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[claudius]

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 $17,000-18,000 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. There is a section in these altered contracts that states that attorney's fees are $300/hr. The bill shows the number of hour worked for each service apparently provided(despite my relative not filing) multiplied by $300. This is why the bill is around $17,000-18,000. 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 the attorney refuses to give up the original confidentiality agreements or insists that the altered contracts are the originals, would I still be able to have him disbarred? My relative and I currently live in California. The attorney and his wife practice law in California.

[urian27]

Did the attorney ever send you anything in writing about case work performed? If not, then probably the attorney has zero chance of convincing any judge that the attorney did any actual work on your case and is entitled to any compensation.

The attorney may claim to have an "oral" agreement to be compensated for "services rendered". However, it is standard practice for an attorney to send out periodic statements of the work they do...if the attorney didn't do this then probably you have nothing to worry about.

Best to consult with another attorney who can explain to you how to get this bad one off your backs. A good attorney can help you so that although you will need to pay the good attorney in the end the bad attorney will need to compensate you for those new costs.

Good Luck!

[taillefer]

This post is way too long. Contact your state bar association to file a complaint.

[tanishia]

This post is way too long. Contact your state bar association to file a complaint.

Your he-said, he-said, she-said, she-said, reportage is confusing. Any responsible attorney reviewing this matter would want to see the original documents, which you cannot provide here. BTW, is there some reason you cannot use paragraphs in your writing?