Hi I'm going through a divorce for the past 11 months and just
released my attorney.  I feel she was incompetent, overcharged and at
times I smelt liquior on her breath. She in several cases called my
house and said some lady answered. This is absolutlly not true.
Needless to say I believe I was overcharged. At times she didn't know
who she was talking too when we had telephone conversations. How can I
find out if I was overcharged. I paid her in excess of $5500.00 and
felt very short changed.  I'm currently in the process of hiring
another attorney but would really like to know if there is anything I
can do to get compensated if I feel that I was overcharged. Please
disregard any poorly spelled words.

Regards

Ralph

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Request for Question Clarification by mvguy-ga on 06 Aug 2002 11:13 PDT

Which jurisdiction (such as country and province or state) do you live in?

One step, assuming you are in the USA, would be to contact the state
bar association and lodge a complaint against the lawyer.

Another would be to either sue in small claims court, assuming your
jursidiction allows amounts up to $5500, or contact a lawyer
specializing in legal malpractice.

The best step to take now is to fully document each contact with the
bad lawyer, including time, date, topics and your impressions. 
Getting a contemporaneous record will be of great help in a year or
two when this finally comes to trial.

Wengland's comment is right on target, I would only add that you
should look to small claims court even if your limit in that venue is
below the amount you want to claim.

The cost of litigation against a lawyer would make any award worthless
if you have to go through the "real" court system so you need to set
your sights on whatever amount you can go after easily. You may have
signed an arbitration agreement with the lawyer, can you recall?

By all means contact the bar association whether or not you decide to
go to court and make that record of events as detailed as you can but
make it clear when you recorded it. Don't attempt to say you recorded
events when they happened unless you actually did. Any correspondence
or calendar showing meetings would also be helpful.

Thank you for the quick response. I live in New Jersey.  My comment is
that yes I documented as much as was sent to me.  But you say file a
complaint with the state bar. What will that do for me and would I
have to represent myself in small claims court against an anttorney.

Thanks in advance

Ralph

8-07-2002

Lodging an official complaint with the state bar would cause him to be
reprimanded about this unprofessional behaviour and would help protect
future clients by putting his name in a database along with other
unethical attorneys so future clients will be warned not to hire him. 
And it also might result in you being able to negotiate a partial
refund without having to go through small claims court, if he decides
it would not be worth the time and trouble.  If I find a database of
attorney names in New Jersey that keep a record of
unprofessional/unethical behavior, I will let you know what the
website is so we can make sure this attorney's name is mentioned in
it.  Congratulations for standing up for what is right!

SINCERELY,
4keith-ga