Help

[Colleen]

I fired my attorney tonight. He is shaddy and other things. This has been the worst event in my life. We havent filed our 13 yet. But when we told him, he said fine, but He is putting a lien on my case file and wont release it unless we pay him 1000.00. Is this legal? I think I am going to go crazy

[AngelinaCatHub]

I fired my attorney tonight. He is shaddy and other things. This has been the worst event in my life. We havent filed our 13 yet. But when we told him, he said fine, but He is putting a lien on my case file and wont release it unless we pay him 1000.00. Is this legal? I think I am going to go crazy

[Flamingo]

Hi Colleen! You apparently retained your attorney and he's already done some work for you. Pull out the letter/document you signed/agreed to when you retained your attorney and read it over. There are reasons why your attorney is requesting all or part of his fee and it should be stated in what you signed when you retained his services. You don't go into what happened so I am assuming something very bad happened or there was a major disagreement or problem. If the attorney is/was truly incompetent in handling your matter and you feel you were misrepresented or lied to in any way, as AngelinaCatHub stated, contact your State Bar Association and file a Complaint. They are listed in your phone book under your "state" section. They can also direct you to another competent/reliable attorney.

As with all job categories, there are good and bad folks representing all sectors of society. Believe me, not all attorneys are bad guys/gals. Many go beyond what they are supposed to do in representing clients - I am sorry you ran into one of the bad guys.

[jennordhavn]

I just took the MPRE (Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam) and almost every jurisdiction follows the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct. According to these rules, a lawyer is subject to discipline for failing to turn a file over to a client promptly. It does not matter whether you owe the lawyer money, s/he must provide you with the file. You may have to pay to have it copied. The fee dispute can be handled later and is a completely different matter. Check your state as there are some states that have different rules but this is the majority rule. You should definitely file a complaint with the state bar.

[jktrading]

I fired my attorney tonight. He is shaddy and other things. This has been the worst event in my life. We havent filed our 13 yet. But when we told him, he said fine, but He is putting a lien on my case file and wont release it unless we pay him 1000.00. Is this legal? I think I am going to go crazy

No way they can hold your file. As others have said, go to your state bar's website (or call on the phone). In California, we can easily print out a form from the website and send it in. That could be the case in your state.

Don't feel bad about making a formal complaint, it sounds like they deserve it. They're probably not use to people making formal complaints. Sounds like it's time to light the fire.