She said she would take care of it, but then I received a failure to appear notice. I called her and she said she sent the papers into the court and not to worry about it. However, now I have received a notice of suspended licence. What are my legal implecations and what should I do? Also, is there a warrent out for my arrest??
Answers:
1. You are the victim of legal malpractice.
2. Do you have anything in writing that shows you hired this lawyer?
3. You need to paper the file. Write to the attorney with copies of the failure to appear and suspension notices. Tell her that you expect her to get the case restored to the calendar, the suspension un-done, and that she will defend the ticket vigorously.
4. One week later, since you won't have heard from the attorney, you need to do two things. First, you will need to get the case restored for a hearing. You'll need to contact the traffic court and explain that the lawyer neglected the case. Be prepared to indicate what your defense is. Second, you will need to contact the county bar association. The person might not really be an attorney, and the sooner you find out, the better. If this is in New York State, the state courts website, http://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/attorney...
can be consulted to see if the "attorney" is really in good standing.
Legal implications: your license is suspended due to your failure to appear. You need to either get the case restored to the calendar, or take your lumps and pay the fine, accept the points, and get on with your life. There likely is not a warrant out for you, but if you are pulled over before you get the suspension lifted, you could be facing enhanced charges, such as aggravated unlicensed operation, which is one of the things that got Paris her new digs. So don't neglect your own case the way your "lawyer" did, call the court and get a new hearing date.
If the lawyer is really a lawyer, tell her that you want to hear from her malpractice carrier and this is a demand for return of what you paid her to date. If she refuses to identify the malpractice carrier, call the County Bar Association and file a grievance for neglect of case. It won't take the points off your license but you might get the carrier to supply a new attorney and/or pay the fine. It's worth a shot.
Call the court and see what you can do. If the lawyer did not fulfill her part of the agreement, sue her.
there not going to arrest you. fired that lawyer you got cause she suck and i wouldn't pay her if i was you, pay the ticket, and show up for court. if you would of pay it the first time you wouldn't be in this crap.
Sounds like you may have a malpractice case here. For a speeding ticket, I was not aware that you could "send papers" to the court to have it taken care of. She would have had to appear in court. File a complaint with your local attorney disciplinary commission (any local bar association can give you their phone number). You also have a civil suit against the attorney for damages, if any. As for your suspended license, contact the local DMV and find out how to pay off the ticket and have your license restored. Do not drive on a suspended license...look what happened to Paris Hilton!
I will ask the obvious, just for fun: why did you hire an attorney? If you were speeding, why would you not simply pay the fine and be done with it?
If you didn't speed and still got a ticket, why were you not in court yourself? Why was the lawyer involved at all? Why didn't you contact the court when you got the failure to appear notice?
Sounds like you had a typical lawyer. They charge you for doing nothing and you are expected to pay them as well as your fine.
As you may be able to tell, I have little to no love for lawyers. they are legal criminals just like politicians.
Why in the grace of God would you hire a lawyer for a speeding tix? If you pled not guilty when you sent it in and asked for a hearing, not a trial mind you, 9 times out of 10, the officer doesn't even show, so you get a walk. Contact the District Justice's office where you got the tix and ask if the papers were filed by your lawyer, what papers would she have to file, it's a tix? Tell them you hired someone and are asking for a hearing, maybe they will take pity on you and give you one. You will also have to contact DMV re: license if the district justice overturns the decision. NEVER, EVER, hire an atty. for this matter, it is a waste of money and as you know is more of a hassle.
In the future, get Prepaid Legal. They can make a speeding ticket not show up on your record. In KS it costs about $17 a month and they will write you one legal letter per case (for about $10) on your behalf. And if you need a lawyer, they refer you to one at a discount from their normal fee.Find out who this lawyer answers to (her law firm if she has one) and make her accountable for her lack of performance. She may be a friend of your grandmothers, but if she were that good of a friend she would've done a better job for you. There is probably a bench warrant out for your failure to appear. Call the courthouse and see what your options are. As someone said in another question today, you may get to make payments on what you owe.
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