Q: my boyfriends paid lawyer advised him wrong about a plea agreement deal to get him to sign. What should he do
my boyfriends paid lawyer advised him wrong about a plea agreement deal to get him to sign (told him they wpuld drop the PFO1 if he took 10 years at 20 percent, which was not the case. It was 10 years without possible probation/parole and charges were also enhanced by the PF01, which was also not dropped) had he known that was what he was signing, he wouldve just took it to trial. and has now advised him to go through legal aid and stated he would fill out an affidavit stating that he did in fact mis inform him. what should i do
A:
This seems like a serious question, and I recommend speaking to an attorney licensed to practice in Kentucky ASAP (Legal aid could probably work as well). The reason for this is even though you asked about malpractice, there could be steps your boyfriend could take to withdraw his guilty plea (e.g., based on bad information from his attorney).
No doubt, there are deadlines to do this, so speaking to an attorney sooner-than-later is probably a good thing to do.
As far as your question about malpractice, if you believe legal malpractice occurred (e.g., from giving improper legal advice, etc.), your boyfriend should gather all relevant documents related to the case (e.g., all correspondences, e-mails, etc. with the attorney, including billing statements, fee agreements, contracts, and court filings). Organize them in a timeline.
Then, get a second opinion from another attorney (this should be an attorney who specializes in legal malpractice or professional negligence cases). If the paid attorney has malpractice insurance, your boyfriend should notify the carrier ASAP.
Lastly, be aware that there are time limits (statute of limitations) to preserve your boyfriend's rights, and there are laws in Kentucky which would be different from the laws here in Texas. So while this is a brief sketch of what you would be doing, I must defer to an attorney in KY to let you know exactly what you need to do in your state, since I am not licensed to practice there.
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