Legal Question in Legal Malpractice in Illinois
Found out our Attorney's firm has represented other party
My wife has a legal plan through her employer. In March of 2008 we went to an Attorney to fight a property tax hike. I told the Attorney that it wasnt about the money, but about a neighbor that was bringing our property value down, and I also wanted a demand letter sent to the same neighbor who came onto our property and cut down 7 14ft. trees. we waited a Month, and after many attempts got in contact with the Attorney to find that she ''missread the paperwork, and wasnt able to file the paperwork in time''. We left it at that and went onto the demand letter. It wasnt until June that we finally met with her, and she sent out the demand letter. Finally in Nov. she called and told me the neighbor was really sorry, and he would replace the trees himself, or give me 1/3 of our lowest estimate. When I declined the Attorney got rude and told me if I goto small claims court I'll lose because thats all the neighbor has to do! I thought that she acted more like his Attorney than ours. so I checked the neighbor criminal record on the Internet, and found that her law firm has represented him for years, and in many cases. Can I sue the Attorney for mal-practice?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Found out our Attorney's firm has represented other party
There are a few pieces to the story... the property tax hike may be grounds for malpractice if the attorney simply messed up and failed to file. But only if you had a valid claim to reduce your property taxes.
The tree issue is a bit more complicated and I would have to talk to you about more details to see if there is grounds for a complaint for malpractice.
In any case, some of the behavior you are describing might be worth a call to the ARDC (attorney registration and disciplinary commission). Google ARDC for the contact information.
Please feel free to give us a call if you want to talk more about your concerns.
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