Legal Ethics And Professional Responsibility Legal Questions

Unless you gave the lawyer permission to rep the witness/client #2, the lawyer has a serious ethical issue:  using the knowledge he gained from representing you to the advantage of client #2 breached his duty of loyalty to you. even though they withdrew, your confidential information is YOURS, not his. if client #2's interests were adverse to yours, that would be a conflicts of interest breach  they should be reported to Grievance Commission.... Read More

Write a letter to the Federal Defenders' office and request new counsel, cite irreparable differences. Feds have a 99% success rate. Your best bet is to try and be the co-operating witness in the case against the main target of the investigation. The fact you were is Ariz. may prove you were not involved but Feds might try to prove you were aware and you did nothing to stop it. You must be ready to prove: WHEN DID YOU BECOME AWARE OF THE SITUATION? WHAT YOU DID WHEN YOU BECAME AWARE Any and all evidence proving you did not know.  ... Read More

Most likely the firm will ask you to pay for the copies that you will receive and most the time it will be the same stuff you already have in your posession regarding your case. You should review the retainer agreement you signed to see what are your options. You can also use our premium consultation to get a second opinion on your case and to see if anything can be done differently or if you should be looking to work with a different firm. Second opinions are always beneficial if you want to take the chance to see if you are getting the best services. Good luck and hoping to hear from you soon. Thanks.   ... Read More

File a grievance immediately with the attorney grievance commission. Also sue the attorneys personally in district court. They will say they were in a law firm but, what they have done is criminal conversion and the corporate form of doing business does not permit illegal acts. good luck  ... Read More

If your attorney had a $30K offer to settle your case that you turned down, the attorney would be entitled to a one third legal fee by statute when your case ultimately settles, unless you could prove legal malpractice or failure to work the case resulted in the case being worth less than it should've been. Did you get another attorney and if so, Is the case still in litigation or has it settled? Personal injury attorneys don't necessarily take on legal malpractice cases, so you can't assume your current attorney will handle this aspect of your case.... Read More

Good morning, you can report the cars stolen to the police but they will probably tell you that it is a civil matter. The reason is because is they don't know what rights the non-beneficiary has to the cars, if any. Report the attorney to the Florida Bar since he or she should have dealt with this matter long ago. Please talk to the attorney first before reporting him/her to the Bar and tell him/her if she don't talk to you and resolve this matter to your satisfaction you will report him/her to the Bar. ... Read More

Good morning, have you checked the FAQ section for lawyer subscribers to this site? Otherwise, have you tried contacting "lawyers.com" directly and asking them? As to what to say in the response to the review, please check Ethics Opinion 21-1 in the Bar website. Please be very careful in what you say. ... Read More

It depends upon the particular facts and circumstances of the situation.  If one of the original four people whom the lawyer originally represented complains that a conflict of interest arose between them and one of the two people that the attorney has come back to represent, that person may have standing to complain and to seek disqualification of the attorney depending upon the terms of the original attorney employment agreement.... Read More

Your employment agreement with your attorney will determine how much of any settlement proceeds you are entitled to receive.  It is common for asbestos exposure claims to be handled on a contingency fee with the law firm advancing out-of-pocket expenses, including the cost for expert witnesses. It is not uncommon for these expenses in an asbestos case to be tens of thousands of dollars.It is also common that these expenses, or your pro rata share of these expenses if the law firm is handling several claims for many plaintiffs against the same defendant, are deducted from any settlement first, before the remainder is divided between you and your attorney according to the agreed percentages.Your attorney, or the law firm, should give you an itemized statement of all out-of-pocket expenses which they are deducting from your settlement, along with any calculation reflecting how they allocated your pro rate share of such costs.  While they are not required to provide supporting documentation--like receipts or invoices from expert witnesses--you are entitled to request and received copies of the backup documentation.What constitutes a legitimate case expense largely depends on the language of your agreement with your attorney.  Things that are often questionable include meals, mileage, telephone charges, computer-assisted legal research, in-firm copy costs, and charges for sending or receiving facsimiles.  In the absence of express language in your agreement including these items, clients can often challenge these types of "out-of-pocket" expenses.... Read More

It's impossible to determine the answer to your question unless you engage counsel to review the history of litigation. Was a lawsuit filed? Did he just try to settle the case with the insurance company? When did the accident happen so as to find out if the statute of limitation expired? These and other questions need to be explored to get a definitive answer. You can demand that your attorney provide a copy of your file to you, and he has to do this unconditionally, but he is entitled to a copying fee. Get a free consultation with counsel here in the state of Florida for more information.... Read More

Prepare the following information: Title, Court, & Index Number of the prior lawsuit that you settled. Name of your & contact information of your lawyer that settled the case. A list of things you believe your prior lawyer did wrong. A copy of the settlement agreement. Then find an attorney on Martindale.com or Avvo for a consultation to discuss the apparent errors. Many lawyers like will be happy to offer a free initial consultation to assess your rights. I'm in Mineola, NY.  Matt Bryant matt@nyrightslaw.com ... Read More

The allegations you are making are very serious. Not sure why an attorney would file an intervention when they were retained for Quiet Title. You are alleging fraud, did you buy at sheriff's sale or was there a judicial foreclosure taking place? What were they intervening into if you acquired a property from foreclosure? If the attorney refunded your fee, there would be a record of it. At this point, from what is stated here, nothing makes much sense to me.... Read More

You need to: 1. advise the other side that the witness testimony is false and demand they not call the witness. 2. file a motion to disqualify the witness.  3. if the judge still lets the witness be called, you need to impeach the witness: your testimony is this? when they say it is, then introduce the document that contradicts the witness. once introed, as the witness to read the document and then ask them if they were telling the truth.   good luck... Read More

you should advise the Prosecutor's office, the state police and the defense attorney involved of this situation you should prepare a sworn statement and send a copy to all of the above. if there is a conviction relying on this relationship, you should contact the Michigan innocence project. one point of caution, if there is no backing up this allegation, you could face charges for a false statement and even face a defamation case against you- be very careful... Read More

Judges are supposed to avoid even the appearance of impropriety. Not only don't you want that judge sitting on your matter, neither does the judge: If the judge recused herself in the prior matter, they need to recuse in any matter involving you. The reason for this is that the judge does not want to be accused of retaliation against you if they were to take up the new matter and rule against you (rightly or wrongly). So having the judge not sit on the matter is in everyone's interest. best of luck to you... Read More

So if $9000 was paid, and there was no work done on the file, then you need to draft a demand letter requesting that a full refund be paid to you. And if one is not paid to you, then you should file a complaint with the ethics office at the Arizona state bar Against the attorneys who are holding your money.  ... Read More

Your question probably did not get too many answers. Wise is subjective.  This is less a question of law and more a question of ethics.  If you are asking if you will get away with your crime, then the answer is : I don't have a crystal ball.   If you are asking about the morality or ethical ramifications,  I imagine it would depend on how well you sleep at night or if you care about the oppions of others.  Its not ethical. If you are asking about consequences, I would tell you that if you make recompense and advise them of the "mistake", you can probably have no further consequences other than paying back the difference. Good luck.... Read More