When you hire a lawyer, you put the trust of your case in them. You are as transparent as possible about the case and you wish for a satisfactory outcome, and this is why an attorney should take it in their best interest to help you. There are some lawyers that do so; they go out of their way for their clients and make sure they win the case. However, the same can’t be expected from every attorney in the country.
Some lose your case by fighting hard for you and genuinely trying to help you, but there are some that don’t follow the rules or breach the contract and you end up losing the case and the money. What to do in such a case?
What to do when your Attorney ignores you?
Under the rules and regulations of the law, an attorney is required to consult with the client before he takes any decision, and has to constantly maintain communication with them about the progress of the case.
When you first met with your attorney, you felt like he was really listening to you and was interested in taking the case forward. But, after a few weeks, you’ve realized that there has been a lack of communication and there is silence from their end. Could he be ignoring you?
The only way to find out is contacting them. If your mode of communication is through emails, you can send them an email asking why they’ve been silent for so long and what the follow up on the case has been.
If there is still no reply, you can email them that you’d like to reconsider the contract and hire another attorney for the case if he doesn’t contact you in the next 1-2 days. This will really shake up the lawyer and he will try to get back to you very quickly.
My Lawyer is not fighting for me, what to do?
If you’re up against a party whether as prosecutor or defendant, the situation for you is so much more challenging and frustrating. You have lots of money at stake and sometimes your reputation and dignity too; in these testing times the last thing you want is your lawyer not being by your side.
If you feel like your lawyer is not fighting for you, here are your options:
Firstly, try communicating with them. If your attorney isn’t responding to calls and isn’t giving a follow up, it is likely that there is nothing to report and the deadline is too far away. But, if you feel like there has been progress in the case and the attorney isn’t fighting for you, you could write them a letter or even drop by at their office. Ask them what the lack of communication is all about and that you would like them to be more communicative from now on.
Secondly, if there has absolutely been no contact, you are well within your rights to terminate the contract and hire another attorney. You can simply inform them that you’ll be looking to hire another lawyer if the case doesn’t make progress in due time.
So next time, whenever you feel like ‘my lawyer is not communicating with me’, and what should i do? You have options. Literally just go on Google and hire the first one from there. That is still better than wasting more time trying to get your previous lawyer to communicate with you.
Can I sue a Lawyer for Lying?
It is not an uncommon circumstance, there are often cases where lawyers lie to their clients. It could be about the case, or the charges, or the money, or even a settlement offer the client was lied about. Many cases are thrown away because either the client or the lawyer lies. So can you sue a lawyer for lying to you?
Well, yes. You can sue your lawyer for malpractice. There are many other things, other than lying that give you the chance to sue your attorney for malpractice.
Each state has a type of office that is answerable for training lawyers that abuse the guidelines of lawful morals. The agencies could be:
- The State Bar
- Supreme Court
Regardless of what name the organization in your state passes by, they will have a cycle you can use to file a complaint against your lawyer for lying or being unethical. Instances of these sorts of conduct include:
- Misusing your money
- Neglecting to appear at a court hearing
- Deceiving you or a judge
- Taking part in a criminal undertaking
If you feel that your lawyer has occupied with any of these above exercises, you should report it to the agency of your state. Despite the fact that these offices often work very slowly, it is still better to file the report and any subsequent meet-ups that are required for the process.
Moreover, if your lawyer breaches part of the contract, like doesn’t deliver what they promised or charges hidden fees that were not included in the contract, not preparing you for trial, you can sue them for malpractice. Also, if the lawyer breaks attorney-client privilege, you can sue them. The first rule of being a lawyer is to respect the client and not disclose sensitive information to anyone: not their families, not the opponent, and not the judge. If you feel like your lawyer broke this privilege, you can sue them for malpractice.
You can also sue them for negligence if you feel that the lawyer didn’t give their 100% to your case, and because of this you lost the case. Negligence includes filing the wrong paper, missing a court deadline, making rookie errors with the case. Anything that could be avoided if the lawyer was attentive and cautious.
Conclusion
Where there are rights and privileges given to attorneys against other parties, clients also have rights to protect them from negligent or fraudulent lawyers. Common unethical practices by lawyers include charging unnecessary fees or breaching the contract and lying to the judge or the client.
If the client feels deceived and being led to a dead-end, they can simply terminate their contract with the lawyer and hire a new one if necessary. And can sue the previous one for malpractice too. However, malpractice cases aren’t a piece of cake; suing another attorney will cost you lots of money and time, so if the reason isn’t as genuine, maybe you should not consider suing them.
Cases get messier if not handled with care and attention, but that still doesn’t mean you should feel intimidated just because the other party is a lawyer.
