QUESTION
Does my attorney have the right to sign a 583.330 stipulation waiver without my consent?
Asked on Jul 15th, 2016 on Personal Injury - California
More details to this question:
Both sides agreed to waive the five year stipulation without my consent. Defendants did not yet have their IME so my lawyer agreed privately to extend the court date. I am severely handicapped and had already made all of the arrangements (with caregiver) to travel. I am now living out of state. My lawyer is telling me that I have to go to the I.M.E. during the time the trial was supposed to be, and then attend trial two weeks later. This is dangerous for me physically, to have a medical evaluation so close to the trial date because of my severe symptoms aggravated by physical activity. Without my consent or knowledge, my lawyer signed the agreement to postpone trial for only a few weeks, not giving me time to recover from the I.M.E. (which opposing counsel should have already coordinated).
1 ANSWER
I do not know if your attorney had the right to do so, but the defendant is not at fault. You would have to show that you were economically harmed by your attorney's conduct, which would be very difficult to do as normally what happens is the court seats one juror and then declares a continuation of the trial. If the defense was solely at fault for not setting up the medical exam, I doubt your attorney would have agreed to a continuance. ?Find out from him/her why they did so.
Answered on Aug 17th, 2016 at 7:06 AM