Attorney cheated me. Please advice.

luckycharm

Registered Users (C)
Hi guys,

I was going to apply for an asylum. I hired an attorney. He charged hourly at the initial interview, then he offered a flat rate to hadle the case. I agreed and gave him the full fee he wanted.
After receiving the money he showed no interest in my case, he could not remember a thing about me during the second appointment when I brought all the documents and evidence. I had to introduce him to my case all over again. He was very slow, would not listen to me at all. We basically did everything we already did at the first appointment. I realized I wasted my time and money on him. The next appointment he kept us waiting in the guest room for 30 minutes. He had his lunch and wrote an article (according to him) during my appointment time.
When he invited me to his room, I asked my money back and told him that I was not satisfied with his services. He was very rude, he raised his voice and slammed the door saying GOODBYE!. After 10 minutes he returned and gave me discharge paper which I signed and he also gave me a check for flat fee I paid him. I immediately cashed the check. After a week I received a letter, he indicated to bring his forms back and he also indicated he stopped payment to my account. Indeed my bank account went to minus with additional fees for negative balance.
I went to see him, and returned all the forms. He told me "he is not returning full fee because it was non refundable and that I agreed to him and signed the papers at the initial interview". I looked at the paper and realized that it was not our agreement paper. I told him that I never saw that paper before and I never signed it. He immediately interrupted me and covered the paper. and told me "however I am going to charge you for the time I spent on your case"
He did not spend anytime on my case, I paid hourly for the time he spend sloooooowly in front of me. We had refundable flat fee agreement. And he didi not filed my application to the USCIS. I did not filled in his intake forms. That is because he has to fully refund the flat fee I payed. But he is claiming that we had a retainers agreement which is non refundable. I asked full refund according to flat fee agreement. he yelled at me "then sue me, we will see you in the court". He did not return my requests and did not listen to me. I was not given a chanvce to speak.

I don't know what to do... please advice. he is such a mean and rude person. The only thing he carse is money as he admitted at the initial interview...
 
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sORRY TO hear about ur situation.It's totaly screwed up.How much money did u end up losing? What's ur status in the country now?
 
How much did you spend on him? How much are you looking to get back? Where are you located? What is his name and firmname? Do you have copies of everything he gave you?

You might be able to take this guy to small claims court and get your money back and what not if you are in America.... keep us updated!!

SOrry to hear about this. SOme lawyers can be jerks!!!
 
I am sorry to hear your situation. This guy abuses you because he knows you're in difficult situation and you don't know your rights. However, If I was you, I will concentrate more on winning my asylum case and leave the money for this man. I will certainly pay more precaution when I will hire the next one in my asylum case.
I choose this option because it will probably cost too much money to hire another lawyer in order to have your money back.
 
sorry to hear about that, but if you deposited the check in your bank and he stopped payment on it, get a copy of that check from your bank. tell your attorney that you are going to file a case with the district attorney for an unpaid check, and also you are making a complaint to the state bar association and the local bar about the whole case. hope this will help. doesn't matter what status you have you still have a case. good luck
 
sorry to hear about that, but if you deposited the check in your bank and he stopped payment on it, get a copy of that check from your bank. tell your attorney that you are going to file a case with the district attorney for an unpaid check, and also you are making a complaint to the state bar association and the local bar about the whole case. hope this will help. doesn't matter what status you have you still have a case. good luck

Going to the state bar is an option.

Also check out if your local/state law enforcement agency has a special program protecting immigrants vis-a-vis legal service providers.
 
How much did you spend on him? How much are you looking to get back? Where are you located? What is his name and firmname? Do you have copies of everything he gave you?

You might be able to take this guy to small claims court and get your money back and what not if you are in America.... keep us updated!!

SOrry to hear about this. SOme lawyers can be jerks!!!


Thank you guys for advice, it's appreciated.
I'm in very difficult situation right now, I lost my trust in attorneys.
Basically, I paid him $ 375 for the initial interview. It was non-refundable fee, $ 150/hour, it took him very long (approx. 2.5 hours) to talk about my case.


He offered a flat rate of $ 4000 to handle my case. I agreed to it. He wanted the fee rightaway. Because I had no $ 4000 with me at the interview, I paid him full fee the next day. I have receipts of both payments.

When I declared about discharge he got mad, he raised his vioce and yelled at me "GOODBYE". On the contrary, I stayed calm and patient all the time. I was polite all the time. He went to have his lunch, I did not leave the guest room. He returned in 10 minutes and told the receptionist to write a check for $ 4000. I waited another 20 minutes. He also gave me a discharge form to sign. I got copy of that too. He remained polite and told if I would change my mind and decide come back he would gladly accept to continue working on my case. I was polite as well we had a little nice chat while the receptionist was making correction on the check (they misspelled my name, I requested to correct it). I cashed the check immediately after leaving his office.

A week later I received a letter from him (Re: retainer agreement dated (date of my initial interview)) in which he indicated that he stopped payment on the check he gave us. He also indicated to make an appointment to bring the forms and papers he gave us.

I made an appointment and went to see him. I returned everything: an application form for asylum, intake form, papers copied from book.

He told me that "we had a retainer agreement at the initial interview which was signed by me and according to that papers the fee ($ 4000) is non refundable. He was kind of hiding the paper (retainer agreement), in a glance I realized that it was not the paper I signed. I told him "I never saw that paper before" He immediately interrupted me to shut my voice and said loudly "in this country to stop someone in the middle of conversation is considered to be rude". He basically did not let me to speak. But after I told him that I never saw that retainer's agreement paper which he indicated was non refundable. He turned the course to his second option to hold portion of $4000. He told "I am going to charge for the hours I spent on your case, that would be $ 1200. If you agree, I will write you a check for $ 2800." I told him he did not spent an hour on my case, and that I already paid for the work he did at the initial interview. I asked $ 4000 back. He got mad and yelled at me "see you on court then. sue me. you will be able to continue agruement on the court."

I asked $ 2800 check, I told I would sue him for the rest $ 1200. I told that anyway $ 2800 was my money, and for the $1200 he is claiming we will go to the court. He did not return my request. I left.

Basically, he changed our flat rate agreement (non-refundable in case my application was not filed) to retainer's agreement. And because he indeed did not file my application and I discharged him from his work, he gave me $ 4000 check. But after a day or so he changed his mind and wanted to keep all the money for himself. He started claiming that we had no flat rate agreement, instead we had a retainer's agreement which was non refundable. I saw the paper and declared I never signed retainer's agreement and that it was the fist time ever I was seeing that paper. He realized that he cannot keep the full fee and offered to return only $ 2800. I asked the full refund. He got mad and yelled to sue him...


I live and study in Nashville, TN. My status is F-1.
My attorney's name is Howard Frederik Ford ( H. Fred Ford Sr. )
Firm name: Ford and Associates.
 
Hi. I am really sorry to hear that because instead the attorney give you some relief. He gave you more trobule. I know how frustrated you can feel right now, and the lack of trust for the attorneys. Remember all are not like that. Try to find a local place. like immigrants organizations. They have attorneys at low cost and they are very good.

Also, I did a little research about that type or problems, like yours. Click to the link below and see that Form EOIR-44 Immigration Practitioner Complaint Form. I hope yopu can file it thru your local immigration court.

http://www.usdoj.gov/eoir/eoirforms/eoir44.pdf

There are complete instructions on how to file it.

In addition to that, here is the link for the Tennessee Bar Association:

http://www.tba.org/

This one applies to your case

http://www.tba.org/LawBytes/T1_1003.html


"If you feel that your attorney has failed in his or her ethical obligation to you, that matter should be presented to the Board of Professional Responsibility of the Supreme Court of Tennessee. You may contact the Board of Professional Responsibility for information at (800) 486-5714."


Good luck and please keep us updated with your cases.
 
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Hi. I am really sorry to hear that because instead the attorney give you some relief. He gave you more trobule. I know how frustrated you can feel right now, and the lack of trust for the attorneys. Remember all are not like that. Try to find a local place. like immigrants organizations. They have attorneys at low cost and they are very good.

Also, I did a little research about that type or problems, like yours. Click to the link below and see that Form EOIR-44 Immigration Practitioner Complaint Form. I hope yopu can file it thru your local immigration court.

http://www.usdoj.gov/eoir/eoirforms/eoir44.pdf

There are complete instructions on how to file it.

In addition to that, here is the link for the Tennessee Bar Association:

http://www.tba.org/

This one applies to your case

http://www.tba.org/LawBytes/T1_1003.html


"If you feel that your attorney has failed in his or her ethical obligation to you, that matter should be presented to the Board of Professional Responsibility of the Supreme Court of Tennessee. You may contact the Board of Professional Responsibility for information at (800) 486-5714."


Good luck and please keep us updated with your cases.

Thank you for info. It's highly appreciated.

Actually I had in mind to file a complaint to Bar Association, Board of Professional Responsibility and AILA.
Before filing complaint, I thought it would be better if I communicate with atty first, may be we could come into agreement and he'd return my money back.
I called him to request copies of all the papers I signed and also a copy of a retainers agreement he's claiming we had. Receptionist told he was busy and that he'd return my call shortly. He never called back.

Frankly speaking he is taking an advantage of me because English is my third language and it will be difficult for me to sue him. I don't know how to file a complaint either. The major issue is my writing and speaking skills. I need help with writing an official letter of complaint.
 
Yes we can all help. Notify the aforementioned institutions and take him to small claims court (anything less than $5000) I think belongs there.

Ask anything you might need from us.
 
I can't believe there are lawyers like this .... this is exactly why lawyers are despised in America!!!! Some can be major a$$es!!! Anyhow, yes, small claims court will help you out. Also, report him to his bar association in Tennessee - they will definitely investigate and no doubt this sort of behavior is considered unethical by any means! The $400 non-refundable fee, fine. But $4,000!??!? Waaaaay wrong!
 
thank you guys. I'll pm you.
I am very stressed out right now. I cannot get the problems with atty out of mind.
I have a 4 month old baby girl who needs to be breastfed every 2 hours. Because of stress I don't have milkflow, and she is hungry. I cannot take anti depressants because of breastfeeding...
She has been refusing eating for two days now. She is crying non stop I don't know what to do. She wants breast milk.


:~(
 
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Lucky Charm your stories has me really really upset! and pissed off. I feel for you and even more so now that you mentioned your daughter :-( Document your situation with your daughter by going to the doctor and having them take down. Should you be in a position to sue him, you may be able to sue him for damages in relation to the care of your daughter. Get all documents together.

I know that when we go to lawyers we are in a very bad position. We are reduced to being beggers and very few situations make us feel like valued. What have you decided to do about your case? Are you married? I hope you are maintaining your F-1 status you don't want to be illegal at any point. You also need to work with someone who is fluent in your native language and speaks english fluently otherwise this will become an even challenge.
 
Lucky Charm your stories has me really really upset! and pissed off. I feel for you and even more so now that you mentioned your daughter :-( Document your situation with your daughter by going to the doctor and having them take down. Should you be in a position to sue him, you may be able to sue him for damages in relation to the care of your daughter. Get all documents together.

I know that when we go to lawyers we are in a very bad position. We are reduced to being beggers and very few situations make us feel like valued. What have you decided to do about your case? Are you married? I hope you are maintaining your F-1 status you don't want to be illegal at any point. You also need to work with someone who is fluent in your native language and speaks english fluently otherwise this will become an even challenge.


Perhaps you can ask a third party to call him and see if all of you can find a compromise that will allow you to move on?
 
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