Attorney question

[greatdad]

If one has made a payment arrangement with Atty and kept agreement, then less that 30 days before divorce trial the atty says that he no longer is satisfied with the arrangement and if new one isn't made they will withdraw.What is likelyhood that judge would allow it in a contested custody case?

[CustodyIQ]

Well, that's an attorney you probably don't want representing you if he's unhappy with the arrangement.

Why is he unhappy?

[mistoffolees]

What is his reason for wanting a new agreement?

In general, if the old attorney withdraws 30 days before your hearing, you can probably get a new attorney and ask them to file for a continuance on that basis.

However, I think I'd also ask the old attorney to refund all the money you've paid them - for pulling out just before your hearing. Of course, that might force them to stay with you for the hearing - in which case you'll be represented by an attorney who doesn't want to be there.

Depending on what their reasons are for requesting a change in the agreement, they could be guilty of malpractice and find themselves in trouble if you complain to the bar association.

Without knowing the specifics, this is only very weak advice, so don't put too much faith in it.

I'd probably first push back at the attorney and say 'we have an agreement, let's stick with it'. Depending on their response, I'd let them represent me.

If that seems like it might be a problem based on your experience with the attorney, I'd ask to speak to one of the partners at that firm (assuming your attorney isn't a partner) to ask for guidance. Then I'd probably ask for a different attorney to represent you at trial.

If the law firm doesn't seem too cooperative, I'd find someone else to represent me (asking for a continuance, if necessary). Then I'd go to the original attorney and ask them to reimburse you for what you paid them since they didn't follow through on representing you.

If that failed, I'd file a complaint with the Bar.

Addition (I figured I'd better add a caveat):
The above applies only if you have a valid contract, nothing of substance has changed since you signed the contract, and the law firm has no valid reason for requesting a change. Only you can say if that's completely accurate.

[babyfat]

Sounds like you landed a "bad apple" here. I would first find out why he is unhappy with the arrangement if the answer doesn't satisfy you or sounds fishy I would request what you paid him back and then file a complaint with the bar like the other poster stated. We at one point had a lawyer charge us $1500 and he did nothing but make $1750 worth of phone calls and dish out bad advise so we filed a complaint with the bar after questioning him first. We mailed out the complaint form on a Monday the following friday we had a letter from the bar he had 20 days to respond on the 20th day we received a letter from him trying to bs his way out of it. We sent another letter last week and we now are waiting for a responce. In the mean time we had to put down another $1000 on a new lawyer. Lucky for us we were able to do that but not all can. google your state and bar association to find the complaint form and send it out right away if this guy is going to do you dirty. In the mean time file for a continuance your self if you have to. Note that as well in the complaint.

[greatdad]

>What is his reason for wanting a new agreement?
>
>In general, if the old attorney withdraws 30 days before your
>hearing, you can probably get a new attorney and ask them to
>file for a continuance on that basis.
>
>However, I think I'd also ask the old attorney to refund all
>the money you've paid them - for pulling out just before your
>hearing. Of course, that might force them to stay with you for
>the hearing - in which case you'll be represented by an
>attorney who doesn't want to be there.
>
>Depending on what their reasons are for requesting a change in
>the agreement, they could be guilty of malpractice and find
>themselves in trouble if you complain to the bar association.
>
>
>Without knowing the specifics, this is only very weak advice,
>so don't put too much faith in it.
>
>I'd probably first push back at the attorney and say 'we have
>an agreement, let's stick with it'. Depending on their
>response, I'd let them represent me.
>
>If that seems like it might be a problem based on your
>experience with the attorney, I'd ask to speak to one of the
>partners at that firm (assuming your attorney isn't a partner)
>to ask for guidance. Then I'd probably ask for a different
>attorney to represent you at trial.
>
>If the law firm doesn't seem too cooperative, I'd find someone
>else to represent me (asking for a continuance, if necessary).
>Then I'd go to the original attorney and ask them to reimburse
>you for what you paid them since they didn't follow through on
>representing you.
>
>If that failed, I'd file a complaint with the Bar.
>
>Addition (I figured I'd better add a caveat):
>The above applies only if you have a valid contract, nothing
>of substance has changed since you signed the contract, and
>the law firm has no valid reason for requesting a change. Only
>you can say if that's completely accurate.

I hired a partner and he turned it over to an associate.When I they were retained they were made aware of limited finances and took case. The case is protracted due to STBX failing to comply with discovery and being sanctioned from presenting any supplements to the already limited discovery provided.
STBX's atty is a nasty ,unethical one who has encouraged STBX to continue to litigate so she could churn fee's and files numerous frivolous motions, none of which were succesful. Of course this means I have to fight the motions. My bill is in the thousands and my atty said I needed to make payment agreement via office manager. I did, and have adhered to it religeously. STBX has violated visitation order 3 times and my atty refused to go for show cause, saying save it for trial. Because it is easier and more cost saving for them, they have pushed me to just keep giving in to STBX, saying we will use it in the end at trial.Because I have pushed them back in this, they now say that I send to many e mails, don't always take their advice  and that the payment agreement is no longer sufficient. That if I don't make a new one they will withdraw. They know I dont have funds for new retainer or to pay more than already am. It is a very complicated contested custody case and I have had sole custody for over a year. Now with less than 30 days to trial, I would hope that a judge wouldnt allow the withdraw, since it is essentially over money and they made an agreement I have kept.The agreement was reached only 3 months ago, so the amount owed is not much higher than when agreement was accepted . The associate twice made changes to agreements after I left court, without my permission and I called him on the carpet for it. My case is very solid, but not one to be done pro se, as it will involve equitable distribution, custody and visitation.
I guess what I am asking is since this has been dragging on for a year, will a judge allow them to withdraw and keep the case dragging on longer?

[mistoffolees]

You have a number of legitimate issues, but I'm not sure that the question you're asking is the right one.

The right question (IMHO) is 'how do I get through this and maximize my chances of getting the results I want without breaking the bank?'

For your specific question, I don't think there are any firm guidelines in place - at least in my state. I could picture it going any of 3 different ways (and, unfortunately, I have no way to assign any probabilities to any of these options):
1. Judge lets attorney withdraw. You are forced to find a new attorney right now. You could argue very strongly for a continuance but that merely increases the time and money commitment).
2. Judge won't let the attorney withdraw. You're now being represented by an attorney who doesn't want to be there which lessens your chance of winning.
3. You find a way of reaching an agreement with the attorney so that they continue to represent you and get paid via some mutually agreeable terms. That clearly gives the best results but may be the hardest one to accomplish.
I guess there's #4 (you win the lottery or get a huge inheritance from a distant cousin, but I don't think I'd count on that).

Can the attorney change your agreement? Probably not. BUT, it sounds like things have changed in your situation which makes the old agreement obsolete. If the agreement said "we agree to provide unlimited legal services for an indefinite period for this amount of money", you'd probably be able to enforce it - but I can't see an attorney agreeing to that. If, OTOH, the agreement says that they'll provide the following services for a certain amount of money and then you needed greater services, then they're within their rights to ask for more money. It would depend on the actual wording of the agreement, but remember that they're attorneys, so the agreement is probably pretty favorable to them. And any verbal agreements you have are worthless.

[As an aside (it's too late to help you), the comment about you sending too many emails is one that everyone getting involved with attorneys should be aware of. I probably wasted several thousand dollars emailing my attorney on issues that didn't matter - or that could have waited to be combined. In one case, I was charged $32.50 (10 minutes minimum charge) for sending the attorney an email just for her files which she didn't even respond to. Her charge was legitimate, but that's the kind of thing that drives the bill up. There are guides on how to work with attorneys (maybe even on this site) and it's well worth paying attention.]

Back to your situation - realistically, it seems that your only real options are to either find the money to make an additional payment or negotiate for a bit more time. If you can't afford to make another payment to your current attorney, it's going to be hard to find another attorney to represent you - especially on short notice.

Good luck.