Q: What can I do about my former/fired attorney sending a letter claiming false accusations about me to current attorney?
I was involed in an auto accident in july 2022. My first lawyer was fired for cause in January 2024. The reasons included failing to provide LOPs so i could seek treatmen lack of communication, not being licensed in my state failing to submit PIP funding to my ins after i signed it.
which led to my eviction. My current attorney received a Cease and Desist letter from the former attorney today, claiming that I have been contacting his family members, and basically interering and trying to get them to fire him. I havent done this. I havent talked to ANYONE we mutually know, and anyone I have talked to about it, I havent mentioned his name, nor said anything false. The letter in part alleges: My office was contacted by clients who are family members, who were contacted by BM-(Me) in an attempt to tortiously interfere with an existing attorney client relationship with three clients. I dont even know 3 people he knows. I plan on filing a WV Bar complaint but is there anyting
A:
You should inform your current attorney that the accusations being made are false.
Not being licensed to practice law in the state where the lawsuit was filed is very likely good cause to terminate a lawyer's services unless the lawyer was admitted to practice in that court pro hac vice.
Not securing PIP from your own insurance company may be good cause if the lawyer was retained to pursue compensation from your own insurance company as well as from the other driver. But many clients do not retain a PI attorney to pursue PIP because they do not want the attorney to receive a percentage of the PIP payment. Many clients simply file a claim for PIP with their own insurance company without getting a lawyer involved, and most insurance companies pay PIP promptly as the amount involved usually isn't worth fighting about.
Lack of treatment for your injuries isn't the responsibility of a lawyer. Doctors and other health care providers chosen by you and paid by you should be providing treatment for your injuries. When lawyers become too entangled in a client/patient's health care decisions, legal compensation for those medical expenses is often successfully challenged as "lawyer-driven" medical care. Responsible, experienced attorneys avoid "arranging" or "scheduling" treatment for their clients, but might arrange for and schedule examinations by retained testifying expert witnesses. Retained testifying medical experts typically do not provide treatment. Depending upon your injuries and the issues involved in your particular case, your lawyer may only need to call your treating doctors to testify as to their diagnosis and treatment and may not need to retain a testifying medical expert.
Tim Akpinar agrees with this answer
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