Verbal Lease Agreement

I printed out the State Bar of Texas Grievance Form. It requires that I give a lot of personal information, which makes me feel a bit uneasy. Mainly, I just don't want my employer to be made aware of any of this. I'm still considering it.

Do you have a link to the form?

I found the form. It's just a form. You're not required to fill in every space when it requests non-relevant or non-applicable information. In the space where it requests the name of employer, you can write N/A. You can also draft your own complaint (grievance) and then, where the form requests information, you can state, "see attached complaint."

Debra Law,

I am working on my complaint for the State Board. (Thank you.) I don't know how much information or detail to include. Specifically, is it a good idea to attach the attorney's recent letters to me-- pointing out his inconsistencies and his attempts to alter the truth? Should I go for details or concision?



[And yes, I do have all the voice messages saved and have transferred them to cassette.]

I forgot to ask-- If I know the exact date should I still write "On or about..."?

Last week I sent in my complaint to the State Bar of Texas Office of the Chief Disciplinary Counsel. Today I got this response:


"[...] Lawyers licensed in Texas are governed by the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct, and may only be disciplined when their conduct is in violation of one or more of the disciplinary rules. After examining your Grievance, this office has determined that the information provided does not allege any disciplinary rule violation on the part of the lawyer. Accordingly, this Grievance has been classified as an Inquiry and has been dismissed.
You may appeal this determination to the Board of Disciplinary Appeals. Your appeal must be submitted directly to the Board in writing, using the enclosed form, within thirty (30) days of receipt of this notice. [...]"




You bet your ass I'm gonna appeal.

Good for you. Appeal away. Apparently the lawyer (or his big law firm) has friends in the disciplinary office. IMO, his unjustified refusal to return your property to your possession upon your request clearly and unambiguously violated his duty under the rule.

Good luck.

Thanks, Debra Law.
The letter states that "the information provided does not allege any disciplinary rule violation...".
It is quite obvious that I, the complainant, allege several violations. Does the Chief Disciplinary Counsel mean something else when they use this language? Do they perhaps mean that the Counsel, themselves, allege no violations?
My allegations are very clearly stated in the "VIOLATIONS" section of my complaint. To me, it is as if no one gave my complaint any serious attention.
What do you think?

You should review the procedural rules that distinguish between "inquiries" and "complaints." The person responding to your complaint is asserting that your "complaint" fails to allege any facts that would constitute a violation of the rules of professional conduct. Accordingly, it was classified as an "inquiry" and dismissed at the lowest level of the process.

As I recall, the safekeeping of property rule requires the lawyer, if he is holding property that belongs to a third person, to promptly deliver the property to the third person upon request. You requested; he refused. You were entitled to have your own property returned--neither the landlord nor her lawyer had a legal claim to it. IMO, it was a violation, plain and simple. Appeal. Be sure to send a copy of your complaint along with their enclosed form to the board of appeals.

A few days ago I received a reply from the Board of Disciplinary Appeals.

It seems the "appeals process" is just for show. The website lists a Grievance Hotline number. I guess I'll call that and see if they can give a decent explanation.

Outrageous.

The rules clearly require a lawyer to promptly return your property upon your request.

You made a request and unethical lawyer refused to return your property.

You made a complaint to disciplinary authorities and you stated facts that clearly, if proven, establish a violation of the rules . . . .

and yet, disciplinary authorities claim that you failed to state facts that constitute a violation.

Again. Outrageous.

Outrageouse indeed. They will not, evidently, censure one of their own...

Yall might find this saga amusing, Especially you, deb.

I own a 3 story building. Two floors of retail and one of office. The office space (some 8,000 sq ft) was occupied by a single tenent but they outgrew it really fast (2-3 years) so they left. No problem.
I am planning on taking down the building and replacing it with a 9 story structure within a year or so. I can't get any tenants for such short-term a time frame, so I have been giving away space to various non-profits.

But one day this lady came in and wanted to rent a space for a few months. We agreed on a price and she moved in. It was a verbal lease. Her check for the rent bounced and it went down hill quickly from there. She sold 50% interests in the tuxedo rental business to 4 different investors and piled up a bunch of bills with a bunch of folks.
It came to a climax with her getting into a brawl in my parking lot with i
one of the (naive) investors. 5 cops showed up and when she attacked one of them she was hauled away in handcuffs. Never to be seen again.

The cool thing is I never had a written lease with her. She had, I believe, no tenant rights. Vendors who had stuff in her space could and did come and take back what was theirs.

Excellent.