Flarpl

[LisaDW]

Is an FLARPL valid if the client was not informed about what it meant and if the property involved is not even in the client's name but is the property of the spouse?
The attorney is sueing me for $50,000 and my divorce is not even finished. He withdrew and I had to find new representation.
California

 

[fredrikklaw]

You auhtorized it!

Well, you willingly encumbered what you perceived to be your interest (share of) in the community property in order to pay attorney's fees attached to the divorce proceedings and the lien is very much legal. The attorney could not have recorded the lien on his own accord and he must have filed all sorts of affidavits and followed the stringent rules of professional conduct before recordation of the lien.

If you do not agree with the amount, you can apply to the court to either stay the lien or reduce its amount and the fact that the property in question is now in your husband's name will not change matters as it will be subject to division of assets and finally sold, the proceeds from which shall be used to pay the attorney's fees according to the amount of the lien.

fredrikklaw

 

[LisaDW]

You are right. I did sign a document that he said was a lien on my home. It included my husband's business, but he said that was simply a standard contract to include business as well as home and that I was not to worry about it. It was only my home that the $50,000 lien pertained to. The business waa not in my name so was not counted. Also, it was an LLC and I had no rights to it.
I admit I was stupid but I had never dealt with an attorney or legal stuff before. In fact, I had never been involved in financial stuff. In the 30 years I was married my husband refuseed to let me have any access to our financial information, no shared accounts, no credit cards etc. When I started to insist I understand our finances, he became physically ausive. That's why, at 60 years old, I was getting divorced.
Now I find out the accountant and my husband have been hiding assets, liquidating my retirement, shifting money around and filing fraudulant tax returns. It is a mess.

 

[fredrikklaw]

Final Decree?

It was standard contract? I don't think so! And any mess is going to be your ex's and the accountant and not yours.

But let me ask you this; are you still going through divorce or has it been finalized? Also, where did the first attorney come up with the $50,000.00 fee figure, was it just a lump sum he had quoted you or did he provide you with an itemized bill showing what he charged for what?

fredrikklaw

 

[LisaDW]

My Pre-Trial hearing is in a couple of weeks.
The attorney said he was charging by the hour but would not require any payment until after the divorce was finalized.
He had been sending me itemized bills (including charging interest) every month, but they all said 'no payment due'. They reached $20,000. That's when my home short sold and he had to remove his lien.(He is the one who siad the house had to be sold immediatelly) He then sent me an Email stating he was changing our fee agreement. My spousal support was to be sent to him in his name starting immediatelly. He would deduct his fees and give me the remainder. I told him "No". He also sent the opposing attorney an Email stating ss was to be sent to his office in his name. I told the opposing attorney an agreement had not been made. When ss was not recieved, my attorney sent the opposing attorney an Email saying support was late and he threatened to file a contempt charge against my husband. Then he went crazy and charged me for everything....calls to and from real estate agents, banks, my husband, my husband's brother, opposing attorney, our accountant, travel and filing charges to court to remove the lien, travel to court and his fees for filing a Motion to Withdraw, charges that he 'forgot to put in the bill" from past stuff he said he did.....until it reached $50,000. Then he said he was filing a lawsuit demanding I pay him his $50,000. That's when I found he had filed a lien on my husband's business, an LLC.

 

[LisaDW]

fee agreement is strange

Looking over all the paperwork, I realize the only fee agreement was the $50,000 lien on my home. There is no mention stating what his hourly fees were and there was no retainer. All his statements said 'No payment due'.
The house short sold.
He sent everyone involved in the divorce a letter stating he was to be notified if I received any settlement money because he had a lien on any money now and in the future as a result of the divorce. I never signed a lien on future settlement money.
Could it be that he is a little upset my house short sold because he was using that to secure his fees?
Should I just ignore him and his threats about lawsuits?
Should I file with the State Bar a complaint?

 

[army judge]

You should speak to other attorney's.

These attorneys should not be in your county.

They could even be in a large city nearby.

You can't fix this.

But, if it isn't fixed, you will be financially drained; if not ruined.

That is why you must hire a new attorney to represent you and seek redress for the unethical practices your attorney has exhibited!

 

[LisaDW]

Is it a malpractice attorney you are referring to? I have contacted a couple of attorney's in other cities. They both said, after I faxed proof, that the attorney was guilty of malpractice. However, both attorney's also said they do not handle Family Law malpractice cases because they are so complex.
The best they could advise was for me to file a complaint with the State Bar. That, however, will not 'fix' my problem as the State Bar (from my understanding) only addresses the complaint against the attorney.
I was lucky enough to find a new attorney who took over the case in time for the pre-trial hearing and contempt charge against my spouse. The other attorney quit 10 days before the hearing.
He also never sent me a Client's right to Arbitration.
It is not just me he is ruining financially, but I worry my soon to be ex spouse might also be at risk, as well as his LLC partner

 

[army judge]

In the interim, keep searching for a malpractice attorney.

File the complaint with the bar association, ASAP.

This isn't going to be easy.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[LisaDW]

Would it help my case if I sent the State Bar, along with my complaint, copies of over 70 property liens this attorney has filed between 2006-2010? Perhaps this is not an unusual number of liens for a Family Law attorney to file, I don't know.

 

[LisaDW]

I filed my compliant with the State Bar and have been calling up Malpractice attorney's.
They have all been very nice, have said I do have a case, but cannot help due to money and/or time...not enough of either.
Can I remove the lien on my husband's business myself? If so, how?
The attorneys I called said to be sure and file a lawsuit within the 1 year period which started Oct/Nov 09. Where do I file and how?
Thank you