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  • Is This Normal

    Okay everyone 3 weeks ago my friend picked up a letter from his lawyer that his lawyer received 5 day's before it was given to him. So he went home and read his ex's response to the agreement and thought about how he wanted to reply.... so three day's later gave it back to his lawyer along with his response.

    It has taken his lawyer over two weeks to put his response into a letter, actually he is still waiting for his copy to approve before it is sent out and was told that maybe this week he would get it.

    IS THIS NORMAL - 3 weeks to write a letter.

    Before x-mas he was given a draft sep. agreement and there was a lot of minor errors orit and it took his lawyer 5 weeks to correct.

    IS THIS NORMAL - 5 weeks for changes

    Jeeze if I worked that slow I don't know if I would even have a job.....

  • #2
    Hi honey,

    It can be normal, depending on the situation.

    It can take a lot for a lawyer to review an agreement. It is their job to make sure that their client is protected, to make sure wording in documents are correct, and that all documents are based on the laws of Ontario (or, whichever province the parties reside in).

    Also, please keep in mind that it is very possible that delays like this could be as a result of the client (in your case, your friend's ex-spouse). Since lawyers need to consult with their client before moving forward, it's possible that the lawyer has not been able to get a hold of your friend's ex-spouse, or has not been able to get a clear position from her, and thus the lawyer cannot yet provide your friend's counsel with a response.

    Of course, it's different in every situation. I can see why someone would be frustated with this kind of delay for a one-page agreement. It all depends on the length of the agreement, the issues that are being dealt with in the agreement, and how much negotiation is involved with each issue.

    Lindsay

    Comment


    • #3
      Honey I'm Home....That is EXACTLY what frustrates me the most. I am 3 years into a separation and it seems every time there is correspondence to go back and forth between lawyers, it is 3 - 4 weeks on either side. Nothing is fast. We have tried to come to an agreement ourselves, and pretty much have with the exception of one issue and its back to the lawyers again. I'm into week #3 waiting on a reply from his lawyer. arhhhhh!

      Comment


      • #4
        Lindsay:

        I could understand if he was waiting for a response from the "other" lawyer. But this is not the case -

        His lawyer gave him a 1 and 1/2 page (times roman 12 point) letter to read from HER lawyer. My friend read the letter and wrote out what he thought was exceptable and what was not. Approx one page of items.

        2 weeks ago he takes the letter with his page of notes to his lawyer. Apparently his lawyer has not even looked at it his response.

        Therefore, this has nothing to do with his ex. and it has nothing to do with HER lawyer, this is between him and his lawyer and his lawyer not responding.

        Comment


        • #5
          Frustration????

          I go through the same stuff with my lawyer. Everything moves at snails pace!! It is enough to drive you crazy. I will leave a message with my lawyer and then I wont hear back for 2 weeks and then she tells me I need to be in her office that day to sign papers due to a deadline. I have to drop everything ...work....child care etc to be there. It is frustrating because I had called weeks ago to set up appt. to do this.

          Anyways....unfortunatly....lawyers move at their pace and then charge fees through the roof.....

          Comment


          • #6
            Sounds pretty normal to me, but then my divorce has taken over 7 years..and there wasn't any property and I didn't want any extra money or anything..just trying to drop the spousal support..between by ex's remarkable talent to procrastinate and the lawyers incredibly slow response times. Mine should have been simple and straight forward....

            good luck to your friend, I know its frustrating..but I don't know what else can be done.

            Comment


            • #7
              OKAY EVERYONE LISTEN UP.... NOBODY READ THE QUESTION....

              Jeeze guy's everyone of your answers above is WRONG....
              NOT ONCE DID I MENTION COMMUNICATION WITH ANOTHER LAWYER

              THE ONLY LAWYER IN THE QUESTION IN MY FRIENDS LAWYER

              you guy's all went off to say how long you have to wait cause another lawyer has the paper work, blah blah blah....

              whatever.....

              Comment


              • #8
                honey,

                I'm sorry you didn't get the answer you were looking for. I think everyone read your question, but then read my post and responded from there.

                There could be a variety of reasons why the lawyer is taking so long. Has he been attending at court a lot for other cases? Has he taken vacation time? How often has your friend followed up with his lawyer? If your friend is that dissatisfied with his lawyer's performance, he may want to consider shopping around for a new one.

                Lindsay

                Comment


                • #9
                  Lindsay:

                  Thank you for actually giving me the up and up. Unfortunately because the FRO are dinging him FULL child support and he also has to pay the FULL MORTGAGE without any help from the princess... ha ha ha he wasn't even in a position financially to hire I lawyer and borrowed the money to hire the lawyer, going even further into debt. He hired the lawyer at the end of September and as I've said in previous posts after paying out over $2000 a month it does not leave enough for him to live on let alone go out and hire ANOTHER lawyer.

                  From what I understand since he gave his notes on the letter BACK to his lawyer he has called two/three times a week. My self I think this is uncalled for. No the lawyer has not been on holidays and the lawyer always seems to be in his office.

                  Just glad it's not me cause Lindsay I would be sitting on the lawyers front step waiting.

                  Cheers have a good one and again thanks that's what I thought

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Hey, settle down, Honey! (hee, hee, how often have I said that???)

                    I think Sherif28 answered your question with direct comments about the timeliness (or lack thereof) of his/her lawyer, and I read both Amber and Jlalex's comments to be indicative of both lawyers involved.

                    It is frustrating... my own lawyer and I have had a few go-rounds about this, too. I know there are times when my case can't be his first priority, and for the most part, I'm very patient about it. But there are times when I feel mine is the "emergent issue" that should be taking precidence for him, and often doesn't. What really irks me is that weeks will go by without any action on his part (sometimes understandably), and then I've got to spend all kinds of time catching him up on where we were at before and reminding him of pertinent facts we've already discussed... all on my dime!

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      SORRY SWEETIE... HA HA HA

                      It just got me that everyone was going on about another lawyer... and really my question did not even involve another lawyer...

                      Anyway you might want to check out some of my other threads - ... see political issues... or general chat..

                      have fun

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Hi everyone,

                        Jeffrey has recently added a new article to his blog called "8 roadblocks to settling your divorce."

                        Lindsay

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          the ex

                          I will defend the fact that lawyers can only ask for information or a response from there clients.That client can take as much time as possible to respond.The only alternative is contempt.But be very carfull due to lawyers love this fighting going on.They smell cash. the more you fight the more money they make.Be very cautious on the amount of paper work and talk over the phone dont go to the office.I believe the rate over the phone is $50.00 apposed to $200.00 plus for visites.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Hi stephen,

                            A lawyer will charge the same hourly rate for everything, including phone calls, reviewing documents, reviewing e-mails, and in-person meetings. How much is charged is determined by the amount of time spent on each task.

                            I don't agree that all lawyers "smell cash" and love to see their clients suffer. There are many lawyers out there that are dedicated to alleviating the pain and heartache that comes with family law situation and keeping costs down for their clients. For example, Jeffrey I don't think he would have so much free and informative information available on the WWW if he was only interested in money.

                            Lindsay

                            Comment

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