He has no system in place to communicate with you regularly. He has no newsletter sent to you each month. He doesn't send letters out to his clients each month. He doesn't send emails to update you on what's happening. It takes too much time and too much effort on his part.
This is the most benign reason you haven't heard from your attorney in months. Your attorney is really good at what he does. He's well known and has a good staff. He knows what's going on with your case every time you call. He doesn't need to look on the computer to see what happened on your case.
He's content to speak to you every six months to a year, or if you happen to call asking what's going on with your case. He has no system in place to communicate with you regularly. He has no newsletter sent to you each month.
This doesn’t mean the clients are right. But it does mean the attorney-client relationship has been damaged. This PTL shows you the four ways to get your attorney’s attention, so you can try to repair it: 1. Call Your Attorney I know what you’re thinking. And you may be right. But give him a chance.
Understanding a failure to communicate If your lawyer still does not respond, you can send him or her a letter explaining the communication problems. If at this point you do not hear anything from your lawyer, you should consult with a legal malpractice attorney.
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.
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.
Your Lawyer Is Busy with Other Cases Even if your lawyer is working on another case, they should still get back to you within a day or two at the most. Your lawyer owes you responsive communication, even if you're not their only client. There's no excuse for an attorney who takes weeks to return calls or emails.
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.
So often when a lawyer does not return your call for a few days it may simply mean your lawyer is busy getting some important work done in your case or in another client's case. There is nothing going on with your case.
Check your lawyer on legal sites such as Avvo or nolo, as well as on general sites like Google Places and Yelp! to see what other clients have to say. Search peer-review online databases such as martindale.com to see comments and opinions from other lawyers. 5. Get another lawyer's opinion.
Once a case gets filed in court, things can really slow down. Common reasons why a case will take longer than one would hope can include: Trouble getting the defendant or respondent served. The case cannot proceed until the defendant on the case has been formally served with the court papers.
Personal injury cases usually take quite some time to settle or resolve. The reasons a case can progress slowly can be summed up into three general points: Your case is slowed down by legal or factual problems. Your case involves a lot of damages and substantial compensation.
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.
Once a month is a good rule of thumb if things are slow, but if you are preparing for trial or in my case an administrative benefits hearing, the contact with you and your attorney should be more frequent and specifically scheduled.
You can also find a certified lawyer referral service by:Going to LawhelpCalifornia.org. ... Calling the State Bar's Lawyer Referral Services Directory at 1-866-442-2529 (toll free in California) or 1-415-538-2250 (from outside California); or.More items...