To whom it may concern,
Would you please refer me to some one in Louisiana that could help me. I retained an attorney and was told by this attorney that my case had merit and a potential worth. I filled out the prescreened client questionnaire listing my previous jobs and reasons for leaving. I provided a detailed witness list and summary referencing my case. I kept up with the clerk of courts docket after my case was filed to make sure that all deadlines would be met by my attorney.
In the middle of my case the defense counsel was changed and the opposing attorney ended up being the same one that represented my current employer I was working for , I objected to this to my attorney but my attorney just ignored me.
I asked several times for a copy of the employment contract between my attorney and myself, I never received one to this very date. I also did I receive a bill of hours or any kind of detailed work on my case until nearly 1 1/2 years after my case had been going on, it showed my retainer now used up, however my attorney even charged me for several hours that were not supposed to be charged for, per my attorney's own statements, because of the other party not showing up, but canceling at the last minute. Also, because of this bill , I was questioning whether or not my attorney was taking my case on a contingency or was going to be billing me by the hour.
Personally , my attorney spent very little time on my case, in review of the court docket records many of the required and noted deadlines were never met or even filed, both attorney's must have been working through mental telepathy. No depositions, even mine were not taken, but cancelled , because of my attorney having something better to do. None of my expert witnesses were even interviewed by my attorney. I know that I had a credible and warranted charge against my previous employer and had gone through all the proper steps with EEOC. A court date had been set and things in my case were to get very busy and tight with what had to be done.
At my current employer things were turned into a living hell, because obviously the defending attorney who well knew that I was employed within one of his own clients businesses, had been saying certain things to my employer. I found this out, because I was harassed and heckled about my lawsuit by my bosses. I was put through so much bull crapt , as if my current employer was trying to make me walk out and quit. I quickly made it known to my employer that I would not quit, and they wanted me gone then all they had to do is fire me and I would go collect unemployment. Fortunately they did not fire me , because the employee base started falling off quicker than they could hire replacements, in fact it was almost supernatural how the company lost 11 sales consultants in less than 30 days. Then suddenly, one day after the mass exodus of the sales associates, all the harassment and heckling came to an abrupt stop. No more purposeful games and ploys trying to make me walk out. I guess I had shown my employer that a father of four children can endure anything for one's own family.
Then suddenly my attorney calls and tells me that the defense has made an offer to settle. My attorney does a complete turn around, now I am advised to take a chum change settlement. Why? because with my previous work history, I would not win at trial. My case value went from something to nothing. The reason given , by my attorney was something that was known to my attorney from the first week of my attorney representing me. My employment history, I was totally shocked by this about face. Then settlement playhouse ninety went on for a week. I went and tried to get a second opinion but I could find no one that would question my attorney's expertise on the subject matter of my case. The other attorneys were glad to look at my case summary for a $1500 retainer, but of course I did not have the money.
I went ahead and settled my case for chump change. However, my attorney ended getting more of my settlement than I did and when I asked to review the employment contract between my attorney could not produce it. Instead I was told that if I was billed for all the hours that my attorney worked on my case I would owe the firm money! My attorney told me , that if I did not want to take the settlement, we could wait until next week to finalize everything. I chose not to prolong this obvious charade and went ahead and signed. To this date I have not seen a copy of a final bill from this attorney's office and they will not provide me a copy of the employment contract.
I called the attorney's office , two days after I had been coerced to settle my case, and found out that my attorney was out of town for 8 weeks June 2006 and July 2006. This happened to be the most demanded time during my case to prepare for trial. I was told by the paralegal that my attorney had gone to complete their masters in English to a 2 month course and that she would have to email my attorney to see if it was alright to provide and meet my request about the copy of the contract. The paralegal made it sound as if this attorney attending school had been on her agenda since the beginning of the year. Also, the paralegal told me that this was the only time that my attorney could complete their masters degree in English and it was very important to them.
At that time, I woke up and realized why my attorney had laid down on my case many months previously , because my attorney had no intention to every prepare my case for trial. All of this was more than obvious because of all the court docket records indicating the lack of meeting deadlines required in my case. This would also explain me being ignored about myself not be comfortable with the defense counsel being employed by my employer. My attorney had no intention of letting me think it over about settling my case, and settle next week, Why? because my attorney had been packing their bags for school way in advance and was leaving on a plane as soon as my attorney could coerce me into to settling my case. After all, a little commission was better than no commission. I have obviously been misrepresented by this attorney, who put their interest that being going to school over my best interest in winning my case and settling for a fair settlement.
I really appreciate you taking your valuable time in reading my letter. I know it may seem hard to believe , but the above really happened. I concur any reply from you does not imply or cordone in anyway any legal advise to me or in the above mentioned matter in any way. I just need to be pointed in the right direction, because I know I have been screwed really good by this attorney. Thank you again, Sincerely MRCARHUNTER