Washington Legal Malpractice Legal Questions

Not sure why you want a Civil-RICO lawyer. What you discribed is not a RICO case. Your attorney has an obligation under the rules of professional responsibility to keep you informed about your case and cannot settle without your consent. Also, In most cases a chiropractor that accepts Medicare must accept what Medicare pays and cannot bill for the difference. You should discuss you case with an attorney who handles legal malpractice.... Read More

These are difficult cases. In order to be awarded damages for an attorney's negligence you would have to prove that there would have been a different outcome had she gone to trial. From my understanding, according to court documents, your daughter was driving on two flat tires when she was pulled over and her blood alcohol level was nearly three times the legal limit. Even thought she pled guilty she failed to disclose this incident to the pagent people. Under these circumstances it would be extremely difficult to say the attorney caused her damages.... Read More

I can't advise you as to what recourse you have to same your home as I do not handle real estate matters but I can tell you that you may have a malpractice claim against the law firm that was handling you foreclosure matter. You should contact a good real estate attorney ASAP to see if anything can be done to save your home. If you need help with the legal malpractice issue feel free to contact my office.... Read More

The first question is did you have a fee agreement. And if so what does it say. An attorney is required to have a fee agreement in order to collect his/her fees. The Rules of Professional Conduct and Washington State Law allow a client the opportunity to have a Court review the reasonableness of the fees set forth in a fee agreement. If you haven't already, you should obtain a invoice from you attorney detailing his hourly charges.You might want to have another attorney review the attorneys charges and give you an opinion whether or not they are reasonable. You also have the option of contacting the Bar Association about the matter.... Read More

I'm afraid it's too late.  (3) An entity, whether or not incorporated, facility, or institution employing one or more persons described in subsection (1) of this section, including, but not limited to, a hospital, clinic, health maintenance organization, or nursing home; or an officer, director, employee, or agent thereof acting in the course and scope of his or her employment, including, in the event such officer, director, employee, or agent is deceased, his or her estate or personal representative; based upon alleged professional negligence shall be commenced within three years of the act or omission alleged to have caused the injury or condition, or one year of the time the patient or his or her representative discovered or reasonably should have discovered that the injury or condition was caused by said act or omission, whichever period expires later, except that in no event shall an action be commenced more than eight years after said act or omission: PROVIDED, That the time for commencement of an action is tolled upon proof of fraud, intentional concealment, or the presence of a foreign body not intended to have a therapeutic or diagnostic purpose or effect, until the date the patient or the patient's representative has actual knowledge of the act of fraud or concealment, or of the presence of the foreign body; the patient or the patient's representative has one year from the date of the actual knowledge in which to commence a civil action for damages.... Read More

This is not really a legal malpractice issue but I'll offer what I can. How did the fee arbitration option come about? Was it in the attorney's contract? If it was, what does the contract say about who pays the arbitrator? About where the arbitration is to take place. If the attorney was representing you on a WA state matter, more likely than not, the arbitration would have to take place in the state of WA.... Read More

What is your question? If your attorney does try and withdraw he has to file a Notice of Intent to Withdraw with the Court. The notice allows you 10 days to object to the withdrawal. If you do object, your attorney would have to file a motion to withdraw. If you appear at the motion and tell the court about your situation, it is unlikely a judge will let your attorney withdraw.... Read More

I would e-mail and leave a voicemail with the attorney telling him/her you will be contacting the WA State Bar and an attorney if they don't immediately respond. If they still don't respond, consult an attorney and file a grievance with the Bar. You can file a grievance on-line here: http://www.wsba.org/Licensing-and-Lawyer-Conduct/Discipline/File-a-Complaint-Against-a-Lawyer... Read More

The attorney is required to provide your original file to you upon request. Failure to do so is a violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct. You should consider filing a complaint with the Washington Bar Association. You can find out how to do that here: http://www.wsba.org/Licensing-and-Lawyer-Conduct/Discipline/File-a-Complaint-Against-a-Lawyer... Read More

Not sure what type of form you are talking about. A legal malpractice claim as well as any other negligence claim has to be filed in the form of a complaint. The substance of each complaint will be different so there is no standard form. This response is general in nature and is not legal advice. No attorney client relationship is formed by it. Further, the response does not represent the opinions or views of LexisNexis or its affiliated companies.  ... Read More