Attorneys

[Uska]

do you work for free?

i suggest that if you had paid your lawyer that they would have worked harder and done a better job representing you

that has nothing to do with whether or not your lawyer is good or bad, i.e., you pay for what you get

why do you think O.J. got off & everyday others go to jail?

there is no such thing as a free lunch

He said he was paying his lawyers just not as fast as they would like very few people can afford to pay off any law fee straight off, there was no need for a post like yours as it makes you sound as bad as his lawyers.

[Hafeal]

My guess is that you are in some military position and the Court was unaware - as obviously different procedures take place in those circumstances.

Yes, YOU have an obligation to keep tabs on your case - even by calling the Clerk - especially if you have not been aware of any activity on your file in a while. At a minimum YOU should be calling your attorney to find out. If they do not return calls, you can file a complaint against them at the ARDC.

Lastly, your concept of a retainer agreement is incorrect and I would urge you to read yours carefully. No attorney must wait for permission for all their billables once hired. There are statutory guidelines as to retainer agreements and fees in Illinois and mechanisms in place to help you lodge objections to your bill if you feel charges are unfair or unauthorized. I would go with the former before the latter in almost every case because the signed retainer agreement represents your consent for them to act on your behalf. Further, the Court can make it necessary for your attorney to expend time even though YOU may think they shouldn't - they may have little choice in the matter.

Your argument would work if the attorney was forwarding the information on to me on things needing to be done. The judge was under the impression that I was willfully being non-compliant to court orders until I explained to him that the attorney was not feeding me all of the instructions of the court. So yes it was the attorneys fault I was almost incarcerated. Also my attorney failed to inform the court that child support payments were being directly removed from my paycheck by DFAS (Defense Finance and Accounting Service) and payed to Illinois Department of Family Services, so the Judge again was under the impression I was trying to skip out on paying (again because of my attorney not feeding information through proper channels) when in fact I was not.

And out of curiosity why if I dont know about a court date would I call the County Clerk's Office. I wouldn't know I needed to call if I wasn't informed of the court date in the first place.

And lastly in retort to the billing from the attorney when they are making charges based on court appearances I'm not informed of and are billing unauthorized charges they have over stepped their boundries and have gone outside the spectrum of the retainer agreement.

[branmakmuffin]

Untrue - both parties to an agreement can benefit. It is the rare case I have seen where everything was all one way and clear as night and day. All cases have weaknesses - for both parties.

Untrue. Plaintiffs often feel they have been cheated of justice because the defendant has been allowed to essentially buy its way clear. The plaintiff needs to money in many cases, so settles.

Bottom line, confidential settlements hurt everyone but the wrongdoer, which is why wrongdoers like them.

And when Tyrants are lawyers.. what then?

And when the tyrants are plumbers, what then?

Does your question have a point?

[Furbitor]

hmmm lawyers....

ever see a movie called matrix?

Short view is its a big construct designed to make people into parts.


Similarly, lawyers are part of a construct that operates exactly like a trojan-horse program.

They say they are going to do one thing and then they do something completely different, unwarranted and totally not for your benefit.

The Justice System is made to generate money. Sure it is suppose to punish the criminal, and make decisions, but it also is a Construct made by the government to harvest cash by processing people (innocent, criminal, or ignorant). It preys on the weak and slow of the herd (people) who are unlucky enough to escape its many traps.

Many Laws (traps) are written to confuse and snare the ignorant and defiant.

As the unlucky find themselves in the trap, they seek help to escape. Lawyers live here.

They promise you much then deliver little. Sometime you come out of the trap bleeding a little money. Sometimes you come out hemorraging lots of cash. Hopefully you dont get caught in the worst traps, which yourself gets locked up AND they make you pay thru the nose.

I am not advocating a life of crime, nor a pristine law-abiding way of life.

I am simply saying there is a whole bunch of people waiting.

The neighbor, your exwife... the guy in the car next to you.. any slight real or imagined.. the cops are waiting to haul you in... in thier cars or in donut shops...
the lawyers are waiting.. bondsmen waiting.... jailers waiting.... judges waiting....

Everyone is waiting for you to mess up... go ahead see how many times you mess up before they catch you.. and make you bleed...

But take heart. you cannot live in fear and dispair. Live as you must, and when you stand in front of the judge take full responsiblity for anything you have done or said.
Deny with all your heart that which is not true and with luck your journey through this trap shall cut you as little as possible, or as much as you deserve.


Every single time I have ever hired a lawyer I have found it to be a huge waste of money and the goal had changed from innocent to plea bargain. I found that fighting for myself was far more scary, but overall, I had lesser penalties (no pleas, plead guilty to those charges I was, innocent on charges I wasnt) and less cash expense.

Judges may be part of the system, but they are made of people. And people respect those who take responsiblity.

Good luck to you in your Justice Experience.

furbed

[Mhykke]

Wow, there's some funny stuff in this thread.

[Unknownperson]

As far as the McDonalds case goes, the issue for me was never how hot the coffee was. Someone has a responsibility to understand the consequences of their actions. Everyone knows coffee is hot and if you spill it on yourself you may suffer burns. The counter argument to this is McDonalds made the coffee too hot, therefore they are responsible. People pointed out that over 700 people were burned by the coffee served at McDonalds which proves it was way too hot. I would counter that with how many cups of coffee did McDonalds server over that period of time? My guess is in the billions, so 700 mishaps is not even a drop in the bucket.

Next thing you know is manufacturers of cars are going to be sued because someone died in a car accident and the car was going 100 mph. There is no reason for a car to go 100mph, there is not a place in the US where going that fast is even legal. In the US we have more freedoms than any other country in the world, but with those freedoms come some personal responsibility.

I like the fact that I can go to McDonalds and get an extra hot cup of coffee, this is a choice I get to make. But now, this choice was taken from my by an over zealous jury.

[branmakmuffin]

As far as the McDonalds case goes, the issue for me was never how hot the coffee was. Someone has a responsibility to understand the consequences of their actions. Everyone knows coffee is hot and if you spill it on yourself you may suffer burns. The counter argument to this is McDonalds made the coffee too hot, therefore they are responsible. People pointed out that over 700 people were burned by the coffee served at McDonalds which proves it was way too hot. I would counter that with how many cups of coffee did McDonalds server over that period of time? My guess is in the billions, so 700 mishaps is not even a drop in the bucket.

So are you implying that this argues in favor of McDonald's or the injured woman? "Very few people were hurt, so your injuries are really not that important in the larger scheme of things, ma'am." Is that what you're implying?

If someone is negligent, they're negligent. If lots of people were hurt instead of just a few, it means they were really negligent.

I like the fact that I can go to McDonalds and get an extra hot cup of coffee, this is a choice I get to make. But now, this choice was taken from my by an over zealous jury.

You have the freedom to make, and serve, your coffee boiling hot at home, should you so choose.

[Bronko]

Why is it that attorneys are the most unconscionable and apprehensible things known to man. Without going into too much detail I almost had my arse thrown in jail because my now former attorney showed up in court today after wracking up roughly 10k in charges, not informing me of court appearances (family court regarding child support and visitation for my daughter), and not telling the judge til today's court appearance that they were not going to represent me anymore because I'm paying them in monthly increments and not in a lump sum (that they seem to think I can whip up outta my butt) like THEY wanted.


Hmmm I've had it with attorneys and all their BS games.

We have a saying in law enforcement:

"I'd rather have a sister that works the streets than a brother that's a lawyer."

Unfortunately my brother did become a shyster.

[branmakmuffin]

Simple fix for those who don't like to hire lawyers: don't hire lawyers.

[crock]

bottom line - you and your ex are going to have to come to an agreement on the final outcome

lawyers are just going to run up your tab until you come to this realization

fire your council and hire a female atty. (they have a mean streak), ask for everything (kids, house, cars, $) and expect less than half (men get the shaft, be ready), avoid putting anything in black and white (it will be used against you later)...expect any conversations with the ex to be recorded, avoid any circumstances that may make you appear as a bad parent

choose your battles - finish your divorce then consider the regulatory commission, in the meantime document EVERYTHING (dates, times etc...) because the shysters do and they will be ready when you are

this is a fight for the quality of your life for the next 20 years approach it as such, but stay calm around the ex (nothing hurts a woman more than indifference)

on a side note: may all lawyers die a slow and painful death and burn in hell for all eternity