Attorney Trouble

[TBoneTX 43,284]

As it is said: 99% of all attorneys give the rest a bad name.

[CaNdiD wiTcH 0]

Ohhh! Lawyers!! Pain in the BU++...

[Ben and Hazel 0]

Hello Vj people,

I'm new at this but here goes, We hired an attorney who put a para legal on our case,

I was asked to fill out the I-129f and both, my fiance myself had to fill out the G-325A

She then had us send in a fee for the I-129f and the G-325A combined, total $655, after fourteen days our petition was then returned to us requesting a check for $455, after a wait of 161 days, we received an RFE, requesting that we send in the stamped visa, which apparently had not been submitted.

it is next to impossible to get ahold of the paralegal and we have been waiting since Jan. 10, 2008, should we get a new attorney? and if so at what stage in the process can this be safely done at?

I am afraid to bother my own attorney with any questions, so I am very grateful that their is a forum of like minded people who are willing to take the time to help each other.

Ben

Hi Ben!

Just out of curiousity, what is the the name of the law firm that you hired...we did hired attorney also and we want to know if we will encounter this kind of problems.

Thank you...

Hi,

I don't feel comfortable revealing the name, and I would just like to give the the benefit of the doubt, that maybe they didn't know anybetter, also I'm sure that all attorneys aren't incompetant either, but I want to go along with the popular advice here, in that everything you need to know can be found right here on this site.

Thanks,

Ben

[Nicoxcx 1]

The great thing about visaJourney.com is they also give you example forms.

Ben, out of curiosity did you recieve your case number so that you could track your case online?

[Ben and Hazel 0]

The great thing about visaJourney.com is they also give you example forms.

Ben, out of curiosity did you recieve your case number so that you could track your case online?

Yes, we have a case number, that is an handy resource thanks and yes, I have seen the example forms, I think I'm just trying to find the courage and the right time to take it over.

Thanks,

Ben

[Ben and Hazel 0]

Let us know how it goes Ben.

Attorneys no doubt make big money from Immigration, and will tell you they have a 100% approval rate, only because being denied at the USCIS part of the journey is incredibly rare.

I hope you get it sorted, It is an expensive process and an attorney taking money for things you are capable of doing yourselves wont help.

Good luck!

If you decide to stick with this attorney, you can expect to pay $6,000 or more in attorneys' fees (plus government fees) before she gets a green card....get your papers back from the paralegal and proceed on your own. That's pretty much everyone's reaction here.

Wow, that is good information to know, I am in the process of trying to find the right time to take the case over myself, I'm wanting to wait until she's here with me before I do anything risky.

Thanks,

Ben

[sus 70]

Speaking as a paralegal here (no, I am not an immigration paralegal) - There are good paralegals out there and bad ones. Without going into a long debate, there are a lot of people who get hired as paralegals without any education or training, and very few states that regulate who can or cannot be a paralegal. When you hire a law firm, nine times out of ten the paralegal is doing the bulk of the work. However, ultimately, you hired the firm to handle your case, and the attorneys are responsible for the work of the paralegal - it's not supposed to go out without their review, and they are liable for any screw up that the paralegal makes. From my experience, I can tell you that 90% of the time the paralegal will know more than the attorney about what is happening - But, there are always those few who don't =

If you aren't satisfied with the quality of the work or the information you are getting, write, call, fax until you get the attorney on the phone. Don't settle for what you are told - if you aren't happy about it, go to the person that you retained to represent you. If you don't get the right answers there, attorneys are regulated by the bar association in each state, and each state has complaint procedures in place, as was already mentioned here.

[Ben and Hazel 0]

Speaking as a paralegal here (no, I am not an immigration paralegal) - There are good paralegals out there and bad ones. Without going into a long debate, there are a lot of people who get hired as paralegals without any education or training, and very few states that regulate who can or cannot be a paralegal. When you hire a law firm, nine times out of ten the paralegal is doing the bulk of the work. However, ultimately, you hired the firm to handle your case, and the attorneys are responsible for the work of the paralegal - it's not supposed to go out without their review, and they are liable for any screw up that the paralegal makes. From my experience, I can tell you that 90% of the time the paralegal will know more than the attorney about what is happening - But, there are always those few who don't =

If you aren't satisfied with the quality of the work or the information you are getting, write, call, fax until you get the attorney on the phone. Don't settle for what you are told - if you aren't happy about it, go to the person that you retained to represent you. If you don't get the right answers there, attorneys are regulated by the bar association in each state, and each state has complaint procedures in place, as was already mentioned here.

Yes, I most definately have to agree with you on the points you've made, That is very helpful information, it gives me a better understanding as to what goes on, I want to give them the benefit of the doubt, and just chalk it up to their inexperience or just a simple mistake, I don't think it profits them to make mistakes, so I don't think it was anything other than error.

Thanks so much,

Ben

[Ben and Hazel 0]

As it is said: 99% of all attorneys give the rest a bad name.

Ha Ha, I'm certain that I was just a victim of inexperience nothing really malicious.

Thanks,

Ben

[knowledge 0]

Hi Ben, you wrote you don't want to 'bother your attorney' when he is bothering or jeopardizing your case? hm!!!....i don't understand what visa you are talking about, is it the k-1 visa or another type?...anyway, i write to you because i still can not stand the dammage those attys can do...and i'm not against attorneys, the competent ones...i don't know where you are located but i know an atty who is the human rights type in NY if you are interested let me know...As for now, i would write to your current one something harsh like: if you are not giving me back my documents with the reimbursement, i'll repport you at the barr. I have heard a similar case and it worked...how much did you already paid him? best of lucks and without sharks please...lol....

[Ben and Hazel 0]

Hi Ben, you wrote you don't want to 'bother your attorney' when he is bothering or jeopardizing your case? hm!!!....i don't understand what visa you are talking about, is it the k-1 visa or another type?...anyway, i write to you because i still can not stand the dammage those attys can do...and i'm not against attorneys, the competent ones...i don't know where you are located but i know an atty who is the human rights type in NY if you are interested let me know...As for now, i would write to your current one something harsh like: if you are not giving me back my documents with the reimbursement, i'll repport you at the barr. I have heard a similar case and it worked...how much did you already paid him? best of lucks and without sharks please...lol....

Wow, thanks for the advice, I am applying for a K-1 visa, I really should have mentioned that, sorry, I don't think I will need the help of a human rights attorney though, but I really appreciate the offer, I really don't suspect anything other than human error, so I really want to give them the benefit of the doubt, and I am planning on doing as much of this as possible on my own, I have to agree though, that I would have had better luck on my own and with the help of a site like this, it really makes it an easy process.

Thanks,

Ben

[kirk and Jenny 0]

I am a criminal law attorney. I find it depressing that so many of my colleagues do not approach a case with any work ethic. I studied immigration law a while back with thoughts of doing it, but, decided not to because as others have said here, most cases can easily be done by yourself and the guides here. If you do your case just be careful to check your work for any mistakes. The bottom line is, is that your case is going be much more important to you than many attorneys (unfortunately).

[knowledge 0]

I am a criminal law attorney. I find it depressing that so many of my colleagues do not approach a case with any work ethic. I studied immigration law a while back with thoughts of doing it, but, decided not to because as others have said here, most cases can easily be done by yourself and the guides here. If you do your case just be careful to check your work for any mistakes. The bottom line is, is that your case is going be much more important to you than many attorneys (unfortunately).

Criminal lawyers are the best and different from the others. I learned a lot from them for my own profession in terms of ethics and believe on the other hand that each profession has it's weakness. Ben, i wish you hear what he says.

[phil and nanz 0]

hello ben, phil also hired a lawyer but unfortunately phil and i did all the paperwork (with the help of this site vj) when we got our noa2, phil paid for 'premium' service which they (lawyer) said the best service because they will help you throughout the process, and we're so upset because if we didn't inform them about our noa2 they wouldn't know and they wouldn't even contact you... and now i'm done with my medical last week and guess what?? we receieved e-mail from them (lawyer) (today) saying "you can have your interview schedule blah blah blah..." too late!

just ask questions here, vj is really a great help! god bless you! good luck!

nanz

[Ben and Hazel 0]

I am a criminal law attorney. I find it depressing that so many of my colleagues do not approach a case with any work ethic. I studied immigration law a while back with thoughts of doing it, but, decided not to because as others have said here, most cases can easily be done by yourself and the guides here. If you do your case just be careful to check your work for any mistakes. The bottom line is, is that your case is going be much more important to you than many attorneys (unfortunately).

Yes, I completely agree with what you are saying here, I am just how cooperative they will be if I ask them for all my documentation, I was thinking that a good time to pull away would be when she is home with me, I'm still a little afraid to creating more harm than good by doing so.

Thanks,

Ben