Can my attorney cash a settlement check without my knowledge?

Question

According to the Contingency Fee Agreement I signed, I granted the Attorney  a Special POA.  I did not understand fully what this meant, as the Attorney did not ever go over the agreement with me point-for-point verbally in-person, nor otherwise.  The Attorney hounded me about letting him settle the case, even though he knew that he had not made an accounting of all of my medical bills and expenses incurred.  He never advised me that the check was received and cashed by him.  I am completely bankrupt while he has access to the entire amount of the funds.  He settled the case for an amount which was insufficient to cover all of the medical bills and expenses.  Is there anything I can do?  Settlement check cashed 8/05/18.  I am 66 years old as of 11/27/18, on a fixed income of a small Social Security check, and a small pension check.

Tim Akpinar · Answer

I do not practice in Texas but your question remains open for four weeks. In general, attorneys do use limited power of attorney provisions to conduct limited banking transactions, such as enabling deposit of checks on behalf of clients, where the purpose is to avoid the need for client to come to the office to sign check for deposit into attorney account (IOLA) to enable payment to client. A Texas attorney might be able to provide more in-depth insight as to the operation of your particular POA provisions if they reviewed your paperwork. 
 
Tim Akpinar

Q: Can my attorney cash a settlement check without my knowledge?