Will a lawyer put justice above their obligations to their fellow lawyers in the event they have to sue them?

by **hurst** » Fri Apr 01, 2011 10:05 am

I hired a lawyer approximately 2/10/05 (on retainer) to sue Allstate Insurance Company for refusing to pay me on a valid claim. Date of loss 7/18/04. I was told by the attorney approximately 6/10/06 that allstate refused to settle so if I wanted him to take it to trial I have to give him a minimum of $10,000. Consequently, my file was given to me, so I filed the complaint myself only to discovered that there was a 12 month window to file the complaint. When questioning an old aquaintance about what happened. He said that I should file a legal malpractice lawsuit against my former attorney because he screwed up any chances I had of collecting from allstate. He also said that attorneys won't sue each other because they are afraid that somewhere along the line they might run into each other and revenge might be an issue. I want to know what to do. Can I trust any attorney? If so who?

by **gofraidh34** » Fri Apr 01, 2011 10:07 am

You will need to get an attorney from out of town and perhaps even out of state. Allstate probably paid your attorney off. You can not get a local attorney to file suit, they just won't do it. What you should have done is contact the state Insurance Commissioner in your state. They can make them get off their *** and give you your money. You have nothing to lose by contacting them now. The worse that can happen is they will tell you you waited too long. But your complaint will be on file and could help someone else fighting Allstate.

by **kalvin71** » Fri Apr 01, 2011 10:20 am

You will need to get an attorney from out of town and perhaps even out of state. Allstate probably paid your attorney off. You can not get a local attorney to file suit, they just won't do it. What you should have done is contact the state Insurance Commissioner in your state. They can make them get off their *** and give you your money. You have nothing to lose by contacting them now. The worse that can happen is they will tell you you waited too long. But your complaint will be on file and could help someone else fighting Allstate.

If he delayed your ability to file and made it so you could not recover from the insurance company, you can sue your lawyer for malpractice.

Because of his improperly handling your case... you should win the amount you MIGHT HAVE WON plus damages for the delay.

Don't forget to get the new lawyer to write it up that you want "plus all legal fees" in the settlement. That way, if he's working on a percentage (normal)... you get to keep the amount you get awarded... and then the first lawyer has to pay your new lawyer too.

by **bergh39** » Fri Apr 01, 2011 10:22 am

The other two posters, especially the one that said your lawyer was "paid off", are idiots. Why do people answer questions on Yahoo when they don't know the REAL answer?

Anyway, there are lawyers who, believe it or not, specialize in legal malpractice cases.

The first thing you should do is file a grievance with the local bar association. They will investigate and if the matter is made public, they may do a lot of the heavy lifting for you to make your lawsuit faster and less expensive (because records they keep may be usable by your lawyer in your case against your old lawyer eventually). If nothing else, you'll get the matter on a record somewhere.

Then, call your local bar association, they should have a lawyer referral service that can point you to an attorney who will take a legal malpractice case for you.

by **adalwine** » Fri Apr 01, 2011 10:28 am

Attorneys sue each other all the time. It's all about the benjamins! lol As far as asking if you can trust any attorney, well your guess is as good as mine.

by **tahmelapachme33** » Fri Apr 01, 2011 10:34 am

Allstate has the biggest complaint list next to farmers for not paying out next time pick your insurance company better even if it costs more. sue a lawyer oh my i cant stop laughing.
hold him in contempt of court for not handling your case properly you use the same case number and charge that his respect of the court is obvious by his attitude and work.don't ask for money ask for scations and ask that it be donated to law help for low income families say 25,000 judges perk right up and listen when you don't ask for money all you want is for it not to happen to some one Else

by **chika** » Fri Apr 01, 2011 10:39 am

your friend is right about malpractice he is right about fearing revenge there are no good lawyers, after all they just practice law

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