Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California
I hired someone that works at a lawyers office to handle my eviction related cases. He failed to do his job, and resulted me to get evicted. The charge was 700 dollars, but since he failed to do his job, he returned my money in a check. the check ended up getting bounced and when I asked for the money back, he refused. Is this legal? Why would he even attempt in the first place to give my money back if he had no intention of doing so in the first place?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Why would you hire "someone who works at a lawyer's office" instead of a real lawyer? You could sue them (both because you were evicted, and for the money you paid); and you could report the person to the State Bar of California for practicing law without a license. Watch out for legal time limits.
The State Bar does not handle complaints against unlicensed people. I'm assuming you asked a lawyer's paralegal to help you. A paralegal is not allowed to work independently of a licensed attorney's supervision. The only one who would be in trouble would be the attorney, for not supervising the paralegal and encouraging the unauthorized practice of law.
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