What do I do if my lawyer lied to me?

For starters, don't freak out until Monday.

Thanks, but I can't stop it.....having a mild anxiety attack is what I'm doing.......the guy's been flocking weird ever since I retained him 2 months ago!

Sounds like your being misled anyway. He may very well have given you a copy before a case# was assigned. Plus, I'd be inclined to believe the guy who'd have to answer to the Bar if he lied, over the defendant. Over $500, that's pretty unlikely. Give the attorney the benefit of the doubt until Monday.

Indeed. Defendant may be lying just to keep you rattled.

Yes, Bill.....it occurred to me that the defendant wants me to lose trust in my attorney, and so he's fabricating lies (he lies about everything).

Thing is......I've no experience with the law. I don't even know what's supposed to happen, after a complaint is filed, and I'm battling a bunch of really mean characters.

I'm frightened. And I'm a pretty tough chick.

Sorry to hear it. Sounds even more like your attorney deserves the benefit of the doubt though. Get some sleep.

Hi Katya8, welcome to A2K. Hang in there and hopefully you will get this issue straightened out on Monday.

Years ago a friend of mine felt his lawyer was lying about his case because the settlement he received from his accident was a mere pittance of what he should have gotten. He turned around and got another lawyer and sued the first one. He won an extremely large settlement, and his first lawyer was disbarred for taking bribes.

Katya8: Surprisingly, Bill has some good advice: don't get frantic until Monday. It may be that your attorney filed the complaint but that it simply hasn't been served on the defendant yet (around here, the sheriff's office serves complaints, and it can take a while for them to do it). Or the defendant could just be messing with you.

Are you up against a statute of limitations? Did you need to file before Monday or else lose your chance to file the complaint? If not, then even if the attorney failed to get it on file, it's no big deal (although it's disconcerting that he might have lied to you). On the other hand, if you missed the deadline, then you need to look into hiring another attorney and suing the first guy for malpractice.

Your attorney should give you a copy of the complaint, with a date stamp and a stamped case number on the first page (or, at least, that's how I've always seen them -- I don't know what the clerk's procedures are in your jurisdiction). If it was filed on March 25, then it doesn't really matter when the defendant gets a copy -- from your perspective, the important thing is that it's on file.

Good luck, and let us know on Monday how things turned out.

I'd hoped you'd show up here Joe. I only filled in for you because of the time of night. It's tough to get competent counsel at that hour. :wink:

Thanks for the message, Chicago Jo........I got 3 hours sleep, last night......I'm a tiny trainwreck.

So this is how it went down: his secretary called me on the 25th, said they were going to file the complaint that afternoon and that I should bring them $500. (he'd already charged me almost $3000. for doing absolutely n-o-t-h-i-n-g and I'm decidedly not wealthy!)

So I brought the check, was handed a copy of the complaint with his signature on it, and since that's the first complaint I ever saw, I figured all was well and forgot about it till one of the defendents said it hadn't been filed.

I live in a little ****-town in Arizona......the defendents used up 2 lawyers and there may be only one or two left over.

Anyway......mostly what I need advice with is.....if I find out Monday morning that it's true.........what the flock do I DO???????

I signed an agreement. I can't just walk out.

I can't answer that question... but I can tell you that since you received a copy before it was filed, it couldn't possibly contain the date stamp. I'm not an expert (Joe is) but; I'd lay 10 to 1 you're getting upset over nothing. Try to relax until Monday when you can, and in all likelihood will, put these fears to rest.

I may be scared, Bill, but I'm not retarded......I know it couldn't have a number before it was filed, jeeeez!

Well.......the complaint was filed 5 days after I'd been told it would be. I'm gonna see the man tomorrow and I'll ask for a copy with date and number.

I think he should've told me, don't you?

So I still don't know what happens afterwards......lawyers come without instructions.....

if you've got a problem w/ your attorney, and it's a serious problem, you file a grievance with the bar association for your state.

what did he do for your $3000.00? was it just a retainer fee? (Eek!) what kind of case? Criminal?

So here's the thing... My boyfriend got a b and e 4 years and 6 months ago, but the lawyer said if he did 9 months in jail, the court would reduce it to a misdemeanor. He has it on file. Were trying to move into an apartment but can't get in anywhere until's it's expunged but it never should have been there in the first place... HELP!! I don't know what to do in this case

sorry didn't mean to post that here, still learning the site... so what happened with the case?

never was filed,and went to the court house about two years later,and what they has on filed was the two paper that I got when I went to court,two times, and that the only thing was in the file at the court house,never heard from the lawyer,payed him two thousand dollars,and this what i get.what shall I do?

File a complaint with the state Bar Association.

My ex has been playing games with me and the court. It's a complicated situation. We have gone to court 7 times within the last two months(in pro per). He got an attorney and she completely disregarded the petition I submitted in the 1st place, lied to me and got me to sign papers to sell our house at an amount that I already said I didn't want to sell it at. The judge wanted me to get an attorney. I have no money, because my ex quit paying spousal support months ago. I ended up hiring an atty on contingency. He wants money from the sale of our home. I told him exactly what I wanted him to do for me and even wrote it down. When we were in front of the judge, he didn't do anything I asked him to do for me and allowed my ex to get what he wanted, which now made me lose about $28,000. Then he set the spousal support issue for trial. I don't see a reason for this. Then his atty wants me to pay attorney fees. Now I am barely going to get anything from the sale of our house and may not receive spousal support. I am looking into getting another atty, hopefully on the contingency basis. Can I go back to court and request the same things I petitioned for since the atty messed it up for me?
Melanie