Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

missed case conference

Collapse
This topic is closed.
X
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • missed case conference

    I've lost total confidence in my lawyer. He scheduled a case conference without my knowledge and neglected to tell me the date. He only sent me a vague e-mail weeks prior suggesting I should consider settling the outstanding issues to avoid a case conference. I asked him in a followup e-mail to explain a few things about the remaining issues with the seperation agreemnent. He ignored it and did not reply.

    One week later he shows up in court without me, with my ex and her lawyer, and the judge wondering why I failed to appear. Then I get billed for all his time preparing for this. When confronted by me to explain himself, the only thing he could say was that his secretary left a phone message on my answering machine a week earlier. I obviouly did not receive it. I saw no court briefs and was not asked to sign one. He never even bothered to phone me to have a talk about the upcoming case conference. I was left in the dark.

    Now I am geting a large bill for his services which I don't want to pay. I don't want to pay him for his negligence. I am going to ask him to reconsider his bill in light of the fact I received no written communication from him about the court date. Do I have to pay him if he doesn't budge? I will lodge a complaint. I have since settled privately with my ex and no longer require his services.

  • #2
    As a follow up. I understand I can have the bill assessed. I'm not sure what the standards are for reducing the bill. Do I have to pay for unanswered e-mails? Professionally I know a client should be signing a court brief before it is filed. This did not happen. Legally though, is that neccessary and can my lawyer get away with charging for this. I guess I'm concerned that I might have to accept that I got screwed by an incompetent lawyer rather than risk losing an assessment and pay for his costs again. I would appreciate any advice on the assessment process and the likelihood of me reducing the bill.

    Comment

    Our Divorce Forums
    Forums dedicated to helping people all across Canada get through the separation and divorce process, with discussions about legal issues, parenting issues, financial issues and more.
    Working...
    X