Discipline for Lawyers

Have you ever paid an attorney to handle a legal matter for you, only to have your attorney not represent you as instructed?

If the answer is "yes", you may want to pay attention.

I consider myself an intelligent person but as I have recently discovered, there is no end to what I do not know. Like many Americans, I was under the impression that there was nothing I could do earlier this year when I was involved in a legal matter in which my attorney ultimately made up his own mind how to settle my case without my input. I ended up losing over 99% of all that I owned in an annulment because my attorney did not bring up the fact that my ex husband had most of my personal possessions from before we were married, therefore I was not awarded any of my own belongings and everything that I was forced to leave behind was disposed of by my ex I thought there was nothing I could do but accept it and move on but I was wrong.

Throughout America, there is a process in which any citizen can file a formal complaint with their home state's Bar Association. The American Bar Association has added a list of contacts for every state to their website. The link to the directory is below.

Directory Of Lawyer Disciplinary Agencies 2009

Disciplinary offices have a list of things they can and can not do for you and it is a good idea to read all the information that your state Bar Association provides, for instance, a disciplinary body can not obtain financial reimbursement for you.

In the State of Tennessee, for example, you can either download or read online the Rules Of Professional Conduct that apply to every attorney that is licensed to practice law in the state of Tennessee. These rules contain what some might think menial items like "A lawyer shall keep a client reasonably informed about the status of a matter and comply with reasonable requests for information within a reasonable time". If your attorney does not give you the pertinent information you need within a reasonable amount of time it can damage your case in court. The wording should also be noted, for example, "A lawyer shall provide competent representation to a client" is vastly different if it reads like "A lawyer should provide competent representation to a client". The difference between these two quotes is the word shall vs. the word should. The first quote, thankfully is taken from the Rules Of Professional Conduct and means that an attorney is required to provide competent representation, there is no legal choice in the matter. The word "should" leaves wiggle room as to whether it is done or not. This is why you should read carefully any document to discern exactly what you are getting yourself into because a lax word here or there can be the difference between being protected or being wide open.

My particular case was settled by my attorney without my input or knowledge. I found out about the settlement, totally by accident, the day after it was finished. I called a woman I knew in the Wayne County, TN., Courthouse in an attempt to get information on my case since my attorney would not speak to me personally. I was informed that the case had been settled the day before and she put a copy of the paperwork in the mail to me. I received paperwork from the Courthouse six days after settlement but my attorney took over two weeks to send me anything at all.

I then found out that I could make a formal complaint and immediately set out to do just that. I was told by someone at with the Board Of Professional Responsibility to write a letter, detailing everything that happened and what my attorney did in response. I received confirmation in less than two weeks but the reply they sent sounded as if I had no complaint to make. I replied with even more details and let them know that I would take it to a higher authority and the media if they chose to not investigate the matter. My persistence paid off and the investigation began in earnest. Letters sent to the attorney in the investigation were not answered, even though they gave him more than two weeks grace for his answer and the case has now gone to the Disciplinary Board.

The point is, even if I can not expect any reimbursement, my persistence will make sure that this attorney can never do this to anyone else. Lawyers are very much like police as in they do not want to go after one of their own, so I may not find a way to take the matter back to court but I will stick to my guns until it is done and will have some satisfaction knowing that resources to protect consumers, even from Legal Malpractice, can be utilized for the good of all.

The moral of this story is that each and every one of us has the right to competent and fair legal representation, and if we do not get what we pay for, we have the right and the means to do something about it.

Expect fair treatment from your attorney. We have a right to competent representation and, if not, we have a right to do something about it.