Legal help. Confused?!?!?

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If the lawyer will not return your calls or contact you to give you updates. If you do not follow the advice of the lawyer (ex: He tells you not to sell your property until the divorce is finalized but you do it anyway). If you do not keep your account balance with the law firm paid to their expectations.

tweedbfly

A failing client Attorney relationship could develop due to communication styles. One may not actually hear what the other is trying to convey. one may not have the vocabulary style needed to thoroughly convey what they are trying to say. A highly competent attorney would restate the question or answer and ask the client if that was what they were meaning, this can be time consuming but well worth it in the Long run. cultural back ground can make a big difference as well. Perceived attitudes between the two can be the biggest problem.

CatLaw

Not all lawyers limit their communication to verbal. My firm, in an attempt to eliminate confusion, always follows up each face to face meeting with a letter. We also send letters prior to and after every court appearance..

Even with all that paperwork there are still failing client/attorney relationships. The two major areas are taking the attorney's advice and paying the bill.

As an employment firm we often (as much as possible) broker settlements between former employee and former employer. We have represented employees who refused to take reasonable settlements because they want to make the employer "go bankrupt". Dispite our advice written and verbal some clients refused to take these settlements even though we told them that the courts would not force the employer to pay more. By the time the case went to a judge the client / attorney relationship was failing. In each case the judge awarded our client zero.

The other problem is clients paying bills. We insist that each client sign a agreement which details the costs, usually in the exact amount that will be billed. Even with that exact information provided to the client, we still have major problems collecting bills. We have done the work, in the vast majority of cases we won for the client, yet they refuse to pay. Some of these non-paying former clients have the nerve to call up months or years later asking for more FREE work. These of course are the same people who want us to fight their former employer so that they can get paid for the work that they did, yet they do not give their attorney the same respect.

Beyond the client side of failing relationship with their attorney, it is these things that make attorneys distrustful and cold to potential clients.

redvelvetflames4ever

I'll give you a perfect example! My attorney is impossible to reach!!! Email, phone calls and nothing!! When I asked for an itemized bill because I was firing her a*** she had the ballzz to tell me not only was my retainer used in full, but I had about 14K in billable hours!!! BULLCRAP!!! Where am I now? The EEOC is in need of an amendment to my complaint and I STILL CAN'T REACH HER NOR ANY OF HER STAFF!!! Which I am going to do myself if I don't hear from them by tomorrow. AND THEY ARE NOT YOUR TYPICAL LOW LEVEL OFFICE. THEY ARE VERY WELL KNOWN! Trust me you are very fortunate you have any type of communication period.

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