What is the statute of limitations for an attorney to collect his lien

Questions

Injury date 12 1 2007 attorney worked on case 1 year obtained records. new lawyer filed suit settled in 2010 for 500,000. attorney has lien in contract. second attorney refuses to pay first attorney. can first attorney sue me?

Answer 1

Yes. The first attorney can file suit against both you and your new attorney to enforce his lien once he has complied with mandatory fee arbitration requirements.

The statute of limitations on a written contract is 4 years from date of breach, i.e., from when the case was settled in 2010 and the lien was not honored.

However, unless there is a disagreement between you and your attorneys regarding the total fee to be awarded all attorneys, the dispute between the attorneys should not impact your right to receive your contingency percentage of the settlement or involve you in fee dispute litigation.

In the event there is a dispute regarding the total fee, the attorneys' ethical responsibilities would still require that the undisputed portion be released to you. In a nutshell, the attorneys cannot hold your right to recovery hostage because they cannot agree among themselves regarding the division of the fee.

Your present attorney should hold all disputed funds in trust until the dispute regarding fees is settled. All undisputed funds should be released to you after all other liens are satisfied. Hopefully, there is no dispute as to the total fee to be charged so you do not have to be involved in fee litigation.

Answer 2

This should not be an issue that you should have to deal with. The second attorney should work it out with the first attorney, and if they cannot resolve it, they should find a dispute resolution process to work out their problems. You should demand that your second attorney turn over the undisputed client portion of the recover to you if that has not already occurred, and to resolve the issue with the first attorney so that you are not embroiled in a lawsuit.

Keep in mind that if you were sued, you would not face the liability, but you would need to be named as a defendant because the first attorney had the contract with you. Any recovery should come from the second attorney's trust account.

Mr. Daymude is correct that the statute of limitations for a breach of written contract (which is the basis for the lien) is four years. We are both assuming you had a written agreement with the first attorney because we know it would have been wrong for the attorney to not have a written agreement. If, in fact, the first attorney did not have a written agreement, the statute of limitations is only two year.

Good luck to you.

Why is it not a good idea for pro per to take deposition

Questions

Please give example how deposition testimony can be rendered useless. A lawyer who has no knowledge of my case can ask useless questions.

Answers:

With all due respect to you, it is generally not a good idea because you are not a trained attorney. There are procedural rules that need to be followed or you run the risk of having certain questions or perhaps the entire deposition being inadmissible. It can be done, but I can not think of an attorney who would recommend this course of action.

While you may know the facts of your case, unless you are an experienced attorney, you probably would not know how to properly frame a question so that it is not objectionable. If you persist in asking objectionable questions, it is possible that the deponent will walk out of the deposition.

Moreover, the main purpose of spending your money to take a deposition is so that you can use it at the time of trial for purposes of impeachment during your cross-examination. Even less experienced attorneys often do not know how to use a deposition transcript at the time of trial.

You have already received four responses that all agree that a non-lawyer may well render the deposition useless.

Your assumption is that some attorney would step into the deposition cold without knowing the facts of your case. That is not what is being proposed by anyone. Anyone who is going to take a deposition has to know the facts of the case, how the players all fit together, and the documents available. It takes time to prepare for a deposition, and whomever would would hire would need to be given time to get up to speed.

You ask about how a non-lawyer could render a depo useless. I will provide a few.

1. By asking questions that are of improper form, the testimony may be deemed to be objectionable at the time of trial or in a motion for summary judgment. Objectionable questions essentially render meaningless any answers given thereto.

2. Opposing counsel can relentlessly yet legally object and obstruct the proceedings which will, whether you believe it or not, place you on the defense and rattle you, thereby rendering your efforts far less effective.

3. Failing to properly set up an important question before it is asked can result in the ultimate answer being rejected at the time of trial or an MSJ because you did not lay a legally acceptable foundation for the answer.

4. By failing to properly instruct the witness at the commencement of the deposition, you may render a really good answer unuseful because you gave the witness the ability to wiggle out of it at trial.

5. By not having years of experience in asking questions, your questions may well be too obvious about where you are going and therefore lose the opportunity to get the information you need in the deposition. Even young, inexperienced attorneys with three years of law school and a year in the firm have problems with this.

6. By not being a trained listener, you may will not see the small changes in voice inflection, change in body posture, or the use of specific words that indicate you are in a good area. For instance, I have read perhaps 15 books on human dynamics related to prevarication, body language and communication as part of building my craft. A non-lawyer will not have the same sixth sense that an experienced attorney will have.

7. The best deposition testimony usually comes from the art of misdirection. You get a witness to think you are going in one direction when in fact you are going in another. This is a skill developed over a long time taking depositions. While have just described this to you, it is a very hard thing to put into practice without knowing how it works.

There are perhaps a dozen other reasons why it simply makes sense to have an experienced attorney perform a deposition. Perhaps my answer has given you an idea of the complexity of the deposition process. If you are going to spend over $1K for a day of deposition in court reporter fees alone, you should not be penny-wise but pound-foolish.

You can always consult with an attorney and pay for a couple of hours of his or her time to give you guidance about the general procedure for depositions. You will still be at a disadvantage but this might help if you insist on proceeding pro se ipso. Good luck to you.

Was I lied to on purpose

Was I lied to on purpose? Is it their fault if I took out a loan for 4k after being told I had payments & back payments coming?

Question

I have Sickle Cell disease and I was collecting benefits for 5 months until I got a letter stating I was overpaid in benefits for 40k 13+ years ago. I just found out about it a few months ago and this was never in my file at all but somehow it popped up and became urgent that I pay this money back. I was told I would collect benefits from SS & SSI plus back payments but was talked out of collecting on both because he said it would take the government too long to estimate what I would receive for all 4 payments, so I did. I was being evicted and hearing that was a blessing, but I ultimately ended up with nothing at all. Since 3 other people told me the same thing he had, I took out a loan for over 4k to keep our home and pay the bills, so now I owe 44. I went into the office to find out what I had done wrong and the lady snapped at me and told me that the government could do anything they wanted to because I had no proof!...? That didn't sound right so I asked her if she would show me their "proof" and she tried to talk me out of that, and wouldn't let me file an appeal. She finally agreed to send me their "proof" but it took months for me to get it. It was longer than the cut off time that I could ask for an appeal, but she demanded me to wait for their proof before she would let me file for one. When I got my statement it showed the year, month, and the amount they paid me.. that's it! I'm upset because I think I was talked out of collecting help from both, in order for them to not help me at all.
I have 2 girls who collect $156 through SS and I receive $96 through housing and that's all I have to use for eating, paying bills, and other expenses each month.

Answer:

You were most likely not lied to on purpose and no, it is not anyone else;s fault that you took out a loan.