Legal Advice (again)

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sutekj

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In April this here I made this thread.

The story: My sister's ex-boyfriend assaulted me, in my parents' house, and broke my jaw. I had to go to the hospital and get my jaws wired together. I couldn't eat solid food for more than 5 weeks, and obviously there were a lot of medical costs involved.

Naturally I pursued legal action against my attacker.

The lawyer I got said I could sue for just under R 70 000 (of which me lawyer will take 25% if we win). This is (was) the current plan. The court date is set for next week.

Now, my mom got an e-mail from his mom, asking if we could settle out of court for R 20 000. (Apparently his lawyer offered my lawyer R 10 000 earlier and my lawyer just declined. I didn't even know of this until now)

I would like to settle out of court, and I'd push for 30 000. This would be worth it for me to cut out the lawyer and not have to go to court.

My reasoning is that he simply cannot afford to pay R 70 000, and that my lawyer wants his 25% cut first. So if the guy pays in instalments of R 1 500 per month, it's going to take ages before I see any of the money.

The problem is that I obviously can't trust him to pay me. I need a rock solid contract or something.

My second concern is whether it is legal and ethical to just cut out the lawyer?

Keep in mind though, that just yesterday, my lawyer phoned me to cancel our pre-court consultation, because he can't personally take my case anymore, as he got a more important case to do that day in Joburg (I'm in Cape Town). He organised an advocate to take over the case. So I almost feel like I've been dropped anyway, and that he is just organising someone to take over my case because he feels like he has an obligation to.

So what I'm asking is, can I, without my lawyer, reliably set up a contract of sorts to force him to pay once it's signed.

Is it fine for me to tell my laywer now that I don't want to use him or his firm to handle my case anymore?

Thanks for any advice!
 
Problem you have is that the lawyer already works for you and he was working on a contingecy base I assume. So if you settle out of cort the Lawyer will want either 25% of what you get or you will have to pay his fees for the time he spent on your case.

I'm pretty sure we warned you about this in the other thread too.......
 
If you cut out the lawyer he is still going to charge you for his time spent on your case .... and then load his costs!
 
Wow.You in quite a fix.The only advice I can offer is that you safe guard yourself from breach of contract with your lawyer.Its vital that he knows what is going on even if he seems to have washed his hands off your case
Good Luck.
 
Don't screw the lawyer. That'll end bad. And the get the guy to get a loan from a bank so that you get paid a lump sum and the bank can worry about repayments.
 
You are in the lawyers pocket now, you have to continue to be there.
Any settlement must be handled by the lawyers, because they are currently contracted to deal with this on your (and his) behalf.

To remove the lawyers from the case is a whole heap of documentation all on it's own, and when you pursue that objective, your lawyer is going to want to be paid.

Your best bet is to arrange a meeting between your lawyers and his lawyers with you there to see if you they can broker an out-of-court agreement, which can then be converted to an out-of-court settlement that a judge can accept.

You may want to discuss your lawyer's fee's with your lawyer as soon as possible, because it is worrying you.
 
Okay thanks. That's all I needed to know. I guess that's not an option then. I'll phone and discuss with my lawyer then.
 
"He organised an advocate to take over the case"

attorney - R500-00 per hour
advocate - R4000-00 per hour

If your attorney has got you an advocate best you call him to change that, which would you prefer?
 
sutekj said:
Okay thanks. That's all I needed to know. I guess that's not an option then. I'll phone and discuss with my lawyer then.
Click to expand...

You know that you are going to be at the short end of the stick again right?

1. He gets told he owes you R 70k
2. He just refuses to pay as he has no money (The lawyer wants his money)
3. Nor you or the lawyer gets paid, he has no money to pay so it takes a few years for the court to attach his goods/property
4. He doesnt have any and he is then declared bankrupt
5. you get no money and the lawyer still wants his money

Either way you should have listened to us. Just should have returned the favour and broke his jaw. No matter how you look at this you are setup up to lose twice now meaning Attacker 2 - You 0
 
I don't pay him, he works on contingency bases.

Is it possible that he would lie about getting an advocate to handle the case? I'm meeting with him and the advocate on Monday. How can I be sure he is indeed an advocate?
 
If it is an advocate you will meet him at their offices in Queen Victoria Street, bring your cheque book ;)
 
Reading through the other thread, you should still have laid criminal charges.

If you had, maybe he would think twice about doing it again, since he would have a criminal record that would prevent him from travelling to most countries and possibly restrict his employment. And you could still sue him and get most of your money.
 
What kind of lawyer do you have?? The other party makes you a settlement offer (through your lawyer) and you do not even get informed of this?

YOU are the client. YOU instruct the attorney. NOT the other way around.

Everytime there is any movement in the case, he has to inform you and get further instructions as to how to proceed or how to react to an offer.
 
Pitbull said:
You know that you are going to be at the short end of the stick again right?

1. He gets told he owes you R 70k
2. He just refuses to pay as he has no money (The lawyer wants his money)
3. Nor you or the lawyer gets paid, he has no money to pay so it takes a few years for the court to attach his goods/property
4. He doesnt have any and he is then declared bankrupt
5. you get no money and the lawyer still wants his money

Either way you should have listened to us. Just should have returned the favour and broke his jaw. No matter how you look at this you are setup up to lose twice now meaning Attacker 2 - You 0
Click to expand...

Are you saying that the lawyer is going to want me to pay him? I don't think that is how it works, and frankly, I think breaking his jaw in retaliation is horrible advice.
 
blunomore said:
What kind of lawyer do you have?? The other party makes you a settlement offer (through your lawyer) and you do not even get informed of this?

YOU are the client. YOU instruct the attorney. NOT the other way around.

Everytime there is any movement in the case, he has to inform you and get further instructions as to how to proceed or how to react to an offer.
Click to expand...

Yea, seems a bit odd. I don't like how he handles things like that, even though I agree that R 10 000 is ridiculous.
 
Last edited:
sutekj said:
Are you saying that the lawyer is going to want me to pay him? I don't think that is how it works, and frankly, I think breaking his jaw in retaliation is horrible advice.
Click to expand...

Yes you would think so.

Depending on the agreement you signed with the Lawyer, but I can promise you he will get his money one way or the other. Be it from the other party or you. But hey, horrible advice would have saved you a few thousand rands :D
 
Are you saying that the lawyer is going to want me to pay him? I don't think that is how it works, and frankly, I think breaking his jaw in retaliation is horrible advice.

Correct, there is no such thing as a free lunch.

For every email, sms, call, fax you pay and pay big. I think I was billed R75-00 per fax the last time round and there was a lot of contracts being faxed around instead of using simple old email.

No wonder we call them bottom feeders!!
 
blunomore said:
What kind of lawyer do you have?? The other party makes you a settlement offer (through your lawyer) and you do not even get informed of this?

YOU are the client. YOU instruct the attorney. NOT the other way around.

Everytime there is any movement in the case, he has to inform you and get further instructions as to how to proceed or how to react to an offer.
Click to expand...
I am pretty sure that the one Lawyer did not speak to the other lawyer regarding a settlement offer.
It does sound like the defending mom made a plea to somebody, but not through the proper channels, and was probably advised to go through the proper channels.
 
If your lawyer receives no settlement amount from the case, he'll want his money from you either way, unless he stipulated he'd do this on a 'no win, no charge' basis.
You'd still have to run every decision you make through him, and if he is an advocate, and you have to foot the bill, be prepared to get shafted.
 
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