HISTORY:
My lawyer and I had a disagreement. I'd told her to ask for a specific amount for spousal and when we went to the ninth hearing, she asked for 2/3 of the amount I'd requested (and was eventually awarded as indefinite spousal support). She did not tell me before hand that she wouldn't follow my directions. Because of my telling her afterwards that I was angry about it; she was going to fire me. Then when we went to the tenth hearing - she was there and got a trial date set. (I didn't know she's already fired me as a client)
She told me that I'd have to represent myself. Since I never got a copy of the order that she'd fired me; I figured she was just blowing steam about a long, involved case where my self-represented ex refused to cooperate or even show up half the time at hearings.
SPEED:
There were 8 documents she filed. From the time the judge made the order until the time she actually got them typed up and filed in the court was an average of 113 days. It took her over 3 months from the time the marital home sold until she gave me my portion of the money although the order said I should get the money immediately.
MONEY:
I told her when we got to $8K for her fees, that I was going to stop and just live on my interim spousal support. By then the home had sold, we had the divorce but no separation agreement - so I would have been out less then $10K of equalization payments for assets ex kept. I would ask her after every court appearance and she said we still had a ways to go to get to the $8K. When the house sold, she kept $16,555 for her fees! I was stunned. She will not give me an itemized invoice for this.
OTHER STUFF:
The judge had ordered ex to pay most of a credit card bill but that $1K was in dispute and would be settled in the settlement agreement. She took it out of his home proceeds anyway. When the court evicted him, he asked for one day extra - she e-mailed him that the only way I'd let him stay the extra day was to give me a ring appraised at $1,500... I did not know she did that and feel it was wrong of her to make that determination on her own. The court ordered me to pay the house payments after the eviction and she did not deduct that from his portion.
THE TRIAL:
Four days (two working and two weekend), she e-mailed to see if I needed any documents to represent myself at trial. This was the first I knew she really wasn't going to represent me. She refused to give me some of the documents I requested. Two days before the trial she e-mailed me a paper that should have been filed with the court a week before saying I was representing myself. In that e-mail she said I should have had my stuff to the court a week prior to trial and the judge may postpone the trial because I didn't do that. I was up until 4AM for 4 days compiling documentation in triplicate.
After the trial my ex gave me a document that my lawyer had process served him - in that document dated in early August, she had fired herself as my lawyer. I never did get a copy of that document and went to trial in early November.
I think I got a better settlement than I would have had she represented me. I also feel that I was able to redress the wrongs against my ex that she did. I wanted a good settlement; but I wanted a fair settlement not an underhanded one.
What options do I have? Try to I talk to her? Hire a taxing master to dispute her bill? Talk to another lawyer about turning this into a big case? Go to the law society? I was so excited to finally be done with court after 28 months of appearances; and then to discover she'd pulled such underhanded tricks really discouraged me.
Thanks,
Hephzibah
My lawyer and I had a disagreement. I'd told her to ask for a specific amount for spousal and when we went to the ninth hearing, she asked for 2/3 of the amount I'd requested (and was eventually awarded as indefinite spousal support). She did not tell me before hand that she wouldn't follow my directions. Because of my telling her afterwards that I was angry about it; she was going to fire me. Then when we went to the tenth hearing - she was there and got a trial date set. (I didn't know she's already fired me as a client)
She told me that I'd have to represent myself. Since I never got a copy of the order that she'd fired me; I figured she was just blowing steam about a long, involved case where my self-represented ex refused to cooperate or even show up half the time at hearings.
SPEED:
There were 8 documents she filed. From the time the judge made the order until the time she actually got them typed up and filed in the court was an average of 113 days. It took her over 3 months from the time the marital home sold until she gave me my portion of the money although the order said I should get the money immediately.
MONEY:
I told her when we got to $8K for her fees, that I was going to stop and just live on my interim spousal support. By then the home had sold, we had the divorce but no separation agreement - so I would have been out less then $10K of equalization payments for assets ex kept. I would ask her after every court appearance and she said we still had a ways to go to get to the $8K. When the house sold, she kept $16,555 for her fees! I was stunned. She will not give me an itemized invoice for this.
OTHER STUFF:
The judge had ordered ex to pay most of a credit card bill but that $1K was in dispute and would be settled in the settlement agreement. She took it out of his home proceeds anyway. When the court evicted him, he asked for one day extra - she e-mailed him that the only way I'd let him stay the extra day was to give me a ring appraised at $1,500... I did not know she did that and feel it was wrong of her to make that determination on her own. The court ordered me to pay the house payments after the eviction and she did not deduct that from his portion.
THE TRIAL:
Four days (two working and two weekend), she e-mailed to see if I needed any documents to represent myself at trial. This was the first I knew she really wasn't going to represent me. She refused to give me some of the documents I requested. Two days before the trial she e-mailed me a paper that should have been filed with the court a week before saying I was representing myself. In that e-mail she said I should have had my stuff to the court a week prior to trial and the judge may postpone the trial because I didn't do that. I was up until 4AM for 4 days compiling documentation in triplicate.
After the trial my ex gave me a document that my lawyer had process served him - in that document dated in early August, she had fired herself as my lawyer. I never did get a copy of that document and went to trial in early November.
I think I got a better settlement than I would have had she represented me. I also feel that I was able to redress the wrongs against my ex that she did. I wanted a good settlement; but I wanted a fair settlement not an underhanded one.
What options do I have? Try to I talk to her? Hire a taxing master to dispute her bill? Talk to another lawyer about turning this into a big case? Go to the law society? I was so excited to finally be done with court after 28 months of appearances; and then to discover she'd pulled such underhanded tricks really discouraged me.
Thanks,
Hephzibah
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