Legal Question in Legal Ethics in Florida
Professional responsibility to the client
I am a plaintiff in a lawsuit. The defendent was served papers by a process server. The defendent had 20 days to respond. On the 19th day the defendant's attorney contacted my attorney and requested an additional 7 days to prepare for the case. The defendant's attorney requested this as ''a professional courtesy''. My attorney agreed without consulting with me. Is this normal? My attorney, by agreeing to give the defendent extra time to prepare for the case, has hurt my chances of winning. What can I do?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Professional responsibility to the client
Your attorney is correct. It is a matter of professional courtesy, and not to grant the request would not only be ethically improper, but bad business. You will undoubtedly need additional time to meet the requirements of various rules during the pendency of the litigation, so the ball will be in your court at some point. You would not want to be denied a few extra days when you need them.
There is no discernable advantage to the defendant in having an extra 7 days to prepare his case - he will have plenty of time to prepare in any event.
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