Legal Question in Bankruptcy in Minnesota

Attorney Liability for Advice Provided

Does an attorney have any liability for the advice they provide? Specifically, we paid our attorney a required retaining fee in order to initiate our bankruptcy. We understood the bankruptcy wouldn't be filed until early April after we paid the entire attorney fee and filing fees. We asked our attorney if we needed to close our checking account because the bank is also one of our creditors. They asked who our bank was and then responded that we would not need to worry about them taking money from our checking account. We recently deposited $4,000 to pay past bills and pay the remaining attorneys costs to file the bankruptcy. Yesterday the bank withdrew $3,600 from our account to pay towards our debt with them. Can we do anything? There will be additional costs due to NSF checks now. I called the bank representative and they also told me they had called our attorney and were informed we had not retained them, only had a conversation with them. The bank said that led to the immediate withdrawal from our checking account.


Asked on 3/19/04, 10:16 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
David Kelly-952-544-6356 Kelly Law Office

Re: Attorney Liability for Advice Provided

The subject folks complain about most frequently to the Board of Professional Responsibility are misunderstandings about fee arrangements. They hammer on us quite powerfully that when someone hires us, we should put that in writing. Years ago I did not always do that. I had a lot of handshake relationships and agreements with people.

No longer. I always do a written retainer. If I meet with someone and it's just a consultation, I put that on a receipt or on the check for my consult fee.

First question I would have for you would be what do you have in writing with this attorney if anythng. Most attorneys these days will want to do a written retainer agreement. If you don't have one, that cuts towards the lawyer's side on this.

For help with a complaint against a lawyer call the Board at 651-296-3952. Another good place to call is the bar association in the county where this took place. The Hennepin County Bar Association can be reached at 612-752-6600.

Good luck.

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Answered on 3/20/04, 1:04 pm


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