I can't stand my Attorney?

Question

What should I do? I already paid the retainer fee for his services, and now he has become Mr. dry personality all of a studden. He is not the same Attorney that I agreed to work with, and i'm so annoyed! Should I just stick with him for the first motion and then change to someone I can get along with? Or is it normal not to like your Attorney? I just feel like our personalitys clash big time.

I'm just frustrated because he only likes to communicate with email, and if I call to confirm something he seems really annoyed by me. He doesn't return emails quickly either. I'm not a helicopter client either so theres no excuse for all this. I only contact him for important reasons. I'm not needy, and I fill out all my paperwork my self. He just stamps them, and makes some corrections (legal terms, ect.), and then submits them.

Is it unwise to change Attorney's in a family law matter? Right now we are dealing only with the first part of court. Like a pro docot.

He has given me a significant discount on his fee because he wanted to take my case based on ethnics. I guess it could be that he is just very serious at what he does.

This isn't no profit. I am not low income therefore I would never qualify for no profit Lawyers. The Attorney i've hired is one of the best in his field, and he is expensive. So I feel his time should be spent well. He did give me a discount, but only because i'm Union. It was like 1/3 off cost or something. He charges like 250/hour which I feel is a bit excessive. I paid a 3500 retainer fee.

Answer 1

It's best for you to discuss the communication issue with him in a direct fashion. You may discover that what he really wants is to avoid (for example) stories or whining and for the client to get to the point, and experience has taught him that he can skip forward to relevant content in an email. He may prefer email because it's impersonal and in his view efficient (and safe... no feedback on his performance, and nothing comes up that he might otherwise be compelled and embarrassed to look up). Perhaps it'll be something you can address (get to the point), or it his answer may reinforce your resolve to get a new attorney.

Generally speaking though voice communication is much more efficient than exchanging emails, due to the additional time it takes to draft a text document, the interactivity in a voice conversation, and no extra minimum charge for questions and exchanges in a voice conversation. Communicating one thought may take 5 minutes on the phone or 2 emails each back and forth. At a minimum billing increment of 6 or 12 minues, the phone call would cost you on billing increment, maybe $15-30, while the four emails would cost you 4X that, say $60-120, assuming he spent no more than one billing increment drafting the original (unlikely). In the simplest of cases, with a phone call you don't get charged for a question and its answer, assuming that you don't get charged for a simple "call me back" message if you always get voice mail.

His reduced fee may cost you more if he prefers email, but he may still feel that you're getting a good deal and prioritize you accordingly. He may be relieved to get your "no profit" case off his stack, and you may find a great attorney.

In my opinion and very recent experience, the personality issue can grow and quickly become a deal breaker. I worked in the corporate world for decades under the understanding that you can't always pick who you work with, so learn to live with it deal with the full range of personalities that you encounter. Attorneys are used to their insular world and may have never learned that "play nice with others" lesson, even when dealing with their own clients. Their world is one of battles, and of being right, or at least making their side of any conflict right. When an attorney takes your case they're required to handle it competently, but that bar is pretty low, so don't push an attorney and test their ability to perform at the minimally competent level. Trust me on that one... I just released an attorney from my family law case. In the end, as their own freakish behavior drives things further into the ground, they can simply petition the court to get off your case, after they've burned a lot of time, money, and opportunities, on YOUR case. Sticking with an attorney that is a bad fit for you is not automatically the right thing to do, nor is it less expensive. Mine wrote me four page abusive emails, and you can be sure that I'll soon get a whopping bill to pay for that abuse. Worse yet, an attorney not working diligently on your behalf can cost you losses on key points in your case... money... child custody... anything.

It would take another attorney some time to come up to speed on your case, so additional expense, but if you suspect now that you might need to switch, then do it as early in the case as possible. I wish someone had beat me over the head with that up front: find an attorney that you're entirely confident in and comfortable with. The attorneys in the most demand won't even look at cases that they haven't been on board with from the start, and the longer you wait the greater your cost to switch may be.

Attorneys at firms are required to bill lots of hours, so they're extremely busy and you'll have to schedule their time in advance. Attorneys that work for themselves may be busy too, or they may have other demands (child care) that limits their availability. Mine was shocked when I mentioned that in my decades of corporate experience most employees at least cleared their voice mail every evening, and many did thesame with email. In their word everything may revolve around them. Availability and responsiveness expectations are a key thing to discuss when hiring an attorney.

The Nolo Press book "Divorce Solutions" advises "don't hesitate to switch attorneys," and they it contains a chapter on how to choose and use a lawyer. It also provides advice on negotiating an agreement and overcoming disagreement and conflict. The bottom line is that at no point is the attorney running your case. It's your case, you're responsible for it, and in the end you're liable for it.

Have the frank conversation, see if you can restore your confidence in your current attorney, and if not, do what you need to do to be sure you're getting the help you need.

You can find your new atorney without letting your current one know specifically that you're looking. Here in California the new attorney can "sign in" to relieve your former one. In this state you own the complete original file and I believe if your former attorney wants to keep a copy he/she would have to make it at his/her expense. You may need to have upcoming dates "continued" (postponed) or "vacated" (taken completely off the court calendar for the moment) to give your new attorney time to get up to speed, and you may need to have any trial discover deadlines extended to match the new court dates. Make sure you have any dates on hand as you consult with other attorneys. After consulting one or two others, you may find your dream attorney, or you can still decide to stick it out with Mr. Dry. A consultation or two could be a reasonable insurance policy for you.

Answer 2

You hired a lawyer to solve a legal problem, not to be a comedian or friend. if the lawyer is working the legal problem I would leave well enough alone.

You can change lawyers if you want, however it will cost you more in the end.

By the way, I think e-mail is a better way to handle these things instead of over the phone. That way you don't both have to be available for the communication to occur. You send an e-mail when you are available, the lawyer responds when available.

You are not the only client the lawyer has.

Answer 3

If you kept a copy of your retainer agreement, check it to make sure that any unused portion of the retainer fee is refundable.

You don't necessarily need to like your attorney, but it's best if you feel good about your representation. On the other hand, if money is a concern, then it might be the most practical choice to stay with this attorney, since standard hourly fees can be extremely expensive.

Answer 4

I agree with David - you met him in sales mode, now he is busy working on it. That is how the world works.

It is nrmal for you to be anxious about the outcome - let him know you are feeling that and thngs wil go best if he keeps you reassured on how things are going and how they will turn out.

remember that if you use his time for not work related stuff, that retainer will dwindle away.

and he is already working at a discount which means you aren't a profitable client if if you aren't a helicopter client (whatever that meas :)

so be careful about asking for TOO many favors when you already got that really big one!

Answer 5

yeah if he seems to know what he's doing, let him do it. It's the same thing with a doctor. You go to Doctor A and he's like absolutely NO personality or bedside manner but maybe that means he graduated top of his class and really knows his stuff and wasn't out with the frat boys partying and drinking. However, you go to Doctor B because everyone tells you what a great doctor he is and he's this congenial Mr. Personality type guy who you just love, but do you trust him to really be that good of doctor when you think about what he was probably doing in college? lol I guess we just never know!

Answer 6

An legal expert could zealously characterize his customer. without understanding what the legal expert suggested, i'm unlikely to sit down down in judgment over him. yet whilst he replaced into certainly hurting the case rather of assisting, then your son needs to request somebody else be appointed to symbolize him. additionally, forget approximately approximately those different comments approximately "you get what you pay for" and to pay interest on your "not that undesirable of a boy". the challenge is the legal expert's habit. each physique whose son gets in difficulty with the regulation is going to desire to work out him dealt with real whether or not they are in a position to discover the money for a legal expert or not.

Answer 7

HE** that is how all Attorneys are