Problem w/ a Lawyer ...

[Chester32141]

Folks ... I've noticed from reading this forum that there are many minds that are superior to mine that post here.  I'd like to tell you a short story about a problem I'm having and request your advice on how to proceed.

In 2005 I went on disability due to cancer.  Since then I've had 5 cancer related surgeries w/ promises of more.  For the past 3 years my income has been a combination of Group Disability and Social Security.  In April of '08 the insurance company for my employer denied my disability claim and I got a lawyer to file the appeal.  I tried to shop carefully for a lawyer but it turned out there is only one lawyer in this area that handles such matters so I went with him.  My group disability benefit is about $500 a month.  The Social Security disability benefit was never affected as Social Security has approved me for 5-7 years w/no expectation of improvement.

The lawyer required $3,000 upfront plus a sliding scale starting at 25% to be applied to the amount recovered.  Aside from sending a few letters the lawyer did nothing.  The actual appeal was done by me.   I visited all my doctors and gave them the paperwork requesting information and paid them myself. The company sent a claim file which I critiqued and sent my notes to the lawyer.  He copied and pasted my notes onto his letter head, had me sign it and sent that in as the appeal.  I realized that due to the sliding scale he would be compensated higher if the appeal failed the first few times and I believe that may be why he put so little effort into my case. 

I won the appeal.  As my doctor says, "If you're not permanently disabled, I don't know who is".   The back pay was deposited directly into my checking account and I used it to pay some of the bills I've accumulated.   Shortly before my receiving the deposit the lawyer called me and informed me that he believed I owed the entire sum to him.  He claimed that although the Social Security was never on the table, the insurance company had issued a benefit statement saying that I received $4,000, and that this figure was derived by subtracting the $12,000 paid by Social Security from the $16,000 that would have been my benefit if there was no Social Secuity.  I have been collecting Social Security for several years and he knew my monthly benefit was coordinated w/ Social Security.  He is aware that all I rec'd was $4,000.  When we spoke in December I stated that he knew that I only received $500 a month and had been receiving this amount for a couple years.  I had received $4,000 for my 8 months of benefit and therefore his 25% of the recovery was $1,000.  He said I owed him $4,000. 

Since my initial conversation where I believe he attempted to defraud me I have not answered his calls or responded to his letters.  I feel if he believes I owe him that amount let him put it in writing.  So far no bill, which I assume is because he's not anxious to put in writing what I believe amounts to fraud.   Three weeks ago, without my permission, he contacted my employer and had my permanent address changed to his own on all my correspondence, my 401K, my medical, my 'pay stubs', my disability paperwork, everything ... I changed it back today.

Here are my questions that I would greatly appreciate your answers or opinions for:

1.  Does the phrase "recovery" apply to the amount I rec'd from the insurance company or to the amount they would have paid me if I didn't have Social Security?

2.  I paid for my medical insurance during the eight months that the appeal took.  This was part of the $4,000 recovery.  Do I get to subtract the money I paid for that period from the amount I owe him a percentage of?

3.  Would you say I am right in thinking that if he wasn't trying to defraud me with his request for $4,000 he would have sent me a bill already (3 months since phone call) ?

4.  Is it legal for him to change my address to his own w/o my requesting him to?

5.  If he takes me to court (small claims) can I say that although we had a signed contract it is invalid due to our never having had a meeting of the minds and then simply pay him for the approximately 3 hours he put in on my case?

6.  Much as I'd love to have this SOB take me to small claims court, is there a better way to handle this than my non-communication w/ him and waiting for a bill.

Bear in mind, I'm the kind of guy that pays my bills the moment they come in the house.  If he had sent me a bill for a grand I'd have paid it long ago, but I don't owe him $4,000.

Thanks for reading this ...

I will appreciate and consider all serious responses.

[AmbulanceDriver]

IANAL, but i'd be putting in a call to the applicable State Bar Association, whomever handles complaints about attorneys.....

[Brad Johnson]

Contact your state bar association.  That usually gets the fastest results.

*add*  Ooops, looks like AD beat me to it.

Brad

[Werewolf]

Edited: Dang 6 secs between Bogie's response and mine 

First thing to do is tell your story to the local bar association in the form of a formal complaint against this guy. Call 'em up. Find out who at the bar to send a complaint about one of their members to and then send it in the form of a certified letter. Make sure you tell them what you want them to do. I.E. Call this guy off contingent upon you paying the 25% of the $4000 not the whole thing.

You may be surprised at the outcome.

If not get an attorney to deal with this. Good Luck.

[MechAg94]

#4 sounds pretty bad to me.  If you haven't, I would get documentation of that requested change and your changing it back from your company.  That is nuts. 

I would agree on the billing.  If he wants it, he should put it in writing.  Verbal is not enough.  I can't see him being successful in a civil action without proof that he attempted to collect.

....but I am an engineer, not a lawyer.  I don't think I'm wired that way.

[MillCreek]

What does your representation/fee agreement with the attorney say on this matter? Does it define 'recovery' or speak to how 'the amounts recovered' are defined?  If you make a Bar complaint on fee related issues, the first thing they will ask to see is a copy of the fee agreement.

[Regolith]

I'm not a lawyer, but I'm pretty sure #4 amounts to mail fraud.  That's a pretty hefty federal felony offense.

Might not be a bad idea to call up a buddy at the FBI, if you have any...

[Chester32141]

The contract simply uses the term 'of the amount recovered' ...
I'm afraid I don't have any friends in Law Enforcement ...
I appreciate the input ... really like to get this sorted out ...

[geronimotwo]

What does your representation/fee agreement with the attorney say on this matter? Does it define 'recovery' or speak to how 'the amounts recovered' are defined?  If you make a Bar complaint on fee related issues, the first thing they will ask to see is a copy of the fee agreement.

i agree, and would make sure your agreement is in favor of what you are seeking before going to the bar. otherwise your just going to piss him off.

[Jim147]

Go down to the Post Office and explain to them what happened to your mail. The Post Master may be very interested.

[Jamisjockey]

Go down to the Post Office and explain to them what happened to your mail. The Post Master may be very interested.

Three weeks ago, without my permission, he contacted my employer and had my permanent address changed to his own on all my correspondence, my 401K, my medical, my 'pay stubs', my disability paperwork, everything ... I changed it back today.

INAL, nor a cop, but that really sounds like mail fraud to me, too.  I'd go after his keister.

[Waitone]

#1 go to the relevant bar and file a complaint
#2 talk to a lawyer

A <number, lot, majority> of the states closely regulate this kind of legal action.  Check into what your state requires.  Now as to the who actually did the work, irrelevant.  Quite often the bureaucracy will use attorneys as a way to outsource its workload.  In a state with which I am familiar disability claims are a carefully orchestrated dance.  You can't get legal assistance until you've been turned down at least once.  Lawyers get involved and they get turned down once and then appeal.  Fees are paid out of the recovery.  Fees are carefully regulated to stop what is evidently happening to you. 

#4 looks kinda dodgy to me.

[lupinus]

I'd defiantly be going after him on the mailing of your information.  Though I would double check everything you have signed.  He is a lawyer and, presumably, isn't stupid.  If you signed anything giving him authorisation to direct your mailings or act as your agent it may have been broad enough so he wont get into trouble.  Unethical yes, illegal no.  Check your paperwork carefully and even if he covered his ass it would still be unethical, call the state bar.

Also next time he calls do answer the phone and tell him plainly that if he does not stop harassing you a restraining order will be filed.

[Azrael256]

Federal felony, one count per item.

Whoever takes any letter, postal card, or package out of any post office or any authorized depository for mail matter, or from any letter or mail carrier, or which has been in any post office or authorized depository, or in the custody of any letter or mail carrier, before it has been delivered to the person to whom it was directed, with design to obstruct the correspondence, or to pry into the business or secrets of another, or opens, secretes, embezzles, or destroys the same, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

Walk into the post office and tell them you need to report your mail being stolen.

[Hawkmoon]

Here are my questions that I would greatly appreciate your answers or opinions for:

The following are my opinions only, and probably worth every sou you're paying for them. In the interest of full disclosure, I am not an attorney but my grandfather did take a class in business law back around 1912 (or so I have been told). With that said:

1.  Does the phrase "recovery" apply to the amount I rec'd from the insurance company or to the amount they would have paid me if I didn't have Social Security?

You got the social security. It's useless to argue what the insurance "would have" paid you "if" you didn't get social security, because you do. What he recovered is what the insurance company paid you.

2.  I paid for my medical insurance during the eight months that the appeal took.  This was part of the $4,000 recovery.  Do I get to subtract the money I paid for that period from the amount I owe him a percentage of?

No. As you yourself, noted, you were out-of-pocket that money and he recovered it for you. I regretfully think it's on the table.

3.  Would you say I am right in thinking that if he wasn't trying to defraud me with his request for $4,000 he would have sent me a bill already (3 months since phone call) ?

Probably.

4.  Is it legal for him to change my address to his own w/o my requesting him to?

No.

5.  If he takes me to court (small claims) can I say that although we had a signed contract it is invalid due to our never having had a meeting of the minds and then simply pay him for the approximately 3 hours he put in on my case?

No. You have a signed contract. The judge will decide what it says and who owes how much to whom if there's a disagreement. However, he can't take you to court based on a telephone call. He has to send you a bill itemizing what he thinks you owe, and you are then entitled to submit a written request for him to explain -- in writing -- how he gets that out of the contract. THEN if you don't pay him, he can take you to court.

6.  Much as I'd love to have this SOB take me to small claims court, is there a better way to handle this than my non-communication w/ him and waiting for a bill.

Lawyers don't go to small claims court. They go to the regular courts, because the rules there are more strict and harder for us folks to understand. They know that, and they count on your not wanting to spend yet more money on an attorney as a tactic to beat you into submission.

You could be proactive and file a professional ethics complaint with your state's bar association.

[Azrael256]

Oh!  Online reporting form!

https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/forms/fcoa.aspx

[BridgeRunner]

You got the social security. It's useless to argue what the insurance "would have" paid you "if" you didn't get social security, because you do. What he recovered is what the insurance company paid you.

Probably, but not definitely.  Sometimes there are situations where what the lawyer is claiming may be true.  Not saying it is, just saying that sometimes, depending on the circumstances, it could conceivably be.  There be other important facts.

No. You have a signed contract. The judge will decide what it says and who owes how much to whom if there's a disagreement. However, he can't take you to court based on a telephone call. He has to send you a bill itemizing what he thinks you owe, and you are then entitled to submit a written request for him to explain -- in writing -- how he gets that out of the contract. THEN if you don't pay him, he can take you to court.

I believe that lawyers are subject to the Fair Debt Collections act as well, which will govern what actions he can legally take and what procedures he needs to go through to attempt to collect. 

Lawyers don't go to small claims court. They go to the regular courts, because the rules there are more strict and harder for us folks to understand. They know that, and they count on your not wanting to spend yet more money on an attorney as a tactic to beat you into submission.

Actually, that is not entirely accurate.  I have seen a lot of attorneys attempt to collect in small claims court.  Small claims rules vary so widely with jurisdictions that whether or not lawyers use them probably also varies widely. 

[Chester32141]

I don't know anything about lawsuits but I'm under the impression that a suit for an amount that qualifies as a small claim (under $5,001 in FL) has to be brought in Small Claims court ... 

The fact that he hasn't sent me a bill after telling me in December that I owed him over $4,000 makes me awful suspicious that he does not want to put that amount in writing ... 

I figure that I will clear up the debt problem first and then file a federal mail tampering charge ... 

[Nitrogen]

I'd put a fraud alert on your credit report too, and check it religiously.

[Chester32141]

No matter how you look at it, if he knowingly signed me up for a contract where he knew I would recover about $4000 and he planned on charging me $7000 he's a crook ... I want to see him explain that in front of a judge.  :rolleyes:


I will be checking my credit cards and my checking account tomorrow.  I've never been afraid of snakes, I just hate it when they sneak up on me and take me by surprise. 

[just Warren]

You paid $3000 to get $4000 for a total increase of $1000?

[De Selby]

What state are you in?

You need to contact your state bar association, as others have recommended.  Trying to get internet legal advice to fight the guy is a dangerous tactic.

You need to contact the regulators who manage these sorts of problems and explain to them what happened.  That will do a whole lot more than you can do by yourself.