legal matter...do I have a case?

rjp

Experienced Member
Joined
15 April 2004
Messages
518
Location
Bear, Delaware
I'm hoping one of the Primers who are attorneys are willing to respond (off the record).

Almost 2yrs ago, my wife had signed up with an attorney to pursue a claim against her former employer for non-paid wages (forced to work thru lunch, etc without compensation). It was approx 3yrs worth of non-paid wages. The attorney took our $200 initial consultation fee and then proceeded to do absolutely nothing with the case until now. By their own admittance, the atty who initially took on the case left the firm and caused turmoil within the office and they're just now cleaning up his old files and such. The problem is at this time the statute of limitations has expired for 80% of the period of work-time that we were claiming. So, what potentially was a $40,000 claim is now so little it's not worth the time (few thousand dollars perhaps) At this point, I've told the atty that they essentially charged me $200 to screw up the case and demanded my $200 back. They have since agreed to the refund and we have yet to accept their offer, as we're wondering if there's anything more that could come of this. Could/should we make some claim against the attorney for negligence or something? Or should we just get the $200 back and think about what could've been? Any help is greatly appreciated.
 
Not legal advice, no atty-client relationship express or implied . . .

It sounds like you have a potential claim for legal malpractice. You should see a lawyer that specializes in such things and is licensed to practice in your state. Do not delay or the statute of limitations may bite you again with respect to your potential claim of legal malpractice.
 
Did you talk with this attorney over the last 2 years? I'm not clear on how 2 years went buy without you being in the loop.

I would guess if an attorney felt your case could have won, you should definately be compensated. However, if you failed to keep tabs on what's been going on over the last couple years....I'd be more hesitant to blame only the attorney.
 
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