Recent Posts in WebCam Second Opinions Category
| April 18, 2012 |
| Divorce and Family Law HORROR STORIES - How the System Is Broken! SHARE Yours With Us? |
| Posted By Thurman W. Arnold CFLS |
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Share Your Family Law Horror Story?
I want to thank all of you who write me about the difficult circumstances and horror stories surrounding your divorce and other family law matters, both in and out of divorce court. I receive dozens of emails each month from non-client readers, many who need help and so have questions, many who are merely venting, and many who have deep problems with how the government sponsored system for resolving family law disputes has unfolded and been applied for them, or misused.
I am not able to respond to every email, and for those who really want was is in effect a consultation with me (by seeking detailed answers to complex questions, for instance) I suggest you consider a phone or Skype conference with me or Mike Peterson at my office. I bill $350/hour for those consults and Mike bills at $250/hour.
However, for those who simply wish to have their often tragic stories heard I've decided to open up a portion of my website for posting them. Your experiences may be useful to others, and I imagine others similarly situated will read them with great interest. I think there should be a forum for people to communicate the good and bad of what they've been through.
Therefore, you must understand that I have a busy law practice along with a website that requires my constant attention and so am practically limited in my time and ability to respond or educate people about the law, your options, tactics you might try to change the course of your case or situation, and so on. I may not be able to enter into an ongoing dialogue with many of you, and don't want you to be offended if my responses are truncated, but if you wish to share your situations and experiences and if they are appropriately written, I will post them in a new section of my website that I am creating.
Your stories - if you'd like me to share them with the world for you - shouldn't simply be rants, but they certainly can express the poignancy of your situation. They need to be coherently (but not perfectly) written, not be abusive, respect other's rights to privacy, and provide enough information that a reader can follow them. I will create editorial guidelines as this concept develops. If you wish to have your story posted you will have to give me the rights to use it as I see fit.
Again, I will refine how this will work. For now I will watch to see whether creating such a forum is something the public really desires - both in terms of people sharing their experience as well as others caring to read about them. Hence, this concept is a work in progress.
If this makes sense to you and is something you wish to undertake, send me your stories at twarnold@verizon.net - don't use my on-line intake forms or blog comments because the length is limited in what I receive.
Thurman W. Arnold, III, C.F.L.S. |
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| July 29, 2011 |
| FREE LEGAL ADVICE for DIVORCE - I Cannot Possibly Respond to Everybody! |
| Posted By Thurman Arnold |
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I want to apologize to those people who write me notes that I simply cannot respond to. While my websites are now getting over 15,000 visitors each month, I am but one person. The articles and blogs I write are intended to be much more than a source of business for me - they are my "pro bono" contribution to you all and my greatest hope for those of you whom I can never meet is that something in my writings assists you in your legal case, or persuades you to find some mindfulness in these difficult times. I am so grateful that my writings are of any value to anyone!
My staff receives 25 calls each week for free advice and guidance, and I get as many emails - in addition to those folks who actually do come in and whom I accept as clients. Those are the people that are my supreme responsibility and I work for them 24/7 for a fair fee once an attorney client relationship is established. I won't put their interests second. So help me out please on the calls.
For those who send me emails - whose situations I deeply feel for - I try to respond as I can, but I have a full practice doing divorce litigation and family law mediation and I don't stop when I go home, particularly when I can find time to Blog. Please make them short and to the point - I try to read them all and respond as I can or to write a Blog but the long ones are hard to absorb in a short amount of time. Please do not be offended if I cannot and don't respond to you. I LOVE comments to my Blogs and I respond to 95% of those - but remember this mantra in family court, "reduce, reduce,.... reduce!" I remind myself of that with every brief I write, and it is a challenge.
Please try word combination searches with my onboard search engine (upper right corner) and you may bump into something that will help decide which lawyer is best for you in your locale, and how to proceed if you represent yourself.
I am available for phone conferences and webcam consults on a limited basis for people who want honest, smart advice about their cases and family/legal situations. I presently bill $350/hour for those consults. I only have certain times set aside for that part of my legal practice and these can be set up with my office and paid in advance by credit card.
Forgive me if this sounds pretentious. It pains me that I cannot serve you all and if it happens that I seemingly "ignore" you within this horrific landscape of relationship end.
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| April 07, 2010 |
| How do I FIRE my ATTORNEY? |
| Posted By Thurman Arnold |
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Q. How do I fire my attorney?
A. You are free discharge your attorney, and terminate his or her services, for any reason and at any time. Attorneys cannot require that you first pay off your bill, or that you reimburse them for expenses (including any costs associated with copying your file) before they will withdraw. In California this is accomplished with the Courts by both you and your attorney signing a Substitutions of Attorney which is then filed with the clerk of the Court where your case is pending. Simply download this form, fill it out, and take it to your attorney's office for their signature. Usually they will get it filed and send you a "conformed" copy (i.e., one that bears the filing stamp of the court).
If you do not have a pending case, you need simply write your lawyer an email or letter telling him to cease all efforts on your behalf.
She must return your entire file, except her notes, within 10 days of a written request. The California State Bar will discipline lawyers who fail or refuse to comply. She must also give you a final accounting on his bill within that time, and return all unused fees to you. Unless you have a true flat fee arrangement, she cannot keep the balance of your retainer and must turn over to you all unused funds within a reasonable time.
One important bit of advice, however: Be careful how you time firing your lawyer. He or she is "on the hook" insofar as the Court is concerned so long as they remain your attorney of record. There may be reasons why you should wait until after a hearing takes place before signing the Substitution.
In the event you choose not to sign a Substitution of Attorney - where for instance it is the attorney who is firing you - that attorney remains on the hook until an Order for Withdrawal is signed by a Judge, which can only occur after a Notice of Motion is filed by the attorney to be relieved as your counsel. The motion process takes at least 25 days and you are entitled to oppose it. The lawyer must provide a declaration stating that the attorney-client relationship is broken between you, but they are not required to say why (for instance, that you lied to them or were uncooperative). Unfortunately, however, I see many lawyers who sloppily do tell the court something that may hurt your case or the court's perception of you. Frankly, if they do that it may be grounds for a State Bar Complaint.
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Thurman W. Arnold III
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