Legal Question in Legal Ethics in Oklahoma
I called an attorney's office for help with divorce paperwork. I couldn't afford to hire an attorney. The secretary said she would do the paperwork for much less. She incorrectly did the paperwork two times now and I am having to go in front of the Judge for my third time because of it being done incorrectly. I asked for my money back from her. She told me no because she did what she was hired to do. Prepare paperwork. But she did wrong. The judge even said she did not know what she was doing and did not do what I paid her for. She says she does this all the time. (1)Could she be audited by the IRS, even though she admitted she keeps no record of the files she does for herself.(2) Could this be considered embezzlement if her employer/attorney knew what she was doing? (3) Is her employer responsible for her misconduct since she was at work during the time she agreed to prepare paperwork?
1 Answer from Attorneys
That is terrible that an attorney's office would be so careless and inefficient! I hope your money was finally returned. As to your questions: (1) Yes she could be audited by the IRS although there is a very good chance that they wouldn't be able to find anything since there is no paper trial. (2) Embezzlement probably not since the money you paid was paid to her and not the attorney's office. However, I would think arguably a case of malpractice could be made (is she a secretary or a paralegal?) (3) Was the work preformed during work hours or was only the agreement made to do the paperwork done during business hours. I think it would be a very difficult issue to win.
Have you contacted the attorney directly? I would think he/she would be interested in knowing the practices being done in their office (probably without their knowledge or consent). Good luck with this. Bob
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