If you think an Oregon lawyer has violated a disciplinary rule, you can file a written complaint with the Client Assistance Office. We will screen your inquiry to determine if there is sufficient basis to warrant further investigation. We may refer it to Disciplinary Counsel's Office for further review.
Full Answer
The Oregon State Bar does not have authority to discipline lawyers who are rude or discourteous. Poor customer service is generally not an ethical violation. If your lawyer's rude or unprofessional behavior is affecting your lawyer-client relationship, the Client Assistance Office may be able to help. Personal Matters. The bar generally does not investigate matters that arise in a lawyer's …
If you have any questions, please call (503) 620-0222 and ask for the Client Assistance Office prior to submitting. You may submit your complaint electronically or via regular mail. Please keep a copy of what you submit. If you later request copies of what you have submitted, the bar charges 25 cents per page to copy the documents you request.
If you cannot afford a lawyer, you have the right to a free one once your case goes to court. You can ask police how to contact a lawyer. Within a reasonable time after arrest or booking, ask police to contact a family member or friend. If permitted to make a phone call at the precinct, anything you say may be recorded or listened to. Never talk about the facts of your case over …
Attorney Status Changes. From one to three times a month, the Supreme Court publishes this list showing which attorneys have resigned from the bar (for many reasons, such as moving out of state, retiring) or have been suspended, reinstated, or disbarred. Help us improve!
 · If (as you posted above) your attorney did little or nothing to properly defend you, a potential ineffective assistance of counsel claim could potentially be an option and very likely starting point of initial discussions with an appeals attorney. Do not delay as your appeals clock and deadlines are already running.
Can Lawyers Refuse to Defend Someone? Lawyers can refuse to defend someone unless a court refuses to grant them leave to withdraw from the matter. Common reasons why a criminal lawyer would not defend someone are if there is a conflict of interest (eg.
If your lawyer does not return your call, send them a letter and keep a copy. In the letter, describe what is bothering you and what you need. Suggest meeting with the lawyer face-to-face.
Oregon State Bar CenterPhone: (503) 620-0222.Toll-free in Oregon: (800) 452-8260.Facsimile: (503) 684-1366.
Perhaps the most common kinds of complaints against lawyers involve delay or neglect. This doesn't mean that occasionally you've had to wait for a phone call to be returned. It means there has been a pattern of the lawyer's failing to respond or to take action over a period of months.
A claim of malpractice may exist if your lawyer exhibited negligence in your representation. If your lawyer's negligence caused you to suffer harm or a less advantageous outcome or settlement in your case, you may have a claim to sue your lawyer for professional negligence.
If your attorney is not experienced or efficient, they may have missed a deadline or made another mistake and aren't willing to confess their error. There could also be some bad news that is entirely outside of the attorney's control.
Main DOJ Referral Line: 503-378-4400Office of the Attorney General. Media Inquiries: 503-378-6002. ... Child Support. General Information: ... Consumer Protection. Toll-Free Consumer Hotline: ... Charitable Activities. General Information: 971-673-1880. ... Crime Victim and Survivor Services. General Information: 503-378-5348. ... For the Media.
Ellen Rosenblum (Democratic Party)Oregon / Attorney generalEllen F. Rosenblum is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the Oregon Attorney General since 2012. She is the first female state attorney general in Oregon's history, and previously was a judge on the Oregon Court of Appeals from 2005 to 2011. Wikipedia
Contacting the Oregon State BarOur building is located at: 16037 SW Upper Boones Ferry Rd (Directions) Tigard, OR. 97224.Phone: (503) 620-0222 or Inside Oregon: 1 (800) 452-8260.Facsimile: (503) 684-1366.E-mail: All General OSB Inquiries: info@osbar.org. Website Content/Problem Inquiries: webmaster@osbar.org.
The rules of legal ethics in most states require attorneys to be honest and to be able to do their job at a certain level of competence. If you feel that your legal representative has lied or misled you, or is performing their duties at a level below that of a competent attorney, you may want to file a lawsuit.
Members of the public can lodge complaints against any law professional through a legal hotline called the “Trustline” initiative which is run by the Law Society of South Africa and the Attorneys Fidelity Fund. The public can lodge complaints at 0800-202-036 or at trustline@tip-off.com.
Filing an attorney complaint You may also call the State Bar's multilingual intake hotline at 800-843-9053 (in California) or 213-765-1200 (outside California) to request a complaint form or discuss the complaint-filing process. There is no fee for filing a complaint, and you do not have to be a U.S. citizen.
Keep your hands where police can see them. Do not run. Do not touch any police officer. Do not resist physically even if you believe you are innocent. You do not have to make any statements about the incident. If arrested, ask for a lawyer immediately. Explaining your situation without a lawyer may harm your case.
If searched without a warrant, do not resist physically. Say “I do not consent to this search.”
If you fail a test or refuse to take it, you will be arrested, your driver license may be suspended, and your car may be taken away. If you are arrested, your car will be subject to a search.
You do not have to leave the vicinity with police unless you have been arrested.
Police may ask for consent to search or inquire about the presence of weapons and may pat down your clothing without consent if they have reason to believe you are carrying a weapon . If any property is taken from you by police, you have the right to request a receipt.
You do not have to consent to any search or seizure and cannot be arrested simply for refusing. This may not stop the search from happening but will protect your rights if you have to go to court. If police threaten to get a warrant, you may tell them to get one.
You do not have to answer questions without a lawyer present. To exercise this right, say “I want to speak to a lawyer before answering any questions.”
Mr. Bodzin has provided you with an extremely informative answer. If you feel that your attorney did a poor job you always have the option of appealing the case and I would strongly encourage you to speak with an appeals attorney that specializes in the area of law that your case dealt with specifically (criminal, civil, etc.).
There are two different kinds of potential attorney misconduct: malpractice, and a breach of ethical rules. An attorney commits malpractice when they provide services that are below the standards of competency for the profession, and the client is harmed as a direct result of that substandard care.
What kind of case? What did the lawyer fail to do? We are starting out at sub-basic information levels.
Set Aside Criminal or Arrest Record. A motion to set aside (expunction) is a legal proceeding for sealing a record of a criminal arrest and conviction. After a motion is granted, all official records of the arrest and conviction are sealed.
You are not required to hire an attorney for the process of filing a motion to set aside (expunction): ORS 137.225. Court staff is prohibited by law from giving you advice on legal matters, including how to fill out the motion and affidavit.
First, the case must be concluded, meaning a final determination or judgment has been entered. Second, all services required of the lawyer under the fee agreement must be complete. “The relationship of attorney and client may be terminated after the entry of a judgment or other final determination in an action or proceeding by the filing ...
Criminal law practitioners may or may not be responsible for filing motions to dismiss when a one-year diversion agreement is completed. If your agreed-upon services do not include filing the dismissal, withdraw. ORS 9.390 makes clear you are on the hook until the notice is filed:
The lawyer may retain papers, personal property and money of the client to the extent permitted by other law.”. At the conclusion of a case, the timing issues may be less critical – assuming the client does not wish to purse an appeal – but the remainder of the rule must be followed.
The Oregon Revised Statutes provide for multiple remedies to get at a debtor’s assets. ORS 18.270 (1) provides at any time after a judgment is entered a judgment creditor may serve written interrogatories relating to the judgment debtors property and financial affairs on a judgment debtor. The interrogatories may be personally served in the manner provided for summons or may be served by any form of mail addressed to the judgment debtor and requesting a receipt. Service by mail under this subsection is effective on the date of mailing. You must notify the judgment debtor that judgment debtors failure to answer the interrogatories truthfully shall subject the judgment debtor to the penalties for false swearing and for contempt of court. In other words, the creditor gets to ask a bunch of written questions of whether the debtor has a job, where, contact information for employer, what they own in terms of vehicles, real property, other assets, etc. The debtor must truthfully answer those questions and get that information back to the creditor within 20 days, and the interrogatories must be notarized with the debtor’s signature. Failure of the debtor to do this means the creditor can commence proceedings for contempt of court. Circuit Court judges will issue a warrant for the debtors arrest if the debtor fails to appear at this show cause hearing. A creditor can find out a lot when interrogatories are received back from the debtor. You could also do a debtor examination under ORS 18.265 to find out what the debtors assets are and where they work, where their checking account and savings accounts are, etc., but that’s more time consuming than using interrogatories to elicit the same information.
The debtor must truthfully answer those questions and get that information back to the creditor within 20 days, and the interrogatories must be notarized with the debtor’s signature. Failure of the debtor to do this means the creditor can commence proceedings for contempt of court.
If you learn through your interrogatories that the debtor owns tangible personal property you can file a Writ of Execution and have the local Sheriff seize the property . See ORS 18.860 – 18.196.
Following the information the creditor receives back from the debtor, if the debtor has a job, you can now file a Writ of Garnishment on their employer to receive payment out of their paycheck. Follow the statutory process for doing this with notice to the debtor and their employer. See ORS 18.830-18.850.
The debtor will receive documents to challenge the seizure, but do not always challenge. The debtor also gets a $3,000.00 exemption, but not if the vehicle you are seizing was the vehicle the creditor loaned money on and that unpaid loan was the subject of the judgment. See ORS 18.305.
If a lawyer does not fulfill those obligations then a client might be able to seek recourse for the lawyer’s behavior.
An attorney has the responsibility to provide competent representation to each client. That means that the attorney must have the legal knowledge and skill to represent the client in a particular matter and be thorough in his or her legal preparation.
Clients also have the right to pursue legal malpractice claims in court. If a client successfully proves that a lawyer was negligent or guilty of misconduct and that the client suffered monetary damages as a result then the client may recover those damages in a professional malpractice lawsuit.
A client, who believes that an attorney violated his or her ethical obligations, can file a disciplinary complaint against the attorney with the state bar disciplinary committee. Typically, this involves a hearing on the client’s complaint.
Most of the Rules of Professional Conduct use a reasonableness standard in order to determine if an attorney’s conduct is appropriate. Since an attorney is a professional, the question would be one of reasonableness for other professional attorneys.
An attorney must act with reasonable diligence and promptness when representing a client. To that end, the attorney must be careful not to have a conflict of interest in the matter or with clients. Further, the lawyer must consult with and reasonably inform the client of information related to the legal matter at hand.
In most jurisdictions, attorneys are required to take and pass a Professional Responsibility Exam prior to being admitted to the bar. Upon admittance to the bar, attorneys agree to comply with the ethical requirements of their jurisdiction. Most attorneys uphold that promise.