Vortex, criminal defense for driving with lapsed insurance.

Julie, am I correct in that this is your 2nd lawyer, after #1 fucked you over with incompetence?

I would demand a pre-court consult (NOT in the hallway before court!), lay out what SNAFU Lawyer #1 did,and ask the lawyer to tell you what s/he knows, then go back an add any details and provides COPIES of paperwork, not the originals.

Lawyers are busy, but they are YOUR employees. Go in organized, unapologetic about the FUBAR and be succinct but thorough. (But be apologetic in front of the judge, and be horrified and shocked that Lawyer #1 was such a wanker. Politely.)

I am not a lawyer; I just sat in on a zillion court cases as a DV court liaison. I defer, of course, to actual Buffista lawyer advice.

But also, I imagine the more you talk to the lawyer, the more you pay the lawyer, so.

I walked out of my parents' house just after hearing the guy on the radio say that showers should start around midday...into a heavy rain shower! Luckily, I had time to go back by my house and re-dry my hair.

Re: Charles Ramsey [link] I think it's interesting that I just heard him on the radio, and only thought that he was great radio and an amazing storyteller. Looking at him does give a different perspective.

But also, I imagine the more you talk to the lawyer, the more you pay the lawyer, so.

True. But poor Juliebird's clusterfuck might be worth it. What about email? That leaves a paper trail, just in case...

I have no idea what the answer is, but it does seem like a delicate balance when you don't have All The Money.

True, true. BTDT...and it sucks.

Well, I haven't been following Julie's situation too closely, but any lawyer should give you a written fee/retainer agreement indicating that you have hired him/her and specifying payment terms and what will be done in exchange for that payment.

Once you have that, it seems to me that your only real concern is making sure they have what they need and maybe calling the day before a hearing or court appearance just to be sure you all are planning on showing up at the same time with the same documents.

It's hard when you've had a bad experience, but you really need to have a lawyer you trust.

I wish we'd talked to our bankruptcy lawyer the day before the hearing, then we might have known HE WASN'T GOING TO SHOW UP! Nothing impresses a judge in a busy hearing situation with multiple cases like bankrupty applicants going "He said he'd meet us, Your Honor, we have no idea." Another lawyer volunteered to be the attorney of record and did his paperwork for the next case while we talked to the judge. Fortunately, our bankruptcy was from medical bills and we had no real property to deal with, rather than people who had bought multiple houses and boats etc. and who hadn't bothered to keep up with the bills. The judge liked us. He asked about our cars, we said we didn't have any, he asked how we'd gotten to the hearing, we looked at each other and said "By bus and train." Considering the judge had just dealt with people whining about how they were having to turn over their second and third houses and five of their cars, he preferred dealing iwth us.