Being sued by old attorneys....

[idontknow]

I am being sued by my old attorneys that handled my child placement case. These attorneys say that I owe them thousands of dollars (~$9,000.00). I paid them ~$8,000.00 mostly for the child placement matter. I filed a counterclaim for ~$8,000.00 (+ damages) based on negligent and incompetent representation, and because I was overcharged and damaged. They have since hired another law firm to represent them and named another attorney as an expert witness.  A trial is scheduled for this fall, but I lost my jury trial because the jury-fee was not paid in time.

The lawyers did a terrible job of representing me - I lost my children to their mother, after winning preliminary placement for one year.

The lawyer in the child placement matter failed to participate in a negotiation the day before the final hearing, because she was at an Aveda saloon having her hair done. She told me from the beginning that handling a case like this would cost ~ $5,000.00, and if it involved divorce it could cost $10,000.00. (In my case I was never married to the mother.) I believed this to be the high and low cost estimates, but her bill ran up to $15,000.00+. She barely argued on my behalf the day of the hearing because she was so intimidated by the opposing lawyer. She also breached the attorney-client priviledge by discussing this case with a friend of mine.  

The legal agreements do not state a cost per hour, in fact they say, "the attorneys will base their total fee upon the following factors...the fee customarily charged in the locality for similar letal services...(and) the amount involved and the results obtained..."

I have not been able to find attorneys to represent me in this civil case, partly because the opposing lawyers are a big local firm.  They have now filed for dismissal of my counterclaim, because they say that I do not have any experts to argue my claim(s) against them.  

I need advice on how to proceed. Please - Thanks.