Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
Mr. Anthony Roach and Mr. George Shears, you two have given me excellent opinions and answers to all of my questions since mid 2010. You sent me in the right direction on where to find answers to a lot of my questions, I am truly grateful and so is my wife. I have never been in trouble with the law and I have never been in court. Here is a good laugh for you two, I never knew what a hearing was about. I didn't know you go to a hearing before a trial. I didn't know the court has nothing to do with trusts but they do probate wills. I didn't know it sometimes takes a lot of time to get justice.
QUESTION: I finally received part of my file from my first attorney who has been holding out for over a year ignoring me. It is only a partial file. How do I know? I have a document that states there are 143 documents in my file. I only received 54! Can I take him to court for concealment? It has been over two years, statutes of limitations? Thank you
3 Answers from Attorneys
Thank you very much for the compliment.
You could sue but what are the damages? It will be better and faster to write the attorney and point out that under Ca. State Bar Rules of Professional Conduct 3-700(D), you are entitled to your entire original file, of which your former attorney can make a copy [so he can not charge you for the copies as he is the one getting the copies]. Give him 5 days to send the material to you or you will file a complaint with the State Bar.
You may not be barred by the Statute of Limitations in suing him because he did give you part of the file a year ago and if you signed a retainer agreement with him you might be able to argue that the written provisions of the Bar Rules are part of the contract you so there is a four year statute [if oral contract, 2 years].
I mostly agree with Mr. Shers on this one, but after all this time I would recommend filing with the State Bar immediately, and then send him a copy with a letter saying if he provides you with the rest of the file you will notify the State Bar that he has done so.
I've never had luck with the State Bar getting a former attorney to turn over the file promptly, but Mr. McCormick is correct. Two (2) years is outrageous to have your complete file delivered to you.
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