It sounds like you need to seek replacement counsel if indeed you were not informed of the mediation date. You can also fire your attorney and represent yourself. You are entitled to a copy of your file.
Full Answer
Look at the motion you received. It should contain a “notice of motion” or “notice of hearing” that indicates that a hearing has been scheduled in front of the judge. It should include the hearing date, time, and place. If you do not see a hearing date and time, pull up your case on the court’s website and verify the hearing date and time.
If your lawyer fails to respond to your opponent’s motion on time, the court may grant that motion, divesting you of your right to a trial. You can appeal, but appellate courts are often reluctant to reverse a summary judgment if your lawyer can’t demonstrate good cause for failing to respond to your opponent’s motion on time.
If a motion is filed against you and you do not file a written opposition with the court, the judge could grant the other side’s motion automatically. That means the other side could get whatever she is asking for in the motion. It also might mean you lose the case, depending on the motion that was filed. So be careful.
Review this Top 20 List of What to Do When Your Lawyer Won’t Respond Put it in Writing. 1. Put you*re question/request in writing. Lawyers are required to reasonably respond. 2. Send your request by email, fax or overnight mail. 3. Do not repeatedly contact the lawyer. Reasonable requests means reasonable in number, frequency and topic.
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.
Throughout the process of getting your financial settlement after becoming injured, there may be periods of time that you do not hear from your attorney. Although this can be unnerving, it is a normal part of the legal process.
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.
What it means to file a motion: A motion, in its simplest form is a list of requests that you are asking the Court grant on your behalf. You, or your attorney on your behalf, will file a Notice of Motion which includes a list of requests for the court to rule upon.
A: The lawyer should be responsive to your questions within 24-48 hours after you left a message. If the lawyer is not responsive, perhaps he or she is on vacation and unable to return.
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.
There is no set formula for how often you will hear from your attorney. However, the key to a successful attorney client relationship is communication. Whenever there is an important occurrence in your case you will be contacted or notified.
Five things not to say to a lawyer (if you want them to take you..."The Judge is biased against me" Is it possible that the Judge is "biased" against you? ... "Everyone is out to get me" ... "It's the principle that counts" ... "I don't have the money to pay you" ... Waiting until after the fact.
Legal malpractice is a type of negligence in which a lawyer does harm to his or her client. Typically, this concerns lawyers acting in their own interests, lawyers breaching their contract with the client, and, one of the most common cases of legal malpractice, is when lawyers fail to act on time for clients.
A motion is an application to the court made by the prosecutor or defense attorney, requesting that the court make a decision on a certain issue before the trial begins. The motion can affect the trial, courtroom, defendants, evidence, or testimony.
A noticed motion is a court-compatible document usually served (noticed) on the affected parties, and then entered and stamped by a court clerk. At a hearing, the court later makes its decision to either grant or deny the applicant's motion.
A motion hearing is a hearing that is held in front of the judge after one of the lawyers in the case has filed a written request for the judge to do something. At the hearing, the lawyers will orally argue for or against the request, and in some cases, testimony will be taken regarding the issue.
Problems such as this usually occur because of a miscommunication, misunderstanding, or simple human error. I know it's upsetting, but wait to hear what your lawyer says - there are a million reasons you - or he - might not have had the mediation on calendar. The consequences of missing the mediation will depend on the explanation.
"How should I handle this with my lawyer?" -- Do not jump to conclusions. Perhaps your lawyer did not receive notice, either. Or, perhaps notice was sent to you. Your lawyer should handle this for you.
It sounds like you need to seek replacement counsel if indeed you were not informed of the mediation date. You can also fire your attorney and represent yourself. You are entitled to a copy of your file.
What can I do if my attorney is not doing his job? There’s nothing more frustrating than when you’re dealing with a lawyer not doing his job.
Hiring the right lawyer is a personal decision, and only you can decide what is right for you.
Why is it so important to hire an experienced attorney over a general attorney?
If a lawyer does not fulfill those obligations then a client might be able to seek recourse for the lawyer’s behavior.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
Whether or not you need to be present depends on the Judge; you should call the Judges office and speak with their Judicial Assistant to learn the Judge's preference. My personal recommendation is to appear so you know what is going on in your case.
No, generally you do not have to appear unless you intend to oppose the motion. You should check with your assigned judge's online information, or call their judicial assistant, to be sure though.
Probably not. These motions are routinely granted without the client being present, as long as the client receives notice of the motion. But each judge has his or her own procedures. You should call the judge's judicial assistant to learn if you need to appear. You should also be looking to hire new counsel.
If your lawyer fails to file such a motion, there is no penalty other than the cost and delay of a potentially unnecessary trial. However, if an opposing party files a summary judgment motion against you, your lawyer must file a written response within the time set by court rules or by the trial judge.
The consequences of a lawyer’s failure to file documents on time can be severe. Not only can you suffer a financial loss, but you may have to wait a year or more before you receive compensation from the lawyer who failed to properly represent you. If you believe you have a case against a former lawyer, you should reach out to an experienced, full-service law firm with expertise in a wide range of legal practice areas and a proven track record of success.
To recover for malpractice, in addition to showing that your lawyer breached a duty owed to you by failing to file, you will also need to convince the court hearing your malpractice case that it was the lawyer’s failure to file—not any failure on your part or weakness in your case—that caused the har m you sustained .
Legal Malpractice. Much of the work lawyers do involves filing various documents. Often, there are deadlines by which documents must be filed. Even when there are no fixed deadlines, a lawyer’s delay in filing certain documents can permanently impair a client’s rights. You might wonder why a simple failure to file a document “on time” could destroy ...
However, some tort claims—notably legal and medical malpractice—have shorter, one-year time limits for filing.
Filing in a timely manner may be necessary to protect a person’s interest in a residential or commercial lease. Filing may also be necessary to protect a person’s or entity’s interest in an oil and gas lease, or in the oil and gas beneath a property.
However, your lawyer must file a notice of appeal within 30 days after the judgment is final. Failure to appeal within 30 days terminates your right to appeal, regardless of how strong your case may be.
If, after many attempts to communicate with your attorney are met with silence, write your lawyer a firm letter asking why they are not responding to you. You should not threaten legal malpractice claims in your letter.
If you think that your attorney has not been working diligently on your case, you can always request your case file from your attorney. You can either go to the attorney's office and read the file there or request that the attorney make copies of everything and send them to you.
You should keep in mind that your nonbinding arbitration outcome could become binding if you do not challenge the result in court within 30 days.
If you receive a bill that looks like the one above, you should demand an itemized accounting of all the time that your attorney spent on your case. Where exactly did those 50 hours go? For example, if your attorney claims that he wrote a letter to opposing counsel for 4 hours, and the letter turned out to be 2 paragraphs long, you may want to seriously question your attorney's time management.
One of the best things that you can do if you feel that your attorney is not doing a good job is to get another law firm to look at your situation. These second opinions do not have to cost very much as it will probably only last an hour or two.
Consider Mediation . One common method that many people are turning to instead of legal malpractice claims is mediation. Mediation is something both you and your lawyer may benefit from, and could even lead to a better attorney-client relationship.
Your case file should include all correspondence as well as any filings.
To learn more about the motion that was filed against you and the requirements for opposing it, visit your local law library. For location and contact information, click to visit Law Libraries.
Look at the motion you received. It should contain a “notice of motion” or “notice of hearing” that indicates that a hearing has been scheduled in front of the judge. It should include the hearing date, time, and place. If you do not see a hearing date and time, pull up your case on the court’s website and verify the hearing date and time. Click to visit Look Up My Case.
If a motion is filed against you and you do not file a written opposition with the court, the judge could grant the other side’s motion automatically. That means the other side could get whatever she is asking for in the motion. It also might mean you lose the case, depending on the motion that was filed. So be careful.
You normally must file your opposition with the court within ten business days after the other side “serves” (delivers) the motion to you. If you receive the motion in the mail, you get an additional three calendar days from the date it is mailed.
An “opposition” is a written statement explaining to the judge why the other side is not entitled to whatever he is asking for in his motion. It is your opportunity to oppose the other side’s request. To learn more about motions generally, click to visit Filing Motions to Resolve Your Case or Narrow Issues.
What you say in your motion also depends on the type of motion the other side filed. Different motions might have different requirements for how you must oppose them and what information and evidence you must provide to the judge.
At the hearing, the judge will probably ask questions and let each side state their position on the motion. Be prepared to explain to the judge why the other side should not get what they are asking for in the motion. To learn more about what to expect at the hearing, click to visit Going to Court.