Help sacking attorney

[Kang Lang 7]

hi there,

i was wondering if anyone has sacked there attorney and how they went about it. our situation was the attorney was referred to us by a mutual friend that used him with success. so i met with the attorney and signed a contract with them and put down a $1000 retainer, he has built the process from k-1 through AOS into his contract. We were successful in our bid to get my now husband here on a K-1 but that was not without the problems of having multiple mistakes in our paperwork, some of them very significant. when i began questioning them it turns out that the assistant does the bulk of the work on the forms (they were available for me to pull online for review) on one occasion she told me that i should not worry that she was making mistakes but that the program they use changes things after she closes the documents which were all .pdf format. needless to say this gave me pause. there are many such instances but i won't bore you with all the details.

specifically what i am really hoping someone can help me with is advice on how i can nulify the contract. i am happy to pay them 1/2 which would cover the k-1 process but i want to do the AOS myself. (wish i had found this site earlier, i would have done the whole thing myself). any advice is greatly appreciated

[Minya's wife 24]

hi there,

i was wondering if anyone has sacked there attorney and how they went about it. our situation was the attorney was referred to us by a mutual friend that used him with success. so i met with the attorney and signed a contract with them and put down a $1000 retainer, he has built the process from k-1 through AOS into his contract. We were successful in our bid to get my now husband here on a K-1 but that was not without the problems of having multiple mistakes in our paperwork, some of them very significant. when i began questioning them it turns out that the assistant does the bulk of the work on the forms (they were available for me to pull online for review) on one occasion she told me that i should not worry that she was making mistakes but that the program they use changes things after she closes the documents which were all .pdf format. needless to say this gave me pause. there are many such instances but i won't bore you with all the details.

specifically what i am really hoping someone can help me with is advice on how i can nulify the contract. i am happy to pay them 1/2 which would cover the k-1 process but i want to do the AOS myself. (wish i had found this site earlier, i would have done the whole thing myself). any advice is greatly appreciated

You can probably sack your attorney simply by writing to him/her that they're fired. Now as to whether you can get half your money back...that's uncertain. But you can try writing the "you're fired" letter and enumerating all the mistakes he/she made w/ the K-1 and using that as reason for not wanting to continue using said lawyer's services and as reason to demand half your retainer back.

Good luck,

-P

[AnewKINDofFEELIN 0]

hi there,

i was wondering if anyone has sacked there attorney and how they went about it. our situation was the attorney was referred to us by a mutual friend that used him with success. so i met with the attorney and signed a contract with them and put down a $1000 retainer, he has built the process from k-1 through AOS into his contract. We were successful in our bid to get my now husband here on a K-1 but that was not without the problems of having multiple mistakes in our paperwork, some of them very significant. when i began questioning them it turns out that the assistant does the bulk of the work on the forms (they were available for me to pull online for review) on one occasion she told me that i should not worry that she was making mistakes but that the program they use changes things after she closes the documents which were all .pdf format. needless to say this gave me pause. there are many such instances but i won't bore you with all the details.

specifically what i am really hoping someone can help me with is advice on how i can nulify the contract. i am happy to pay them 1/2 which would cover the k-1 process but i want to do the AOS myself. (wish i had found this site earlier, i would have done the whole thing myself). any advice is greatly appreciated

I'm pretty certain that it isn't legal for him to get his assistant to do the forms unless the assistant is a lawyer herself. I'm actually thinking that the lawyer is definitely running the risk of being disbarred in doing so, but I'm not sure. I know that you are paying the lawyer to work on the case, not an assistant. I would check on the legality of it. If it turns out that the lawyer himself is required to fill out the forms, which I think is the case, that is a breach of contract. If that is the case, let him know that you will be terminating the contract because of this. If he presses, you can point out the obvious legal ramifications of his having an assistant do a lawyers work.

I could be 100% wrong on this, though.

[no name 1]

hi there,

i was wondering if anyone has sacked there attorney and how they went about it. our situation was the attorney was referred to us by a mutual friend that used him with success. so i met with the attorney and signed a contract with them and put down a $1000 retainer, he has built the process from k-1 through AOS into his contract. We were successful in our bid to get my now husband here on a K-1 but that was not without the problems of having multiple mistakes in our paperwork, some of them very significant. when i began questioning them it turns out that the assistant does the bulk of the work on the forms (they were available for me to pull online for review) on one occasion she told me that i should not worry that she was making mistakes but that the program they use changes things after she closes the documents which were all .pdf format. needless to say this gave me pause. there are many such instances but i won't bore you with all the details.

specifically what i am really hoping someone can help me with is advice on how i can nulify the contract. i am happy to pay them 1/2 which would cover the k-1 process but i want to do the AOS myself. (wish i had found this site earlier, i would have done the whole thing myself). any advice is greatly appreciated

I'm pretty certain that it isn't legal for him to get his assistant to do the forms unless the assistant is a lawyer herself. I'm actually thinking that the lawyer is definitely running the risk of being disbarred in doing so, but I'm not sure. I know that you are paying the lawyer to work on the case, not an assistant. I would check on the legality of it. If it turns out that the lawyer himself is required to fill out the forms, which I think is the case, that is a breach of contract. If that is the case, let him know that you will be terminating the contract because of this. If he presses, you can point out the obvious legal ramifications of his having an assistant do a lawyers work.

I could be 100% wrong on this, though.

so why guess?

[AnewKINDofFEELIN 0]

hi there,

i was wondering if anyone has sacked there attorney and how they went about it. our situation was the attorney was referred to us by a mutual friend that used him with success. so i met with the attorney and signed a contract with them and put down a $1000 retainer, he has built the process from k-1 through AOS into his contract. We were successful in our bid to get my now husband here on a K-1 but that was not without the problems of having multiple mistakes in our paperwork, some of them very significant. when i began questioning them it turns out that the assistant does the bulk of the work on the forms (they were available for me to pull online for review) on one occasion she told me that i should not worry that she was making mistakes but that the program they use changes things after she closes the documents which were all .pdf format. needless to say this gave me pause. there are many such instances but i won't bore you with all the details.

specifically what i am really hoping someone can help me with is advice on how i can nulify the contract. i am happy to pay them 1/2 which would cover the k-1 process but i want to do the AOS myself. (wish i had found this site earlier, i would have done the whole thing myself). any advice is greatly appreciated

I'm pretty certain that it isn't legal for him to get his assistant to do the forms unless the assistant is a lawyer herself. I'm actually thinking that the lawyer is definitely running the risk of being disbarred in doing so, but I'm not sure. I know that you are paying the lawyer to work on the case, not an assistant. I would check on the legality of it. If it turns out that the lawyer himself is required to fill out the forms, which I think is the case, that is a breach of contract. If that is the case, let him know that you will be terminating the contract because of this. If he presses, you can point out the obvious legal ramifications of his having an assistant do a lawyers work.

I could be 100% wrong on this, though.

so why guess?

get off my nuts

Basically because it gives the OP something to think about. I highly doubt they were expecting an assistant to do the work. As such, the expectations that the contract was based on proved false.

[AnewKINDofFEELIN 0]

So, I just spoke with our lawyer here in the office and she said that it all depends on the language of the contract. You need to find a specific instance of breach in order to nullify the contract. Basically, get a copy of the contract and go through it with a fine-toothed comb to find any breaches that have occurred. Other than that, your best option is to send them the letter of firing and see what their response says.

[Alex+R 0]

so why guess?

get off my nuts

:lol:

This kind of thing usually does not make me laugh. But at the moment, yes.

[Kang Lang 7]

thank you very much "anew" it is a basic one pager that says it includes the visa application and aos w/ no guarantees and that the fee is required regardless of outcome. so basically even if we were denied i am assuming i would be liable for the whole contract amount. i just feel like i should not have to pay for lousy work i guess it's my problem. i am hoping that i can sack him and just say i will pay 1/2 and let's just call it even. leave me to do aos on my own. it certainly sounds reasonable i figure it's not worth even asking for any of the retainer back. *fingers crossed* i am going to write the letter tonight.

[Nagishkaw 510]

hi there,

i was wondering if anyone has sacked there attorney and how they went about it. our situation was the attorney was referred to us by a mutual friend that used him with success. so i met with the attorney and signed a contract with them and put down a $1000 retainer, he has built the process from k-1 through AOS into his contract. We were successful in our bid to get my now husband here on a K-1 but that was not without the problems of having multiple mistakes in our paperwork, some of them very significant. when i began questioning them it turns out that the assistant does the bulk of the work on the forms (they were available for me to pull online for review) on one occasion she told me that i should not worry that she was making mistakes but that the program they use changes things after she closes the documents which were all .pdf format. needless to say this gave me pause. there are many such instances but i won't bore you with all the details.

specifically what i am really hoping someone can help me with is advice on how i can nulify the contract. i am happy to pay them 1/2 which would cover the k-1 process but i want to do the AOS myself. (wish i had found this site earlier, i would have done the whole thing myself). any advice is greatly appreciated

I'm pretty certain that it isn't legal for him to get his assistant to do the forms unless the assistant is a lawyer herself. I'm actually thinking that the lawyer is definitely running the risk of being disbarred in doing so, but I'm not sure. I know that you are paying the lawyer to work on the case, not an assistant. I would check on the legality of it. If it turns out that the lawyer himself is required to fill out the forms, which I think is the case, that is a breach of contract. If that is the case, let him know that you will be terminating the contract because of this. If he presses, you can point out the obvious legal ramifications of his having an assistant do a lawyers work.

I could be 100% wrong on this, though.

so why guess?

get off my nuts

Basically because it gives the OP something to think about. I highly doubt they were expecting an assistant to do the work. As such, the expectations that the contract was based on proved false.

I hate when people go blahblahblah but hey, I know nothing and this is completely a guess.

Guess what - self edit and DON"T REPLY!

[Minya's wife 24]

Many lawyers have legal assistants, or legal secretaries and as far as filling out forms it is the assistants/secretaries that do that job...nothing illegal about that. I highly doubt the lawyers that primarily occupy themselves w/ visa cases spend all that time filling out forms.

-P

[Sofiyya 1,687]

hi there,

i was wondering if anyone has sacked there attorney and how they went about it. our situation was the attorney was referred to us by a mutual friend that used him with success. so i met with the attorney and signed a contract with them and put down a $1000 retainer, he has built the process from k-1 through AOS into his contract. We were successful in our bid to get my now husband here on a K-1 but that was not without the problems of having multiple mistakes in our paperwork, some of them very significant. when i began questioning them it turns out that the assistant does the bulk of the work on the forms (they were available for me to pull online for review) on one occasion she told me that i should not worry that she was making mistakes but that the program they use changes things after she closes the documents which were all .pdf format. needless to say this gave me pause. there are many such instances but i won't bore you with all the details.

specifically what i am really hoping someone can help me with is advice on how i can nulify the contract. i am happy to pay them 1/2 which would cover the k-1 process but i want to do the AOS myself. (wish i had found this site earlier, i would have done the whole thing myself). any advice is greatly appreciated

I'm pretty certain that it isn't legal for him to get his assistant to do the forms unless the assistant is a lawyer herself. I'm actually thinking that the lawyer is definitely running the risk of being disbarred in doing so, but I'm not sure. I know that you are paying the lawyer to work on the case, not an assistant. I would check on the legality of it. If it turns out that the lawyer himself is required to fill out the forms, which I think is the case, that is a breach of contract. If that is the case, let him know that you will be terminating the contract because of this. If he presses, you can point out the obvious legal ramifications of his having an assistant do a lawyers work.

I could be 100% wrong on this, though.

I work for a law firm and also worked as a paralegal while in grad school. It is utterly de rigor for legal assistants to do much of the paperwork for attorneys. The attorney is obligated to check the work and is the final signatory and the attorney of record. S/he is responsible for the final output. There is nothing illegal about this. In fact, there are businesses where paralegals do all the paperwork for laymen. Research and paperwork is what legal assistants do.

Edited March 11, 2008 by Virtual wife

[Kang Lang 7]

thanks virtual wife, do i have any ground to stand on given that the work was not checked by the attorney or anyone other than me for since they also made ridiculous mistakes by giving a local u.s. number for my husband when he was in thailand just countless countless mistakes? we spent hours proofing and then sending emails asking for corrections.

basically i am hoping to provide a substantiating argument just to sever the contract and go our separate ways i don't want to bother with a fight for retainer monies either we just want to get on with our lives and are quite nervous that he will bully us into paying anyway even though the work was lousy.

[eric&gen 0]

To me attorneys are a rip off you can do it on your own if you follow the instructions kinda easy but then again you might need an attorney depends on how complicated the case is. We did the entire process on our own with no hangups.

[HAL 9000 96]

So, I just spoke with our lawyer here in the office and she said that it all depends on the language of the contract. You need to find a specific instance of breach in order to nullify the contract. Basically, get a copy of the contract and go through it with a fine-toothed comb to find any breaches that have occurred. Other than that, your best option is to send them the letter of firing and see what their response says.

A lawyer may need to be retained to get 1/2 of the retainer fee back! lol, but potentially sad depending on the actual contract signed.

There may be some stipulation based on contractual law that may entitle the customer to more money back for misrepresentation of the contract... but this can also be used as a bargaining chip to just get the $500 back and be done with business.

[Lansbury 19]

Is it worth the peace of mind of doing the remainder yourself and knowing it is being done to your satisfaction, even if you do end up having to pay the lawyer the full amount. If so just write and say you no longer wish them to act for you, pointing out the numerous mistakes you say they have made and state you not willing to pay anymore. If their work is not up to the required standard they may well decide not to pursue the issue. That you would only know once you inform them of your intentions.