UGG! Just talked to lawyers office. Seems that his secy. is saying that she left me a message on my cell phone that I had to get back to the lawyer or he was going to drop me and left his cell # for me to call. Well, my cell doesn't always get a signal at home (I can't make calls with it from home because of this but as long as I'm on Wi-Fi I can text) so I didn't get her message. She was really nasty about it and said she tried to not let this happen. I told her my cell wasn't working so I didn't get the message BUT, why, if it was so important that I was going to be dropped, didn't she call me at home? Maybe email me? Then she said that I took 10 days to call her back when I was sick! I said that if she had called I didn't know it. She also said that it's her experience that the "best" way to reach someone is by cell which is why she called me on that. She said that the hearing to drop me is in 3 days and I can go and try and stop him from doing it. I was really angry! She added that she would "talk to lawyer and let him know you were having issues with your phone" but from her tone I can tell she isn't going to be at ALL helpful. Hear I am, working for almost nothing but still trying, sending out resumes, having interviews, driving for Uber on weekends, trying to be a good father, studying for exam, trying to get started at new job and now this crap? Let's not even talk about W and her chit.
Anyone on here that knows anything about lawyers and dropping clients.... can they just call my cell phone, leave a message and when I don't get back to them drop me? They have my home phone and my email, I know that and have called my home in the past. I only get emails when they file something and I can't respond to those. I mean I paid this guy a flat fee so he can't make any more which is why I think he wants to drop me. I don't think he expected the D to take as much work....little does he know when dealing with MLCers, EVERYTHING is going to take long! What about the hearing? How does this work?
To top it off I got about 3 hours sleep last night. My D14 called asking for a ride to school this morning. She said her mom "can't" do it and it was really cold and damp so I felt bad for her and took her. So much for W "saving" me a trip to pick her up! It actually took more gas as I had to go all the way there instead of meeting them half way. I am having trouble studying because of lack of sleep.
I'm waiting for lawyer to call back so, please, if anyone can give me info about them dropping me let me know. Thanks!
Thanks T2 and Jack, What is a "timely manner" and what about them having to actually try? I mean if I was trying to reach someone and left a message and they didn't get back I would at least try their home number! As for getting a new lawyer, I can't afford one. Hell, I can't afford electricity! Not sure what I want to do. What I CAN do. Lawyer never called back. Not good, think that means he's done.
Picked up D14 from school today. Seems she heard her mothers spew at me and was upset about it. Her mom is just so crazy. Next week is D14's birthday, then X-mass after. W is just so stuck in her own world of thinking only of herself. I truly grieve for my D's, both of them. D14 also is upset because she loves her grandmother (my MIL) and hates how W has abandoned her and treats her fathers OW (now wife) more like a mother than her real mother. Amazing how the MLC just is so blind to the hurt they cause, how they just don't care even when they aren't blind to it. My W was so afraid of hurting other people in the past, now she doesn't care if she does or doesn't as long as she's getting what SHE wants, doing what she wants to do.
I no longer believe that she will ever come back. My hope is gone. I just need to start seeing her for who she really is....NOW. Forget the old her, forget the old R. I'll remember the good times of course. I'll share the stories with my kids of when things were good, when we were a family. How I loved their mother and them. I will watch them make families of their own. Make their mistakes and have their triumphs and I will always be part of their lives. I wasted so much of my life trying to understand how my W, the woman who swore we would grow old together, who I promised to love forever, disappeared before my eyes. I tried to do what I could for her but she can't escape the demons in her head. My fear is gone. Sure, I'm still very worried about how I will make it now that I let myself believe that she would be there for me like I was for her. I worry about how her actions will affect my D's (Just today D14 was saying how her mom was always so body conscious, so worried about her being "fat" or unattractive and it made her feel like if her mom, as thin and beautiful as she was, thought she was fat and unattractive, she must be huge and hideous. She said she's now "so over that". I'm so proud of her!). I'm sure I will find someone again, maybe this time someone able to love me back without the inability to "trust". A "drama free" R...that would be something to behold.
I bet you exceed the billable hours your lawyer give to any case before pulling the plug. I would not waste another cent on him. I would send him an email or certified letter asking him to prepare an itemized bill for you along with having your file prepared for you to pick up. Ask him for a time and date for when it will be ready. If he has actually done any work for you then it should all be in the file.
Next I would look into if your state allows you to be self represented. If they do, then go to the court house and get an appearance form, fill it out and submit it. This will buy you some time to figure out what you want to do.
One possibility at this point is to see if there are lawyers in your area that work on an hourly basis to advise and couch you, but don't represent you. They will look over documents and give you advise and will also couch you on how to act in court to prepare you. I am in the process of doing this my self.
Twisting on Life's Rope Me53 W53 M20 D21 D19 D16 BD 2-2013 D final 1-2015 _________________________ "Dream about tomorrow, Live for today, Learn from yesterday"
Hi LT, Actually, my lawyer took the case on a flat fee basis. He was not at all expensive compared with many others. I think he took it this way because he thought it was going to be easy. He saw that I was very reasonable, there wasn't a lot assets to split up and at the time my W was willing to let me keep our home. Since then, W has done her total turn around. When we got the first copy of what she wanted, it was full of all kinds of things that we had agreed we wouldn't do. W neglected to tell her lawyer about the student loan debt, the cashed in retirements, the antiques we bought and she kept. She is so afraid of having to pay child support and over values the things that she left and under values those that she took. Yet she is always going on about how "everyone thinks I'm being so reasonable". Everyone to her is her father and her D "friends" she works with.
The flat fee was already paid in full. The lawyer can't make any more. He wanted a way out is what I'm thinking. The D could have been so very easy just like my W thought it was going to be. The problem is nothing is either reasonable nor easy when dealing with a WAS in the middle of an MLC!!
I would start interviewing L's in your area and select a new one. I would not recommend that you represent yourself for this is too complicated and protect yourself legally from W's L pulling a fast one on you.