Q: I rec’d a settlement from accident. 3 yrs later, I got an unpaid med bill. My attorney failed to pay; do I have recourse

A: You should have an accounting or breakdown of the fees, costs, and medical expenses that were paid out of the settlement. If that document claims that a medical bill was paid, but it was not, you have a claim.

If your attorney left that medical bill off the accounting, then it wasn't paid and, by implication, you were advised that it wasn't paid. Your attorney has an obligation is to pay all medical bills on which there is a lien, either statutory or contractual. If the unpaid medical bill was not based on a lien, then the attorney was not required to pay it from your settlement.

In that event, he should have advised you of the unpaid medical bill so that you could instruct him to negotiate and pay it, or you could take an informed risk that you might be pursued later.

To be honest, I don't know if that rises to the level of a malpractice claim. Our office always attempts to pay all outstanding medical bills, or advises the client which medical bills remain unpaid, so we will hopefully never have to defend the issue that faces you.

Depending on the amount of the medical bill, you may be able to make the claim against the attorney in Small Claims court where you can get a judgment of up to $10k. You would need an attorney to testify, either in person or by affidavit, that your attorney fell below the standard of care in the community by failing to pay or to advise you that the bill was not paid. You would have to pay for that service.

A: I would start with contacting the attorney and then reviewing the breakdown of the bill if it was listed.

This is an important to review the settlement amount with the bills being paid, to the list of doctors or placed you had treatment from to review. Best to call your old attorney and inform him of the bills.