Duties wrt extraneous billing with distressed / possibly incapacitated client?

M

michelle_

New Member
Jurisdiction
California
Is there a law in California that states that an attorney must take into consideration the mental and or psychological state of their client? An attorney is suing me for unpaid fees. I'm not a novice as far as hiring attorneys goes and know that this firm definitely overcharged me for the work product. However, some of the charges were calls that I instigated partly because I was going through a very distressing time in my life, and the attorneys were aware of it. Were they under any obligation to take this into consideration?

In other words, is it ethical for this attorney to have billed me even if, due to being emotionally and psychologically disturbed at the time, I was making phone calls and instigating contact that was not relevant to completion of the work for which the attorney was retained? The linked article seems to indicate that a client doesn't have to necessarily be declared incapacitated by a court order, doctor, etc for the attorney to have some duty to take this into consideration. Should the attorney have politely told me that my calls and emails were not relevant to the task for which they were retained? It seems that, in a hypothetical situation, a very distraught client could be billed many unnecessary hours.
 
Michelle, you will need a psychiatrist to testify in court that you were incompetent when you made those contacts with the attorney.

You'll pay the psychiatrist as much as, or more than, you owe the attorney, with no guarantee of winning.
 
michelle_ said:
Is there a law in California that states that an attorney must take into consideration the mental and or psychological state of their client?
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An attorney isn't QUALIFIED as a medical professional empowered to judge a client's mental state.

There is no way an attorney has the ability to even consider, much less EVALUATE; a person's medical, EMOTIONAL, mental, physical, or psychological state.

michelle_ said:
In other words, is it ethical for this attorney to have billed me even if, due to being emotionally and psychologically disturbed at the time, I was making phone calls and instigating contact that was not relevant to completion of the work for which the attorney was retained?
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Anonymous, internet responders lack the ability to answer the question you posed above.

If you seek specific answers regarding legal matters/concerns; seek the counsel of an attorney you've hired for that purpose.

As far as psychiatric, and/or mental health concerns, I suggest you seek a consultation with a licensed MD, DO, Psychiatrist, Psychologist, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, or the medical provider you prefer.

There is nothing productive that you can achieve by seeking the advice of strangers unknown to you, perhaps even thousands of miles away from you in countries and/or locations outside the USA.
 
Does submitting a letter from a professional on their letterhead with signature carries less weight to the judge than submitting a declaration? (MC-030 in California)
 
I re-opened this thread because Michelle's last question deserves a response.

Submitting a letter by itself is not the proper way to submit documents to court. They would risk getting lost or ignored. The MC-030 appears to be useful as a cover page explaining the nature and purpose of the document to which it is attached. Then you would file the MC-030 with the document attached being sure to serve copies on your opponent.

Your opponent would then have the opportunity to respond to the document. My feeling is that your opponent's response would be a motion to rule the letter as inadmissible because your opponent has the right to cross examine your professional in person, on the witness stand, under oath, just as you have the right to cross examine any of your opponent's experts or witnesses.

If you are going to submit that letter to the court make sure the writer of that letter is prepared to come to court and testify on your behalf. Otherwise the letter, by itself, is not likely to do you any good.
 
adjusterjack said:
I re-opened this thread because Michelle's last question deserves a response.
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Thanks, I appreciate it!

adjusterjack said:
Submitting a letter by itself is not the proper way to submit documents to court. They would risk getting lost or ignored. The MC-030 appears to be useful as a cover page explaining the nature and purpose of the document to which it is attached. Then you would file the MC-030 with the document attached being sure to serve copies on your opponent.

Your opponent would then have the opportunity to respond to the document. My feeling is that your opponent's response would be a motion to rule the letter as inadmissible because your opponent has the right to cross examine your professional in person, on the witness stand, under oath, just as you have the right to cross examine any of your opponent's experts or witnesses.
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Thank you for this information. This small claims case is in CA, Los Angeles County specifically. I don't believe there is any procedure for challenging evidence. Both parties are required to submit evidence to the other party and the court 10 days ahead of time.

adjusterjack said:
If you are going to submit that letter to the court make sure the writer of that letter is prepared to come to court and testify on your behalf. Otherwise the letter, by itself, is not likely to do you any good.
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I have heard this, yes. Unfortunately my witnesses live far away or would be prohibitively costly relative to the value of the case.
 
michelle_ said:
This small claims case is in CA, Los Angeles County specifically. I don't believe there is any procedure for challenging evidence. Both parties are required to submit evidence to the other party and the court 10 days ahead of time.
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The evidence can be challenged at the hearing. Though procedures in small claims are relaxed and informal, both parties still have the basic rights of litigants.

michelle_ said:
Unfortunately my witnesses live far away or would be prohibitively costly relative to the value of the case.
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You can file a motion asking the judge to allow your witness to testify remotely.

california small claims remote testimony at DuckDuckGo

Make sure there is plenty of time between your request and the hearing so it can be set up if possible.
 
adjusterjack said:
Your opponent would then have the opportunity to respond to the document. My feeling is that your opponent's response would be a motion to rule the letter as inadmissible because your opponent has the right to cross examine your professional in person, on the witness stand, under oath, just as you have the right to cross examine any of your opponent's experts or witnesses.
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Thanks for this info. So does this mean that any written declaration submitted by the opponent by someone who doesn't show up in person to the hearing, I could rule as inadmissible? I'll get the evidence just 10 days before the hearing, so would I file an SC-105 requesting that the written declaration be inadmissible? IIRC there's no info on this on the self-help section of the small claims website. Thanks for your help.
 
YOU don't rule it inadmissible. You make a motion to request that the court deem it inadmissible.
 
army judge said:
An attorney isn't QUALIFIED as a medical professional empowered to judge a client's mental state.

There is no way an attorney has the ability to even consider, much less EVALUATE; a person's medical, EMOTIONAL, mental, physical, or psychological state.
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Page 2 of this document says that attorneys do have an obligation to do so. I attached a picture of Page 2.

Zigner said:
It doesn't sound like you lacked capacity.
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Page 7 of this document addresses this as well. I have the relevant section cropped and highlighted in the second screenshot. "The client may be incapable of making or communicating a particular decision, but have the capacity to make other decisions associated with the representation."
 

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OK, now we know what the lawyer's obligations are.

Let's get down to facts.

How much money is he suing you for? Give me a dollar amount.

How much is his hourly rate? Give me a dollar amount.

Those must be answered in order to continue the discussion.
 
michelle_ said:
Page 2 of this document says that attorneys do have an obligation to do so. I attached a picture of Page 2.



Page 7 of this document addresses this as well. I have the relevant section cropped and highlighted in the second screenshot. "The client may be incapable of making or communicating a particular decision, but have the capacity to make other decisions associated with the representation."
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All of that means nothing if you didn't lack capacity.
 
adjusterjack said:
Your opponent would then have the opportunity to respond to the document. My feeling is that your opponent's response would be a motion to rule the letter as inadmissible because your opponent has the right to cross examine your professional in person, on the witness stand, under oath, just as you have the right to cross examine any of your opponent's experts or witnesses.
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I spoke with the small claims advisor today and she said that there is no cross-examining in small claims. Granted, they're not attorneys..
 
Averaging $625 that's about 8 hours.

Are you saying that your lawyers read your emails and talked to you on the phone for a total of 8 hours and you shouldn't have to pay them for it because you were experiencing diminished capacity?
 
adjusterjack said:
Averaging $625 that's about 8 hours.

Are you saying that your lawyers read your emails and talked to you on the phone for a total of 8 hours and you shouldn't have to pay them for it because you were experiencing diminished capacity?
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Not sure I understand your math. 12,000 divided by 625 is 19.2.
 
I'm only addressing the $5000 that you are being sued for.

Again, are you saying that your lawyers read your emails and talked to you on the phone for a total of 8 hours and you shouldn't have to pay them for it because you were experiencing diminished capacity?

Please answer the question.
 

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