What fun would this blog be without some bad lawyer stories?  I can dish out common sense all day, every day, but a bad lawyer tale once in a while is a must. I’m going to share real stories, without real names or locations (I don’t want to get sued by a good or bad lawyer). I can assure you, however, that these are real situations that happened to real everyday people.

Rebecca was in a car accident that was not her fault. Her car was damaged and she had some injuries requiring medical care. She found a lawyer by looking in the phone book and retained Lawyer X, who advertised as a personal injury attorney. She continued to receive medical treatment and signed papers that allowed her medical providers to have a lien on the legal case. This meant that she could receive medical care without paying up front and the medical provider would get their bills paid by the attorney when the case was either settled or won in court.

Quite a bit of time passed and Lawyer X was not communicating anything to Rebecca about her case. Her medical providers were starting to pester her about her medical bills because they were not able to communicate with Lawyer X.  Finally, Rebecca was told by her attorney that the case was going to trial. She was to meet her lawyer on the courthouse steps in a few days.  When she met her lawyer at the courthouse, he informed her that the case had been settled for $30,000.  He had never told Rebecca that there was an offer to settle or talked to her about agreeing to a settlement.

Time passed. Rebecca didn’t hear from her attorney again. She could not reach him by phone. She never received any money. Her medical providers were hounding her for payment. She went to see a lawyer about her Bad Lawyer. Turned out that Lawyer X did not have malpractice insurance, had placed all his assets in his wife’s name, and was essentially “judgment-proof.” The $30,000 check he had received from the insurance company to “settle” her case had been cashed and spent. Rebecca ended up declaring bankruptcy.

This is just one example of why “suing your lawyer” will not necessarily solve a problem with a bad lawyer. If Rebecca had been armed with information and understood more about the legal process and what her attorney should have been doing for her, this outcome might have been preventable.

And that is why I keep dishing out common sense.