Legal Question in Family Law in Florida

Divorce lawyer has not helped.

My wife, was divorced about 7 years ago. She used an attorney to help her get her child support paid. But after over five years of getting less than 5 percent of the amount of child support ordered by the court, and the lawyer getting well over $20,000 in judgements for himself, while my wife received almost nothing. My wife, fed up with receiving almost nothing in child support during this time, settled for a reduced amount without the aid of her attorney. Finally she is getting paid almost on a regular basis. The question my wife and I have, due to her former attorneys lack of results, she lost over $65,000 for the time he was representing her. I know asking an attorney if you have recourse against another attorney may seem wrong, but what is wrong is the fact that for over 5 years, this attorney failed to ever gete any payments for my wife, but got payments for himself. Your thoughts would bee greatly appreciated.


Asked on 6/04/07, 7:25 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Marie-Anne Oatley

Re: Divorce lawyer has not helped.

1. Your wife MAY have a malpractice case if the attorney did not properly represent her. Some attorneys concentrate on suing other attorneys for malpractice. Check with your local bar association or the Florida Bar.

2. An attorney is not always allowed to place a charging lien in a dissolution action. For instance, one cannot place a charging lien on child support or real estate (without client consent). She might want to consult with an attorney to go over the details of her dissolution and the lien(s).

3. If there truly was serious misconduct, your wife can always file a complaint with the bar association. However, keep in mind that not winning a case is not misconduct and that what clients think is "not right" is actually legal and ethical according to our rules. I would first consult an attorney and see whether there was misconduct at all.

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Answered on 6/05/07, 10:10 am


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