Q: I want to know if I can sue my divorce attorney for all or part of the money I paid him because he did nothing for me.
I paid a divorce attorney in February 2022 to get a divorce, it went on for 11 months because my wife could not be found and, therefore was never served with papers. We made 1 court appearance and that was to get permission to run an add in the local paper. Soon thereafter, my attorney quit, stating that it took too long for me to respond to his letters when, in fact, it was because he got upset with me for demanding that he do something. I paid him just under $1,000 and got nothing accomplished over 11 months. I am still married.
A:
I assume the $1,000 does not include your filing fees, service fee, publication fee, or the ad litem’s fee.
Even then, $1,000 is awfully skinny to start a divorce case particularly if the attorney knew in advance you didn’t know where your wife is.
While you can sue, you might be better off chalking this up to experience. Hire a private investigator to locate your wife and then a new attorney to take over your case. But don’t expect to get either one with a $1,000 retainer.
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