these idiots with their daily (or hourly) phone calls are the ones who make it bad for people who have a decision waiting that could wreck their lives.
One of my friends almost committed suicide while waiting for the outcome of her case. The attorneys had it all under control, but never thought to let her know that. Another friend lost everything she had while waiting for a personal injury case to be settled, and wound up living in her car. She didn't stay in touch with her attorneys and they had no idea it was that bad.
Other attorneys do NOT have it under control and won't do Jack unless you call or personally visit their office. My husband's most recent case was filed back in March, and he still hasn't had a hearing or decision. He's 65 years old. I have lousy health. We don't have a lot of time. But the attorneys can't afford to care about all our personal problems or what the waiting does to you. They do the legal manuevering, and that's it. And some don't do that unless you call them to remind them you're alive.
This is very normal, so approach it the way you see best for YOU. Don't be a pest, but don't hang back and be polite. That doesn't work, either, with most of them. Good luck to you.
2006-11-24 15:00:37 · answer #2 · answered by His Old Lady 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your not alone, we've had a personal injury case in the works for 3 yrs, had 3 different attorneys. The last one has had the case for a year now and we still don't know much. He did call and say the other party had made an offer of 20,000 and he told them to forget it.....that has been 4 months ago and nothing sense.
This is a very well known law firm in Va, that has the whole floor in the SunTrust building. I don't think your lawyer sucks as you say, I'm not really sure why they take so long.
Good Luck with your case
2006-11-24 12:34:26 · answer #3 · answered by bobbie v 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Wow, you sound like you have the same attorney as my mom. She got in a car accident about 5 or 6 yearas ago, a guy hit her from behind and then left the scene. So my mom hired this pretty well known attorney around here, and he told her that its up to her to find the guy who hit her, and she has to call him, basically he is getting paid to sit around and sign paper, while my mom has over 50,000 dollars in medical bills. Just because you are not his only client, doesnt mean that you should be treated unjustly, a lawyer should keep you up to date on whats going and, remember you hired him. My mom is still going through this to this day, and I would hate to hear of someone else doing the same. Grant it I probally didnt answer you rquestion per say, but I wanted to let you know that you arent the only one. If all else fails you can go to the state bar to talk to them and let them know that he isnt really doing his job by keeping you up to date on things.
2006-11-24 12:35:54 · answer #4 · answered by Danielle 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If this is the type of lawyer who doesnt get paid unless you win the case, then this doesnt make any sense! If this is a guy you paid some small amount of money to up front and then pay him the rest regardless of the outcome of the case, then id say you have been robbed and he does not have your best interests at hand. This is why its always better in general to pay more for an attorney so that he works for his money, rather than these cheap guys who make their money from offering cheap services rather than actually trying to win any cases. Ask this guy what he is doing point blank and ask him what the hold up is.
2006-11-24 12:39:54 · answer #5 · answered by Bonzai Betty 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Bad attorney! Call another attorney and ask how to check out your attorney's standing in the legal community. I'm not sure if the Bar Association can help or not.
Your attorney works for you.
2006-11-24 12:33:32 · answer #6 · answered by dakota29575 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
no it is not Wright for Ur attorney to u out of the loop because if they put u on stand and they ask u some questions like did u do it on purpose and u say no in an boisterous manner they will think u lien and u would be venerable because then u would be easily angered and Ur attorney loses the case and u are in titled to some money Ur not going to get it because of insufficient evidence for Ur injury and u would be left with so many bills including Dr. bills, the attorneys pay
2006-11-24 12:56:38 · answer #7 · answered by `Avenging~ghetto~bird` 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
I would say no it isn't normal. It sounds like your lawyer has a heavy case load and no assistant. I would suggest that you find out if he has an assistant and try getting things done throuhg him or her.
2006-11-24 12:35:18 · answer #8 · answered by msdeville96 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That's terrible. You should call the bar association in your state and ask these same questions. He'll be in touch in a hurry, then.
2006-11-24 12:34:26 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
this guy is probably scamming you! Beware of lawyer who act like this. I would find another one. I've through something similar. I found he was actually helping the other guy who was trying to pull insurance fraud. This lawyer had his license removed. He shouldn't mess with me! I would turn him into state bar!
2006-11-24 13:01:03 · answer #10 · answered by Apple 4 · 1⤊ 2⤋