Divorce attny and issues

[Yawmom]

My X and I had all the divorce info ready, everything was amicable all we needed an attny for was filing....he said it'd take aprox 3 months--took 5 because the attny didn't have time for me I guess.
So, here we are 5 months later AFTER the divorce, and the spousal support paperwork still hasn't been done. I have called, wrote and begged for this to be tied up. I called the FOC to see if there was anything I could do. The gal at the FOC office called my attny who said he sent it out "yesterday".

Issue was he got busy with a murder trial and I was shoved aside. I'm afraid of what he will charge since it's taking forever.
This should have been such an easy divorce, we are still amicable but unless it's court ordered I won't see a penny.

I'd call the attny for 2 solid weeks before he replied. I had to threaten taking him to the board before he answered my phone and letters, and I had to incur the cost of Certified Mail so he'd respond. I'm so tired of this, all I want what was suppose to have been set up in the divorce decree...it states my weekly pymt amount but he didnt' put in the FOC to take care of it.
He didn't do the Quit claims either, my mortgage broker told me she never had one that didn't so I incurred that expense along with the FedEx postage to the X for it.

I'm at wits end, I just want to move on with my life and need some cash to make ends meet. I don't want to get nasty but the attny has caused unnecessary frustration and expense--as I said, it should have been an easy filing. His secretary is always out sick , it's a good size firm full of people..nobody is his paralegal? No other assistants? Can I do something to shake him up and get my business done? I do want to file a complaint, how?
Argh!!
Thank you

 

[Michael Wechsler]

I'm taking your complaints at face value - there are many times when clients have poor expectations and are deluded but I'm not sure that is the case here and have heard complaints that go the other way too. My point is that you don't want to do something drastic unless you've got proof that you've done everything you can properly.

My feeling? You should send the attorney a written letter via a certifiable method, documenting all the complaints you have. You should state that his conduct is egregious and unprofessional and that you don't want to file a complaint with the state bar but you will do what you must if this misconduct persists. If you don't get a response within X days that you should state in your letter, you may want to contact the bar association in your state and file a complaint. No attorney wants that to happen and I always urge people to work things out before even considering going this route. If all fails, as may be the case here, then what must happen will happen.

Best of luck to you and hope it works out.

 

[Yawmom]

Thanks for your input--I've been more than patient, I only wanted him to do his job--filing paperwork properly.
There was hardly anything for him to do, I wish I had known I could have filed myself. After all I did do the Quit Claim, all details involved...he needed to file and set up the FOC. I was not one of those people who constantly called...in fact I gave it plenty of time which has actually ended up hurting me in the long run.
I will send yet another letter.
Thank you,