Legal Question in Business Law in New York

I was suing my former landlord and use a lawfirm in nyc and case went on for over 4 years and there was a trial . There was no money awarded to either party .

The verbal agreement with my lawyer was that if we collect money he will take a 3rd and if we dont he will get nothing .We recieved no money and now he is suing me for the legal fees .

He has no retainer agreement , it is his word vs mine .

My question is

#1 can he sue me , his client ???

#2 I never got served with the papers untill yesterday regular mail and it is dated 12-21-11 and says I have 20 days to answer , how do I answer this ?

Do I have to even answer

Thanks,

Mike


Asked on 5/05/12, 12:27 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Nancy Delain Delain Law Office, PLLC

Yes, you have to answer; the consequence of not answering is that the lawyer will have a money judgment against you by default.

Yes, a lawyer can sue for fees.

The lawyer may be suing you under a theory of quantum merit; he did the work, he did not get paid, there was no written retainer, he has the right to be paid for his work. You do have defenses, but this is not actually a business law matter; this is an ethics matter, and you need an attorney to help you decipher what your response to the suit should be.

Hire that lawyer SOON.

THIS POST CONTAINS GENERAL INFORMATION AND IS INTENDED FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY. IT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE LEGAL ADVICE, NOR DOES IT CREATE ANY ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP. FOR LEGAL ADVICE ON YOUR PARTICULAR MATTER, CONSULT YOUR ATTORNEY.

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Answered on 5/05/12, 10:10 pm


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