Legal Question in Criminal Law in New Mexico

Is an attorney ethically bound to tell me that he is not qualified to serve me? I was falsely accused of DV, have massive photo/medical evidence to prove I was abused. Contact an family law atty who does DV cases but I didn't realize until another atty told me 4 mo later that I need a top-notch criminal atty, which the first atty IS NOT. This guy took charged $6500 and did not provide a witness list, evidence etc to the DA. Ten days before trial I fired him and retained an ethical criminal atty. The former atty's brilliant legal strategy was to ask for a rescheduled trial (that the DA is not required to give) no doubt so he could keep charging me for nothing - is this malpractice or just incompetence? What recourse do I have?


Asked on 12/10/10, 10:46 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Charles Aspinwall Charles S. Aspinwall, J.D., LLC

Any attorney who is not competent to practice a particular area of law, but attempts to do so, may be guilty of ethical violations. Complaints against lawyers may be filed by calling the Disciplinary Board at 505-848-1871, and disagreements about fees are handled by arbitration through the State Bar of New Mexico at 505-797-6000.

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Answered on 12/15/10, 2:47 pm


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