Before my lawyers - Mediator # 1
Unlike my wife who had been consulting with several lawyers prior to our separation, I thought we would progress in good faith through mediation. One day in March 2005, she announced to me and the mediator that she had signed a lease for an apartment and would be moving out. My thoughts focused on my son first, how could he be prepared for this trauma?Lawyer # 1
Several days before her scheduled move, she took my sleeping son from his bed to destinations unknown. Now I needed a lawyer quickly. I chose one who advertised in the yellow pages as specializing in Men’s Rights thinking that would be best for obtaining access to my son.Lawyer # 2
For only $5,000 flat fee he would provide legal service up to a trial. Well some advertise less than a $1,000 for a simple divorce, so it seemed I should get good service.
He emphasized the idea to move quickly and be the Plaintiff. There was one difficulty, where was she? He served her by certified mail, which she refused. She served me by process server (unnecessary, because it didn’t occur to me to evade service). My case was filed first, but service failed. Her action was accepted because of successful service. My action was dismissed as redundant and I was joined as defendant.
She filed for sole custody and also filed for restricted visitation for me. My lawyers have refused to file for visitation for me on the grounds that it would be redundant. Thus the opposition continues to control the motions on my visitation. (That’s right it makes no sense).
She filed restraining orders freezing me out of everything while at the same time raiding everything for herself, since she was yet to be served with restraining orders.
So what was my phone book lawyer doing, not much, he had my cash. Turns out, not only was this guy not a Men’s Right’s specialist, he wasn’t even a divorce specialist. He did just about anything in the northern half of our state. Living in the most populated metro area with the biggest court, most lawyers confine themselves to just one or two counties, not half the state. The result, he was never available, nothing got done.
So forget the phone book. I got a reference from a friend. I interviewed the lawyer. She was confident that she could go against the opposition, she was very experienced, only divorce, only two counties.No Lawyer – Pro Se
Things started out good, progress was being made. Then the opposition started playing hard ball. I was told a rosy story only to find out later (by demanding inter-lawyer correspondence) that things were headed south.
Then I had a year end bonus, representing 2.5 years of child support (which equals my mortgage) seized. For six months the lawyers bickered while my money sat, inaccessible to me.
The stress on my lawyer was showing, at one point she was near tears because she could not overcome the opposition’s tactics. This wasn’t going to work, even she knew it. I expressed my desire to discharge her, she petitioned the court to withdrawal. Motion denied.
Whoa, I’m stuck? I waited until five minutes before the next hearing, I informed the bailiff that I was not being represented by competent counsel and was being deprived of my constitution right to due process.Lawyer # 3
The judge’s hand was forced, he’d been set up, this would be an appealable error. Bad mark on the record. I was called into chambers (the inner sanctum) while my wife sat outside like an ass/statue.
My lawyer was told to vacate the defendant’s chair, I was invited to sit down. In 30 minutes I took care of 6 of 8 motions that had been stale for six months, including the six month hold on the bonus. I’ll have to post about the in-chambers experience it was bizarre.
The judge was pleased and he didn’t want the progress to slip by (the opposition has a habit of reneging on the deal). He ordered the parties to stay until the motion judgment entries (AJE) could be written, reviewed, signed by all parties, signed by the judge. I signed as Pro Se defendant.
But it is a club, and as impressed as he was, he told me it was “too complex” for me to do alone and ordered me to find another lawyer in three weeks. Actually I don’t think this is legal, but I was intimidated.
OK, now I’m doing research. State Superlawyer Award standing. Matrimonial professional ratings, mediation practice, trial litigation experience, detailed interview. Well someone, my prior lawyer or the opposition had gotten to some, and they withdrew. They all know each other, great.Lawyer # 4?
The judge is impressed with my choice, he’s even more impressed with the results. For the first time, the opposition has been brought to the bargaining table, making progress. Guess what, one trick pony pulls a last minute hard ball. Even I saw it coming, what’s up that it wasn’t averted?
My lawyer tells me she can do it “cus she can” and lawyers have a license to f—k with people.
I’m not happy!
I wish I could retain the firm that was my first choice. But the odds of the judge allowing another change is unlikely.Mediator # 2
The parenting plan already names a mediator to deal with post decree issues and hopefully expand my access.
So that’s the history so far. Pretty screwed up…
3 comments:
Something else that you might want to add to your grid is that they don't accept credit - you have to literally give them either cash or a check. This is because you can always call your credit card company and cancel your order as a dissatisfied customer - a normal business practice.
Then they're so busy. Busy busy busy - unable to handle the client load and respond within a reasonable amount of time.
It must be nice to have a job where customers don't have to come first but you'll get a big fat paycheck unconditionally.
In my state, many actually do accept credit cards. But they can also get the court to seize assets to pay their fees.
That’s an interesting issue, charge their fees on a card then call the company and say you are dissatisfied. The lawyer would turn around and re-bill you. And if that didn’t work they could ask the court to take action to get fees or they could withdrawal as counsel.
As a consultant you are left to more risk in collecting fees. I remember one time when a real big accounts receivable got delayed in the client's bureaucracy and we did not get our paycheck until it came through (life in a small consultancy).
But another big issue would be (big surprise) transaction fees charged on a credit card. These can also vary by state. By accepting a credit card, the lawyer would have to pay a percentage to the card processing center.
Lawyers make airline overbooking look tame. My 2nd lawyer had 45 active cases at one time, which left her room for about 30 minutes per month per client. You could wait more than a week for a call back.
Customer satisfaction - not only do they get paid for sure, but you need a judge to fire them and you can’t get a second opinion (you must discharge one lawyer before getting a new one). Sweet deal for them, raw deal for the client.
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