Legal Malpractice
Q: I am Marggi, my sister is the one getting the divorce. Her case has just been declared a mistrial because her attorney is an idiot. This whole thing has been too much for her to handle , she was prepared to be broke and homeless, but not to have to do the whole process over again. She owes her attorney so much money that she cannot pay a retainer for a new one. We (the rest of the family) can come up with the retainer for her, but she is so far in debt to the old lawyer, it is more than all of us together can handle for her. Since the lawyer was clearly, no exageration, negligent in his handling of the case, can we withhold further payments and get away with it? How do we proceed when we need a lawyer to take down another lawyer? The whole idea makes me gag, but we need the money to pay a new lawyer so the ex does not end up with Sis's inheritance and saddle her with his gambling debts. Can anyone here give me some guidance? Is it worth it to file charges against a lawyer? Can he sue US if we refuse to pay him?
A: I'm sure that the judge didn't look at your sister and her lawyer and say something like "I'm declaring a mistrial because you, sir, are an idiot". Apologies to them, but lawyers and judges generally seem to be a tight fraternity, and defendants and plaintiffs are not members of that fraternity. Damn it, a lawyer cannot get a judgment against YOU for something somebody else did. You didn't sign the contract with the lawyer, did you? No, you do not foot the bill if he sues your sister, except perhaps to voluntarily pay her for a lawyer to defend the suit, and if the evidence is at hand, to fund the countersuit. Once again, do you have documentation of his incompetence/idiocy? If you do, then perhaps you have a case. Perhaps the judge who declared the mistrial would be willing to put in writing his reasons for doing so. If they strongly speak to the incompetent representation of your sister's lawyer,