[wishing4more]

Has anyone ever reported an attorney to their state bar association? I am not sure if my situation is something to report or just to let go.

Here is the story...

I am in the waiting stage and after getting tired of simply waiting for a phone call from my agency, I started looking at the "available" situations on the web (a whole other topic). I called a facilitator about a baby born situation posted on their site and was put in contact with an attorney. Initially the fees were around 22K, and even though I was uncomfortable with that amount, I decided to move forward and match. Of course the attorney wanted money wired and since it was late at night, I had him charge my credit card instead.

Unfortunately over the next several hours, the fees had risen to over 35K and involved 2 agencies, the attorney, and the facilitator. I had to withdraw. There was just no way that I could spend that kind of money and I was frankly afraid of working with this attorney. I suspect that as time went on, the fees would settle around 40K or higher and that the attorney wasn't being forthcoming about the entire situation.

After 2 weeks the attorney finally agreed to refund my money, minus 5K for "legal" fees. The attorney kept promising to send me the reimbursement, and after 6 weeks, I contacted my credit card and disputed the charges. They promptly reversed the disputed amount.

So, I know that I can't prove that he wasn't going to give me my money back, but that is what I suspect. I also can't say that he purposely deceived me in regard to the total fees, but that is what I suspect. I am so worried that another family will go through the heartache that I have over the last 2 months! I am just lucky that I couldn't "wire" the money and had protection from my credit card company!

Any advice about steps that I can take to protect others from this guy? Is this something that I should report to the bar, or just not enough evidence of unethical behavior?

[hopingforachild]

I would report it to someone. Maybe the BBB or contact the state. Can anything happen other than they tell you that there is no valid complaint? I for one appreciate when someone takes the extra step to try to prevent others from going through the same bad situation.

Good for you.

[Linny]

If he's a member of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys, I suspect you might be able to report his behavior there. However, as we've tried to discover, there might be a difference between 'unethical and unprofessional' and 'illegal'.

I think if it's 'unethical and unprofessional'.....there's probably not much you can do about it. The BBB is fine to report to I suppose, but for the most part, the BBB doesn't say a lot about anyone anymore---I'm told. (Sad, but true.)

I agree the behavior was criminal, IMO, but seems there are others who act this way too....preying on the vulnerability of hopeful folks who want to adopt.

Either way.....I'd be sure to tell anyone who'd listen about what happened to you!!!! Word of mouth may go further than you think-----and again, stress to anyone that whenever an adoption entity needs to have a decision and their $$ ---wanting you to decide NOW, there's a problem and reason to hesitate and take a step back to think it all through.

Thank you for posting about this...and be sure to tell others wherever you can. This type of stuff NEEDS to be known to others hoping to adopt.

Sincerely,

Linny

[SAHmom]

wishing4more, many years ago, 1992 to be exact, I reported an attorney. I had contacted him to file for divorce. This attorney would never call me back, set court dates, etc. Too many things to even mention here! I typed up everything that he didn't do or improperly did and backed it up with copies of paperwork and dates. You should be able to do a google search for the Bar Association in your state. It should have a form to fill out and instructions on how to preceed. In my case, I had to go before the bar and answer questions. The attorney in question ended up giving his license to practice as they were going to ask for it. I guess it looks better if he does this. Just recently I did a search with the attorney's name and found the documentation on that case. You might do this with your attorney to see if anyone else has ever turned him in.

I am now in the process of doing the same thing with a GAL that didn't follow the Attorney Book of ethics. Yep! I read through it and outlined everything he did wrong. This is a better case then the last time and in doing a search I found that he did this to another person {not following the law, etc} but he has never been turned in...yet! I don't do this lightly, but attorney/GAL are held to a high standard and MUST follow the law and code of ethics...anything less is totally unacceptable behavior and must be reported. Okay, off my soap box now....

Wanted to add: If you could find the book, "Attorney Code of Ethics" or something like that, you could read through and have actual sections to quote. Our attorney - great one, btw! - loaned his to me to complete our latest problems with the GAL.

[Nevada Jen]

I am an attorney and from the story you told, I thnk its right on the line. The only thing the bar would be upset about is how long it took to get your money back. He may well have had to get your money back from the facilitator and other agencies before he could pay you but he should have been informing you of that. Its probably worth a call to the bar in your state.

[oceanica]

Forgive my ignorance, but what is a GAL?

[SAHmom]

GAL - Guardian Ad Litem. In our case, the GAL was assigned as the attorney for our son.

[mondk]

GAL is (I think) "guardian appointed litigator" or something like that. How do I know? I'm reading the book My Sister's Keeper and the main character in the book has an atty appointed as her GAL.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong!

Blessings, Michelle