Legal Question in Family Law in Michigan

What recourse does one have against a lawyer from whom you feel you received less than adequate representation and services?

I recently went through a divorce and throughout the entire process my lawyer was deficient in many areas but I was cash strapped and couldn't afford to seek a new attorney after having emptied my savings to pay my current lawyer's retainer. From day one he screwed nearly everything up.

1) Despite my spouse and I remaining amicable he was incredibly offensive with his language towards her, even using vulgarity quite often.

2) The temp child support order was entered in Sept. '09 using incorrect income information resulting in me paying over $1000 more a month than should have been necessary. This was not corrected until the day the final judgement was entered. He would ask for a payment on my growing balance and I'd tell him that I'd have money to give him if he'd do his job and save me that $1000 a month I'm not supposed to be paying.

3) Billing is suspect. My spouse and I are now cooperating to reconcile her itemized bill with mine to look for discrepancies.

4) Despite my spouse and I having come to an agreement on pretty much all point and telling our attorneys that we wanted to get things settled, the case dragged on for another three months while the lawyers continued to bill.

5) Even after the case was over, I was still being charged the wrong support amount. Despite bringing this to his attention, I had to handle it with the friend of the court to get it corrected.

6) Getting a call back from my lawyer was like pulling teeth. Weeks would go by without hearing from him. Meanwhile, I'd find out from my wife what was taking place. She'd forward me information that she thought my lawyer should have had.

7) His office lost my interrogatories causing delays and causing me to have to complete a 2nd set.

8) To this day I still have not received a) her interrogatories b) a copy of the divorce decree c) a copy of the final judgment.

9) Throughout the entire process I always had to ask my spouse to e-mail me copies of documents. I got more information from her and her attorney than I did my own.

Basically, my ex-wife and I both agree that my lawyer was either an idiot or an ass and wonder what exactly he did to justify his $10,000 bill. I know... $10,000 may be a relatively cheap divorce but what exactly did this guy do to earn it?

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