Conflict of interest or appearance of impropriety

[aggie81]

I'm in need of some help.  A few weeks ago, I went to see an attorney to file divorce papers on my husband.  He agreed to take the case, get the papers ready, and have me come back the next day to sign them.  Meanwhile, my husband goes to the same law practice and sees a different attorney.  I called the office to see what would happen now.  My attorney said he would speak to the other attorney and figure out what to do.  Days went by, and I heard nothing.  I left messages, and nothing happened.  Then my husband attacked me, I fought back, mistake, because we both went to jail.  We bonded out, and had a no contact order on each of us.  My husband has violated this several times, and has threaten myself, my family, neighbors, just about everyone.  We went to court, and I had gotten someone else to be there for me (attorney).  I wanted this to go nicely, and the attorney said he would get mediation for both of us, since my husband didn't have an attorney.  Since the court date, my husband continued to be hostile and I as well as others got an EPO.  Now I finally got through to the first attorney's office, since the attorney I had gotten felt threaten, and didn't want the case, don't blame him, I wouldn't either.  Come to find out the attorney that saw my husband is going to represent him, and I never heard anything from the attorney I saw at that practice.  He never called me, never gave back all the paperwork, and I just feel like I got the shaft.  I'm new to the legal system, and boy do I need to wake up.  Wouldn't that law office be considered unethical? Is there any way I can file a complaint, or should I just leave it alone.

Dazed and confused!!!!!

[socrateaser]

In the future, please observe the mandatory forum guidelines or I will not respond.

If you explained your case to the attorney now representing your ex, that would definitely be an ethics violation, as the attorney would be privy to otherwise priviledged information that would not have been obtainable by any normal discovery process.

If you merely filled out a statistical intake form, i.e., name, fone, address, number of kids, assets, etc., then it would not be a violation, because everything that you revealed would be available as part of the legal process anyway.

Also, if you actually paid something to this attorney, and you have proof of payment, i.e., receipt, cancelled check, etc., then that would be a clear ethics violation, because it is a demonstration of an attempt to enter into a professional relationship.

In both of the above circumstances, you could ask the court to remove your ex's attorney from the case, and the court almost certainly would do so.

You could also lodge a complaint with the state agency in your jurisdiction that is responsible for the regulation of the practice of law. This may be a state bar association (e.g., CA, OR), or some other organization (e.g., AR), depending upon the State.

[aggie81]

Sorry if I didn't follow the guidelines.  In the future, I'll follow them. Just new to it all, and I no that's no excuse.

thanks for the information.  I didn't want to go before a judge without some sort of proof.