I have a friend (really, not me) that hired an attorney for bankruptcy in May. It is now November and the attorney hasn't filed yet. He stalls, including just recently asking for October financial statements after the date he said he was going to court to file. As a result, several creditors have filed lawsuits against my friend's business. The attorney has taken multiple vacations and complains that he can't reach other parties in order to complete the paperwork to file. (In one of these cases, my friend went to the attorney's office, called the other party and reached the other person immediately...) This is especially frustrating to me since I am finishing law school and they are asking if this behavior is kosher. I don't think it is but I want to check with my lawyer friends here to get some advice. I fear that complaining will only slow this guy down and mentioning malpractice will make him grind to a halt. Help!
Has the lawyer gotten paid yet? Maybe there's a $ sign stuck in the carburator... that's why the mechanic ain't fixin' it...
Sounds to me like he hired a lazy attorney. Is it too late to find a new one? Granted I know nothing about the process.
Threaten to go to the state oversight board (or whatever it's called). I heard that usually gets them going.
My concern on doing that is that you are starting over in the process and wasting more time and money.
The thing he has to look at is how much time and money he will continue spending on this guy compared to maybe a more efficient attorney. I know there are several attorneys on this board, they should be able to advise.
Ask for a return of the retainer and get another attorney. For whatever reason, this guy isn't able to spend the time on your friends file right now. No shortage of lawyers out there.
The lawyer's got to know he's screwing up. ANd that the delays are costing your friend. IF he insists on keeping the money, then you can threaten a complaint. More then likely he'll either get off his ass right away, or eat his time and be done with it. But you never know. Lawyers are odd . I'd ask. Worse case -- he deals with the file? It's worth the conversation.
Edit: OK. Update. So my friends talks to this guys today and basically asks "what the deal? why haven't you filed?" The attorney says "I will file on Tuesday but the court will ask for the financial statements for last month quickly so I need them immediately." Sounds good so far. If he doesn't file, my friend is going to contact the referring attorney and ask "is this normal?" (which they know it isn't) do we need to start looking for another attorney that can handle this case? Maybe his fellow attorney can light a fire under him.
