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  • What to do when ex’s lawyer won’t respond?

    Once again ex’s lawyer is not responding. Back in November I am informed ex has a new lawyer and offer will be submitted shortly, e mails and phone messages left by my lawyer go unanswered, February court papers are finally served along with an offer to settle. In April I respond with a counter offer.

    My lawyer has sent emails since mid June when my offer expired and the only response from exs lawyer is, “ we are close on some issues and will be sending a proposal shortly”.

    I can’t afford to have my lawyer continue to send emails or leave messages for a lawyer who doesn’t respond and at the same time I need information.

    Ex has stopped paying support again, this also happened in Nov. He did pay arrears in Feb. and has continued to pay until these past two months and is now away until middle of August so it is unlikely he will be paying anything for August.

    I don’t know how to proceed. What do I instruct my lawyer to do at this time? Stronger worded emails, pull all offers and proceed to court? I’m very frustrated.

  • #2
    Get your lawyer to send an email with a timeframe. EG. on such and such a date we will be proceeding with our motion or whatever unless the matters are settled.
    On that note, maybe your ex's lawyer cannot get ahold of him because he is away?

    Comment


    • #3
      I would instruct your lawyer to stop contacting the other lawyer, endless letters and emails just cost you money and result in nothing.

      My ex played this game for over 2 years and when I go back and total the cost of endless letters back and forth, it added thousands of dollars to my legal bill.

      You did well sending an offer with a time limit, the limit is expired, they are out of luck.

      You should decide if you want to send another offer, or an offer that is not so great but within what a court would likely decide, so that you can have a reasonable offer on the table to avoid future court costs.

      With my ex, when she turned down a good offer, I'd follow with a worse (for her) offer. The longer she waited, the more it cost her and the less of a compromise I was offering. In part, this made up for my ongoing legal expenses.

      Court papers have been served, if it were me I would sit still, mention her lack of response to the case conference judge and imply that all this was unnecessary if she had be responsive.

      Comment


      • #4
        On that note, maybe your ex's lawyer cannot get a hold of him because he is away?<O</O
        His lawyer indicated at the beginning of June that there was a proposal that she would be forwarding shortly. The fact that my ex left for vacation 2 days ago should be irrelevant. He has had plenty of time to communicate with his lawyer. For some reason his lawyer is dragging her feet on this. It could simply be she is too busy with other cases, her excuse is usually she is just finishing a trial and will be giving her attention to this matter shortly.


        <O
        Court papers have been served, if it were me I would sit still, mention her lack of response to the case conference judge and imply that all this was unnecessary if she had be responsive.<O</O

        He served court papers on me and it is his lawyer that is being un responsive.

        You should decide if you want to send another offer, or an offer that is not so great but within what a court would likely decide, so that you can have a reasonable offer on the table to avoid future court costs.<O</O
        <O
        I sent a counter offer to his that was within what a court would likely decide, so there is a reasonable offer, (I am or was willing to negotiate this), currently on the table.

        <O</O
        With my ex, when she turned down a good offer, I'd follow with a worse (for her) offer. The longer she waited, the more it cost her and the less of a compromise I was offering.
        I don’t know if he has officially turned down my offer. All his lawyer has communicated, (which took place at the beginning of June), is that we were close on some issues.

        <O</O</O
        He, (ex), filed court papers with an offer to settle and I sent a counter offer. Not counting the previous 2 years of negotiating, that’s all that has happened since he filed a court case.

        <O</OWhat motion do I proceed with?<O</O
        </O
        </O

        Comment


        • #5
          You instruct your lawyer to push forward with the court and to cease communications with other attorney.

          Think of every letter, email, etc that your lawyer send on your behalf as containing a $100 bill, because in all likelyhood that's what it's costing you.

          Comment


          • #6
            I am the respondent, not the applicant, does this make a difference?

            Do I need to start my own court application?

            Comment


            • #7
              Doesn't the enforcement agency kick in when child support is not paid?

              Comment


              • #8
                The funny thing is last year my ex sent me a few emails telling me I needed to manage my lawyer, how to manage my lawyer and how my lawyer had a responsibility to see me and discuss my case in a timely manner and if my lawyer couldn’t do this, I should find someone who could. All of this because of a ridiculous time line my ex had attached to an offer. Since my ex hired this new lawyer, it seems to be his new lawyer who is delaying and not responding. I really want to send him back his own words, but I won’t.

                Originally posted by Mess View Post
                I would instruct your lawyer to stop contacting the other lawyer, endless letters and emails just cost you money and result in nothing.
                Okay, so I instruct my lawyer to send an email with a time limit on it, say next Friday. My ex is now out of town until middle of August, am I now being un-reasonable if his lawyer can’t communicate this deadline to him?
                <O</O

                Comment


                • #9
                  My lawyer has just emailed me informing that exs lawyer is on vacation. My lawyer wants to prepare an application for ongoing support as well as serve an Appointment for Questioning.

                  Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think these two procedures cost a bit of money.

                  I'm thinking that whether or not I serve these papers or wait until all parties are back from vacation, it will be September before anything happens.

                  From where a I sit, I do nothing, or I spend money to get exs lawyers attention.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Questioning can take a few hours with a transcript also to be paid for.

                    If the received financial disclosure raises questions, you need answers.
                    Where I come from, you can send opposing party a court filed document which is a list of written questions with a defined date ( they get 30 days to respond) and that might be cheaper. Your lawyer will probably know if that is just as effective. Be sure to add to the questions "and provide the documentation to prove it" or something like that.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by beebie View Post
                      Questioning can take a few hours with a transcript also to be paid for.

                      If the received financial disclosure raises questions, you need answers.
                      This is what confuses me, I don't think my ex's financial disclosure raises questions, but my lawyer does.

                      Where I come from, you can send opposing party a court filed document which is a list of written questions with a defined date ( they get 30 days to respond) and that might be cheaper. Your lawyer will probably know if that is just as effective.
                      I will ask my lawyer if this is what he intends to send.

                      If my exs lawyer is out of town, then I would think this can't be sent until she is back. So that's why I think either way it will be Sept. before anything happens.

                      However, this strategy sends a message that ex's lawyer needs to pay attention I guess.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by NBDad View Post
                        You instruct your lawyer to push forward with the court and to cease communications with other attorney.

                        Think of every letter, email, etc that your lawyer send on your behalf as containing a $100 bill, because in all likelyhood that's what it's costing you.
                        On Friday I instructed my lawyer to file an application for support and not to wait for exs lawyer to return from vacation. My date of separation is fast approaching 3 years and my lawyer informed me that this date is important in order to seek retroactive support.

                        I have been thinking about this since Fri. and I think this consistent delay from exs. lawyer could be a strategy on their part. Delay, delay, delay and then oops, sorry.

                        My question is, if I am the respondent, can I now start an application of my own?

                        At this point I think I need a strategy that gets exs lawyers attention, that lets her know I am not going to sit bye and let her delay endlessly.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          This past Monday my application for retroactive and ongoing support was filed with the court and served to exs. lawyer.

                          This morning my lawyer was informed that this lawyer is no longer representing my ex. and he has re-retained his first lawyer.

                          <OI find this very interesting. It is almost 1 year to the day that ex. ceased to be a client of this lawyer, (because this lawyer does not go to court), and my ex retained a new lawyer who only takes cases that are headed to trial.

                          <O</OAt this point last year, I/we were negotiating, when out of the blue my lawyer was informed of the exs. change in council and that an application had been filed with the courts, I did not initiate the court proceedings.
                          <O</O
                          Ex. filed an offer, I responded with a counter offer, and then nothing until the email this morning indicating the change in lawyers.
                          <O</O
                          I don’t know what to make of this. Why has he gone back to a lawyer who doesn’t go to court when he initiated the court action?
                          <O</O
                          What happens with this application for support that I just filed and served to his now former lawyer?
                          <O</O
                          Can the new, (previous), lawyer delay everything because he will need to get caught up with what has transpired in the last year?
                          <O</O
                          Can I request that no such delay take place?
                          <O</O
                          I’m really frustrated and confused. We are approaching 3 years since separation and nothing is settled.<O</O

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Okay, so exs new (previous) lawyer said he would get back to my lawyer yesterday and there has been no communication so far.

                            I can send my lawyer an email asking him to find out whats going on, and be charged for doing so or I can do nothing. From my perspective I have been waiting since May for a response and right now I am very impatient.

                            I don't think I should have to keep spending money to find out when exs lawyer is going to respond, but I don't know what else to do.

                            Technically exs lawyer was only retained this week, but he was exs lawyer for all of last year, and he is familiar with the file. There is not a lot of catching up to do because in the past 12 months the exs other lawyer delayed responding for about 8 months! Not a lot happened in those 8 months.

                            Once again everything is stalled because I am waiting to hear from the other side.

                            How do I keep this moving forward?

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Oh yes, the delays. Been there, done that. Would still be there if I didn't force my ex's lawyer to finally show up.

                              What happens with this application for support that I just filed and served to his now former lawyer?
                              You should have been notified by his new counsel if there was a change in representation. Otherwise, you are supposed to serve it to the last counsel on record. Send a copy to the "new" lawyer, but proceed with your motion anyhow.

                              Can the new, (previous), lawyer delay everything because he will need to get caught up with what has transpired in the last year?
                              Most likely. You might as well save yourself the time and money, and check with the new lawyer now if they will be prepared for whatever court date you have. A judge will not likely force the matter if it is reasonable the lawyer needs more time to prepare.

                              How to force the issue along? If they say they won't be ready or do not respond, offer three options of other dates, with maybe 7 calendar days to respond to you. If you hear nothing, pick a new date amongst the three you suggested and serve new papers with one of the new dates. If they do respond with suggestions of dates, try to find one that works for everyone and go with that. Consent is the best option, but with an unresponsive lawyer, give options and a response timeline - THEN BE FIRM AND FOLLOW THROUGH. Take control.

                              Can I request that no such delay take place?
                              If you had firm proof that the delays were on purpose, or in bad faith, perhaps you could get an order of sorts. But ultimately you want to get in front of a judge asap, so get a firm date set and show every intention of following through. If there is an offer in their back pocket, hopefully it will show up before things get to court.

                              Comment

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