Does anyone know how to check on a lawyer?
Moms View Message Board: General Discussion: Archive July 2007:
Does anyone know how to check on a lawyer?
Does anyone know how to check on a lawyer? My fil died back in February, he and my mil had a bankruptcy filed when he died. He had life insurance that would pay the bankruptcy off, we are having trouble with the lawyer, no one can get ahold of this guy, she has called repeatedly with no call backs. She does have control of the money of the money by the way. Today my husband calls and talks to the lawyers secretary today and finds out that the lawyer has left that firm to start his own office. Meanwhile my mil is left hanging out to dry wondering when she is going to get contacted by this guy. Is there any place on the net where we can look to see where complaints have been made? Any suggestions would be great...
Oh she lives in Pa, I forgot to mention that.
Ginny will probably have an answer for you 
What a pain, This is the last thing your MIL should have to deal with right now. I hope things get resolved quickly.
bump
I also help this gets resolved quickly and Ginny would be the one to know, or be able to find out, how you address this...
Sorry, I was in a meeting that ran from 11 to 4 (and oh my aching back and backside).
The first thing to do, before you make a formal complaint, is speak to the managing partner of the law firm that first represented your MIL and find out if the bankruptcy case stayed with the firm (which it probably did), who it is assigned to, and, importantly, why no one at the law firm has returned your MIL's calls. Then, the status of the case. Your MIL should express her great dismay that the firm, most inappropriately, did not respond to her calls and did not advise her that her lawyer was leaving the firm so that she could choose whether to have the lawyer continue to represent her or stay with the law firm with a different lawyer handling her case. She might suggest that this unprofessional (important word to use) handling of her case has caused her great distress, coming as it does on the heels of the death of her beloved husband. She should also ask for a detailed accounting of the charges the firm has made and has asked or intends to ask the Bankruptcy Court to approve (no charges of attorney fees and costs can be made without the approval of the Court). She should say that she wants this detailed accounting so that she can, if she chooses, retain an attorney to handle her husband's estate and have that attorney review the accounting. The way to speak to the managing partner is to ask the receptionist who is the managing partner, and ask to be connected to that person or his/her secretary. When you speak to the partner or the partner's secretary, say, very politely but firmly, that you are calling to make a complaint about the unprofessional way the case has been handled, and to get critical information about the case so that you can decide whether to stay with this law firm or seek another attorney. One thing your MIL should have, and if she doesn't have them should demand, is copies of the various documents that have been filed with the court, and the mailing list. The mailing list will include the name and address of the Trustee in Bankruptcy.
If you don't get satisfaction, formal complaints are made to (1) the county bar association of whatever county the law firm is in, and the Disciplinary Board of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. And, the Disciplinary Board can give you the current business address of the lawyer, providing he is still practicing in Pennsylvania. Here is a link to the Disciplinary Board, including a button to look up attorneys: Disciplinary Board
Here's a link to a page that lists all of the Pennsylvania County Bar Associations: bar associations
Here is a link to a page that lists all of the bankruptcy courts in Pennsylvania - Eastern District, Middle District and Western District, the name and phone number of the clerk of the court, and the address of each court.
Court
You can call the Clerk of the Court where the case was filed and ask the present status of the case, contact information for the Trustee, and who is listed as the bankrupt's attorney. Explain that you have been trying to reach the lawyer, the lawyer has left the firm, and you don't know who is representing you.
Frankly, most law firms that handle primarily family and small business bankruptcies have to work in an "assembly line" manner, and usually paralegals do almost all of the actual work, with an attorney reviewing final documents before they are filed with the Court. This is the only way such firms can make a profit, because bankruptcy is generally not a high profit area of law practice unless it is run that way. And bankruptcy practice is a very specialized area of law - lawyers who do not specialize in bankruptcy will simply not handle bankruptcy cases and will always refer you to a bankruptcy attorney. Even in the best organized firm, sometimes things slip through the cracks, especially when an attorney with a large case load leaves the firm. I know, because one of the attorneys in my department left the firm and we are finding things that have slipped or almost slipped through the cracks - and we have a very good computer case management system.
One final thought - if a family lawyer or lawyer who is a friend referred your inlaws to this law firm, that lawyer should be told what has happened. Most likely that lawyer will make at least one phone call to the law firm and express his/her displeasure, and might even decide to no longer make referrals to that firm.
Oh - if your husband is willing to step in and have some involvement in this matter, that would probably be very helpful to your MIL. If he is willing and she is willing, she should go to a Notary Public and sign and have notarized several copies of a document that says, essentially:
To whom it may concern:
X (name of your husband) is my son and is assisting me in the Bankruptcy case filed by my (deceased) husband myself (list the court and the bankruptcy number. I authorize you to give full information, including copies of all documents, to X in connection with my bankruptcy.
Sign each copy, and print your MIL's name and address, have them notarized, and give them to dh so he can mail them to the appropriate entities. I would say one for the law firm, one for the trustee, and maybe one for the Bankruptcy Court, with one spare - 4 in all. You can usually find a notary public at any place that does auto title renewals, most banks, and most real estate agencies.
Ginny- Thank you for the great advice I will pass it on to my dh... Hopefully we can get it all worked out!!
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