More details to this question:
After nine years of marriage my husband left me last April and left me with all responsibilities and obligations. I was forced to file bankruptcy. I'm on a fixed income and basically broke. He established residency in Texas living with his son. In September (?) last year he filed divorce proceedings. I was forced to hire an attorney in Texas (I was told I had to do that) to represent me. It cost me a great deal of money. The attorney was paid before he proceeded to do any work. Since that time he has rarely communicated anything to me unless I called, or contacted him. Most times he did not contact me until I pestered him. I do not feel that he is representing my best interests; in my opinion he's worthless. I signed an agreement with him but I now want to fire him because he's not doing his job.
1 ANSWER
I am sorry to hear of your troubles - nothing makes a divorce worse-than having a bad attorney. First thing to make note of is that you likely need to re-post this question indicating the state as Texas. You really need a Texas attorney's opinion and counseling as the retainer agreement between you and your attorney is likely governed by Texas law. Further, since your attorney is licensed in Texas, you need to know what the ethical rules are governing Texas attorneys. Second, read your retainer agreement with the attorney. If the retainer is anything like my retainer agreement, you should be able to terminate your attorney on 30 days' notice. It is unusual here in California for a retainer to provide that you're stuck with that attorney until the matter for which he was retained is concluded. Again, however, that is a question of Texas law and not California law. Third, I can tell you that here in California the number one complaint to the State Bar is failure to communicate with clients. I would suspect that Texas is the same. Re-Post this to a Texas attorney, and also read your retainer agreement. If you cannot get out on reasonable notice, then you may wish to consult a legal malpractice attorney, and/or file a complaint with the Texas State Bar.
David L. Gibbs, Esq.The Gibbs Law Firm, APCSan Clemente, Californiagibbslaw.com
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Answered on Mar 27th, 2013 at 4:44 PM