Do you think what this attorney is doing is illegal? What charges could be pressed, if any?

[gillivray5]

A former family friend was an attorney. We have known this attorney for a long time. A relative of mine wanted to file for divorce, so this relative and I went to discuss with the attorney how to proceed with the divorce. However, this attorney wanted us to sign confidentiality agreements before he talked us. The relative and I read through everything carefully to make sure we weren't signing a retainer agreement. My relative did not have the money to hire an attorney and the relative would have used her sister to help with the case if the attorney wanted to charge fees. This attorney said he would help my relative out without charging and would help file the divorce. If the divorce process got complicated, the relative would then have to find a family law attorney. The relative and I initialed every line and signed the confidentiality agreement which didn't discuss anything related to fees. The attorney's wife(who is in the same law firm as the attorney) signed the agreement instead of the attorney himself. After the meeting(nothing discussed in the meeting is mentioned here), the relative and I asked for a copy of the agreements. The attorney said it was better that he kept the agreements so that the spouse of my relative wouldn't see the agreements. Being good friends with this attorney, we let him keep the agreements even though usually we wouldn't have. Months passed and the attorney didn't discuss anything about attorney's fees or anything of the sort. The attorney proposed to have my relative take a hard-money loan out of my relative's second house so that my relative would have money for everyday expenses during the divorce. My relative takes a couple weeks to think it over as the loan has high interest. Finally, the attorney calls my relative and I into his office. The attorney tells my relative that he(my relative) has bills with the attorney and that the loan was actually supposed to be used to pay the attorney's fees. My relative and I were shocked, but we said to the attorney that he said he would not charge us and that the confidentiality agreement had no mention of fees. We said that we wanted to see the confidentiality agreements and the attorney said he didn't have them. Because this attorney was a family friend, my relative and I left the office disappointed knowing that there was a possibility the attorney would try to get money from us even though we never agreed to hire him as an official attorney. A couple months pass and my relative and I get a bill in the mail from the attorney friend;s law firm for around $20,000 total despite the fact that my relative didn't even file for divorce. The attorney and his spouse's hours of work are shown, along with how much each wants to be paid. Also, we get contracts from the law firm that are altered to look like a retainer agreement. Although a copy of each of our signature is in these altered contracts, there are no initials to be found. One of the altered contracts says that I agree to pay for counseling in home improvement despite not reading about that in the previous agreement. However, I am listed as being part of the divorce in the bill even though I am not married and there is no listing of anything related to "counseling in home improvement" in the bill. In addition, the charges listed in the bill started four days earlier before we even signed contracts of any kind with the attorney friend. My relative and I decided after that the attorney friend has gone crazy and is no longer worth being around. We ignore the attorney's friend request to talk about the bill. When we came back from vacation right after New Year's, another friend of my relative tells us that the former attorney friend told her that my relative is robbing him of money because my relative refuses to pay him. In addition, the former attorney friend told the other friend of my relative about the details of my relative's plan to file for divorce(my relative hasn't filed yet). My relative told her other friends what this attorney was doing to her and they told her to report him to the BAR to have his license taken away. My relative and I originally were going to pay the attorney some money as a courtesy but now he won't be getting any money from us. We are seeking legal advice to decide what to do. If you think that this attorney would be disbarred, would the disbarment be temporary or permanent? If temporary, how long would the disbarment last? Would the attorney's wife be punished also(she signed the original contracts and her hours are on the bill) or just the attorney himself? My relative and I currently live in California. The attorney and his wife practice law in California

[mads]

There are always two sides to every story. Perhaps there was a misunderstanding. Attorney fee agreements are typically not required to be in writing. Also, many states are lax when it comes to invoicing and billing. Thus, it is possible to be surprised by a bill when there is a misunderstanding.

In any event, two issues are a cause of serious concern. First, $20,000 is a lot of attorney's fees when there is not a lawsuit filed. If no lawsuit has been filed, the bar will clearly place the burden on the attorney to explain himself. Second, he seems to be combining a law practice with a non-law practice which also creates some ethical problems.

I think you do need to consider filing a bar complaint, but I cannot tell you what the results will be. State bars operate more as an economic protection mechanism than they do to protect the public. Even in my state, which is rather strict, they tend to slap lawyers on the wrist and say "bad boy." Lawyers often only receive a public reprimand (just a publication in a paper no one but attorneys read). State bar associations, the bar exam, and all the other BS is really a disgrace. They just don't get off their privileged rears to go after all the scum attorneys that steal and rob people every day.

[ludano17]

The place to find out if your complaint against an attorney in California has an validity is at the below resource.