Mistreatment by an Attorney

[cathi]

Can a complaint be filed against an attorney and does it really do any good? My son's divorce lawyer screamed at me in the court house last week in front of other people. He put his hand in my face and yelled that I was "so rude"; all because I was asking a question. He was not speaking at the time and I did not interrupt any conversation. He seems to have a serious chip on his shoulder and I am not sure that he is representing my son to the best of his ability. HELP! What can we do? I can't afford another retainer. TY

[aaron]

You can file a complaint about a lawyer, although how you would do so will depend upon the state in which the described events occurred.

[Wrabbit2000]

Given what you described there is nothing you can really do. The attorney didn't do anything criminal by yelling at you. What he said doesn't appear to have qualified as libel and sticking his hand in your face isn't against any law or ethic. Unless an attorney commits an actual crime (say..he slapped you rather than simply putting his hand in your face) the only place to make a complaint is the State Bar Association. That deals with ethical violations, which this was definately not, despite how rude and uncivilized this attorney appears to have been.

[texxxas]

Hey,

Texas attorney ethics forbids them for exibiting hostility or aggression toward anyone involved....hand in face? Act of agression? Doubtful....unethical? Definetly......and surely in MO it is also.....

[slayman2001]

Despite your claim, at that time or before, you were being a pest. You are not the client despite the fact that you paid the retainer. I have dealt with people like you before. You are not an attorney or client, therefore, irrelevant to the situation. Unless you were being utilitized as a witness, but clearly you were not.[/u][/i]