Legal Question in Family Law in New York

My divorce attorney encouraged me over the phone to accept my spouse's agreement to plead Constructive Abandonment a week ahead of a trial in which I expected to successfully defend myself on charges of cruel and inhumane treatment. (NY at the time was still the only state requiring fault to be found in a divorce action). While I thought that sounded OK at the moment (it came out of the blue), I had second thoughts that I didn't really know what the implications of that were and I called my lawyer back within two hours to request that she hold up on reporting my agreement until I better understood what I was agreeing to. She said sorry, it was already a done deal and couldn't be reversed (surely no formal paperwork could have been processed in that time).

After terminating that lawyer for furthur questionable practices such as refusing to give me copies of correspondence from opposing counsel and eventually refusing to provide me with a close out accounting and refund of several thousand of retainer money, I sought alternative counsel who

has repeatedly told me I was a jerk to accept that plea, that she had no case and I lost the leverage I would have had to bring wife to the negotiating table in order to settle property matters..

I know many contract purchases for example have something like a 3 day period to think it over.

Finally to my question: Is there a provision in the law that agreeing to a plea arrangement, when made in haste (this time via a phone call a week before a trial), can be rethought and retracted within a couple hours?

Thank you.


Asked on 9/16/10, 6:54 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys



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