Legal Question in Family Law in New York

Re: Plaintiff Filing Unfounded Allegations against a Defendent.

As long as the attorney has a good faith basis, ie. possibly in this case the representations made to him or her by his client, then he or she cannot be disbarred for representing the client. You have the right to countersue your wife if she has slandered you; you should discuss this with your divorce attorney.

Re: Plaintiff Filing Unfounded Allegations against a Defendent.

More information is needed before we can figure out how to handle your problem. An attorney can be severely disciplined or even disbarred for dishonesty, but merely bringing allegations that are later deemed unfounded is not sufficient unless certain other factors were present (like the attorney knew full well that the allegations were false but made them anyway or he encouraged your wife to lie.) Proving this can be very difficult. Also, I need to know exactly how the allegations cost you your job and your teaching career if they were later proven to be false. Please feel free to email me if you want to discuss this some more, as there are a lot "ifs" here that can only be answered with more information.

Re: Plaintiff Filing Unfounded Allegations against a Defendent.

An attorney has a right to rely on his client's version of the facts.

There is no obligation on the attorney to investigate, in advance, all of the client's claims prior to briinging suit. The theopy is that the client is in the best position to know and the attorney'sjob is to act as his client's advocate, not his inquisitor.

You can go after the client if the facts can be shown to be based on lies.

Should you like to discuss this or any other legal matter you can e-mail me for more information about low cost face-to-face, on-line or a telephone consultation with a lawyer in our office.