My lawyer is crazy! Seeking help

[Sweetheart92 1]

Hello guys,

 

this is is crazy to hear but I hired a lawyer to handle my k1 visa around May of 2016. My case is going through the consulate in Baghdad, my fiancé did his interview on 9/28/16 .my fiancé is in AP .  I started to notice that after I paid the lawyer in full. He started to be less cooparative with us. Lastly he is rude . I sent him an email about the recent news on changes about immigration ban and he was definitely rude with me and I'm frustrated. I will paste a copy so you can read. His tone is changed with me! I need help . What should I do! I don't want him as my lawyer any more . Is there a way I can get my money back?!!! He is not being a professional lawyer! 

 

HELLO, DID YOU READ MY EMAIL!? Lay off this nonsense.

 

I will email the consulate, but don’t expect miracles. You are up against two problems: (a) the consulate is not setting interviews; (b) your case is under administrative processing. Even if the consulate WERE setting interviews, that doesn’t mean that they would issue a visa to your fiancé. They were already taking a close look at your case before Trump’s administrative order. There was something about your case that concerned the consulate, and that is why it was frozen

 

[Boiler 43,434]

Do not understand what you issue is, seems factual.

 

Of course you can take him off your case, not sure how much more he would have to do when you are at this stage, did his fee include adjustment etc?

[Transborderwife 4,666]

Not uncommon for lawyers, some aren't very kind.  

[geowrian 22,335]

Is he a US-based lawyer? If so, you can file a complaint with his state's bar association.

 

That said, while unprofessional in that one snippet of a conversation, he's not wrong. What he said is factually correct, and there is nothing he can be doing for your case right now....unless you want him to be filing/joining lawsuits against the entire Executive Order (think $$$s). I know the TRO is in place, but he can't do anything about what the individual embassy does in response currently. You, like many others, are in a waiting period for AP. The embassy likely was not working on your case during the ban, and they probably have a backlog of more urgent work to process before the TRO potentially gets lifted.

 

As for getting your money back, you would need to show that he did not do the work and then sue him for it. That....usually doesn't go well.

Edited February 6, 2017 by geowrian

[Sweetheart92 1]

His conversation and tone is very wrong because I asked a simple question therefore he shouldn't talk in this manner. I'm not asking him to issue me a visa! This is just wrong since we have a contract and he needs to be professional with me.

[Transborderwife 4,666]

2 minutes ago, geowrian said:

Is he a US-based lawyer? If so, you can file a complaint with his state's bar association.

 

That said, while unprofessional in that one snippet of a conversation, he's not wrong. What he said is factually correct, and there is nothing he can be doing for your case right now....unless you want him to be filing/joining lawsuits against the entire Executive Order (think $$$s). I know the TRO is in place, but what he can't do do anything about what the individual embassy does in response currently. You, like many others, are in a waiting period for AP. The embassy likely was not working on your case during the ban, and they probably have a backlog of more urgent work to process before the TRO potentially gets lifted.

 

As for getting your money back, you would need to show that he did not do the work and then sue him for it. That....usually doesn't go well.

I agree with the bar association complaint.  If you want to try and to get some money back, contact the lawyers office and tell them you're complaining, usually they'll refund you a portion of your lawyer fees in exchange for not complaining. 

[Ebunoluwa 6,136]

I see nothing wrong with his tone nor his message. Sorry but it is factual.
I fired my lawyer so I am not taking sides here but see nothing wrong with his email.
Lawyers don't do friendly chit chat, they are factual in tone.

I think you are upset about the AP and are projecting this onto the lawyer.
Nothing can be done about AP and you have to wait until it is complete.
Reporting him to the bar over this is silly.

[Ebunoluwa 6,136]

He did write "lay off this nonsense" ?  I just saw that.

That is unprofessional !

[LionessDeon 2,060]

I think he meant the use of all caps in his comment of "Lay off this nonsense".  All caps is perceived to be yelling or using an aggressive tone in text.

There is not much he can do, you are in AP and probably will be for awhile.  Sorry.

[Wooderz 314]

The first line in all caps and "lay off this nonsense" is totally unprofessional. Totally not ok for him to talk to you that way. You're the client and he shouldn't be demeaning to you. 

 

You're not gonna get your money back, but you can cut him out and handle your case yourself now. 

[Rc123rc 528]

Definitely a line of unprofessional behavior. I'm curious as to what the OP was demanding of him and how many times? There are two sides to a Lawyer/client relationship.  

[Shauneg 762]

I would imagine there have been other emails before this and the lawyer has told you multiple times and you probably aren't listening or liking the answers you've previously received, hence the new tone.  Lawyers are human. 

[Cathi 5,610]

Well, for you to write in all caps asking if he'd read you email is rude. All caps is considered yelling. You only gave us a small snippet of the conversation and I would love to know how many times you emailed him before this reply. Seems to me he's irritated at you for a reason. Why are you asking for him to arrange for an interview when your fiance already had one in September? People do not have another interview unless the consulate themselves asks for one, you do not have the authority to ask for another interview just because you're frustrated about how long AP is lasting. Something is off and it appears you're not telling us the entire story. What exactly do you mean he's being less cooperative since you paid him in full? Do you mean that he isn't giving you the answers you want to hear? Have you ever stopped to think and understand that AP is a black hole and there is nothing he can do to change the fact that it's entirely out of his control. My husband was in AP, I know how it works.

 

Everything he said is factually correct. There is absolutely nothing he or anyone else can do to expedite AP and no one can tell you how long it will take, it's over when they are done with their background checks. If you don't like him, fire him and I'm not really quite sure why people are telling you to file a complaint when we do not know what lead him to tell you to stop your nonsense. I'm thinking he may have had a good reason to do so. Just because you pay someone doesn't give you an excuse to be rude and overly demanding.

Edited February 7, 2017 by mimolicious