Legal Question in Legal Malpractice in Iowa

I have a question...i was caught driving while barred inthe state of iowa and i was given a public defender and i had talked to her about what had happened and she worked with me on getting a plea bargan. Well as it turned out it had worke dand she talked to the prosecutor and ended up making a deal where i would pay a $625 fine and spend 5 days in jail. My sentenceing date was given to me and my lawyer told me that she would type up the paper work and and mail to me so i could sign it and write in the days that i wanted to go to jail. Well that never happened and i got a warrent out for my arrestand they got me and i spent 7 days in jail waiting for court. When i went to court and they just gave me the fine and gave me 7 days in jail time served, but because i was in jail i couldn't contact my job a tell them so i got fired. Later out i found out that my lawyer had gone to Florida on vaccation instead of doing the paper work. So my question is can i sue her for loss of job or anything or am i just screwed.


Asked on 4/07/10, 2:27 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Robert Luedeman solo practitioner

You're not going to get any money out of it but if you think your PD did not do her job properly file a complaint with the Commission up at the Supreme Court. You can find the link on the court's website.

However, you do say that your sentencing date was given to you, and I assume you did not show up for it, otherwise why would there be an arrest warrant issued? If that's the case you have only yourself to blame.

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Answered on 4/15/10, 5:51 am


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