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  1. #11
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    Feb 2010
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    Default Re: Lawyer Withdrawing Unless I Agree to an Unspecified Settlement

    Quote Quoting Dogmatique
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    There's nothing wrong there.

    It would appear that the attorney thinks that going to trial might actually not be in your best interest (maybe your chances at trial aren't as good as first thought?).
    That may be true but the OP is at the point where no summary judgment has been filed (or if it did, it passed that hurdle); motions to strike have been gone thru and the case survived.

    It is the client who decides to accept a settlement or not; its outrageous that an attny would behave in such a manner. And why wouldn't the attny allow the client to decide if the settlement amount is enough to settle -- this is not a decision for the lawyer -- he is in charge of litigation strategy, not of the decider on settlement.

    I would tell the lawyer that you will file an objection to his motion to withdraw and that he can continue with settlement talks but that YOU have the right to accept any offer or not.

  2. #12
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    Apr 2009
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    Default Re: Lawyer Withdrawing Unless I Agree to an Unspecified Settlement

    What are you talking about?

    It's not outrageous in the slightest. It's also not that uncommon.

  3. #13
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    Jun 2006
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    Massachusetts
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    Default Re: Lawyer Withdrawing Unless I Agree to an Unspecified Settlement

    Could I get an answer to my question, please? It really does matter as to the strength of your case.

  4. #14
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
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    10

    Default Re: Lawyer Withdrawing Unless I Agree to an Unspecified Settlement

    cbg. Sorry for the delay. It took me a while to figure out a way to phrase this long, complicated story. Honestly, I appreciate your interest.

    Very, very abbreviated history: I had a manager, Allen, who would tell me things like "The only reason you have a job here is because you are a woman." "You're just a gender quota". "you have no value" "You're at one end of the spectrum and all the other engineers are at the other" (I was the only woman in the dept). I complained to our boss but he would say "Allen's just an asshole, You have to work with assholes". Allen, now my peer, began to withhold information i needed to do my job. I complained and I was told that I could transfer to another dept so I would not have to work with Allen. I transferred and I filed an complaint with Ethics. Findings of ethics violations were made against both Allen and his manager. The Ethics Investigator told me I did not have to worry because Allen was transferring to another facility. Well, two months later he was transferred into the same dept I had just transferred into to get away from him.

    Now, Allen and I have the same boss, Bill. Bill and Mike are old friends from college. Bill begins to retaliate against me for my complaints against Allen. One day he began screaming at me and telling me I was insubordinate because I was not talking enough in the staff meeting." I filed an ADR complaint with over 140 pages of documentation. The company policy states the management's response to the ADR must address all ethical, procedural and legal issues raised. When I met with management, they said only that it was not harassment and refused to address the claims I made. They told me they would "not tolerate frivolous complaints from me." I elevated my concerns to the HR Vice President. Her response was that I had no recourse. I filed an EEOC complaint and my manager's retaliation worsened. He began keeping a daily log about me. He started singling me out with complaints for same things all the other managers do ... such as being late to his staff meeting. He accused me of falsifying my timecard. He gave tasking that was not possible to do (create dept training metrics within one day) or giving me tasking to do without the charge numbers to accomplish it. Before I filed the EEOC complaint, he told me that some tasks I had done was correct, but on my review (after the EEOC complaint) he describes those same tasks as examples of my lack of performance. My last performance review was two pages long and every bit of it, except for 2 lines, was false.... not subjectively false, provably outright false. Some of it was true ... yes I occasionally arrived late to his staff meetings....but so did everyone else and he did not but that on their reviews. I told the Engineering Director and HR Director that I disagreed with the review.... I was told to file an ADR complaint.

    When it was time to do goals for the year, Allen gave me one set of goals and all the other managers a different set of goals. After I sign off on my goals for the year, Allen changes my goals on the online form and does not tell me. Four months later he writes an email saying not only that I was not doing tasking that was on my goals but that I had acknowledged those goals. When I tried to discuss my concerns of retaliation with HR, HR said "He is your manager, he can say what he wants".

    Over the year I had reported to Bill problems I was having with a team. I told Bill they were lying to others about me and about my work and preventing me from doing my job and I gave him proof. When I made the complaint to him again, I was officially reprimanded. I was told that reporting the problem to management was being "disrepectful". One time I was leaving the building at the same time Allen was coming in. Allen was talking on the phone and not looking where he was going and we bumped into each other. I apologized out of courtesy and continued on my way. Allen went to HR and told them I "hit" him. When I expressed concern over Allen's frivolous complaint, HR would not listen to me, so I tried to speak to a manager who had helped me before. I received a written reprimand for discussing this concern with a manager.

    Anyway, the problems worsened. I made another complaint in writing to the HR Director, he responded that I had to attend meetings as my manger directed or I would be subjected to disciplinary action. I sent several emails to him asking what he meant and stating that I had no idea what he was referring to. He would not respond. I emailed documented proof that the things that Tom wrote on my review were false and that he had prior knowledge they were false. When I returned to work, I was fired. I was told it was because I refused to do as my manager directed, I was disrespectful and I had a junior employee act for me against my managers directions. (I have an email from Allen authorizing me to have a junior employee act for me.)

    That was a very abbreviated version. It was a lot worse than this.

  5. #15
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    Default Re: Lawyer Withdrawing Unless I Agree to an Unspecified Settlement

    Quote Quoting cbg
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    May I ask what kind of misconduct you reported? It makes a HUGE difference.
    It think it would make a difference too BUT this case is headed to trial so it has past the point of really looking at if a cause of action is contained within the complaint (motion to strike and then a motion for summary judgment is the usual course of complaints that are baseless).

    The OP says that the reason for not having an expected large amount is the lack to mitigate (I assume the OP's job search efforts were none or minimal); but this is an affirmative defense - its a question of fact for the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide - not a lawyer for either side (its why we have trials, right?).

    A lawyer should make litigation & trial strategy; this can include settlement considerations but unless the OP is telling the lawyer to do something that is against the strategy efforts then the lawyer should continue to represent the client that he agreed on representing. To withdraw 3 months before trial when a viable cause of action is still on the table? Its outrageous. A lawyer cannot decide what a case is worth; in fact, he is prohibited for estimating the final outcome in respect to $$$ to be gained.

  6. #16
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    Massachusetts
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    Default Re: Lawyer Withdrawing Unless I Agree to an Unspecified Settlement

    What was the finding of the EEOC?

  7. #17
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    Default Re: Lawyer Withdrawing Unless I Agree to an Unspecified Settlement

    Quote Quoting davidmcbeth3
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    To withdraw 3 months before trial when a viable cause of action is still on the table? Its outrageous. A lawyer cannot decide what a case is worth; in fact, he is prohibited for estimating the final outcome in respect to $$$ to be gained.
    How did you come up with that? To the contrary, lawyers do estimate the value of cases, they do weigh settlements against their estimate of what a case is worth, and they may well seek to withdraw from cases where a client won't agree to a reasonable settlement or where the cost of litigation will destroy the economic viability of the case. Any sensible lawyer will include in his retainer agreement a clause allowing him to withdraw if he decides that the economics of the case do not merit continuing the litigation.

  8. #18
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    CT & IL
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    Default Re: Lawyer Withdrawing Unless I Agree to an Unspecified Settlement

    Rule 1.2. Scope of Representation and Allocation of Authority Between Client and Lawyer
    (a) Subject to paragraphs (c) and (d), a lawyer shall abide by a client's decisions concerning the objectives of representation and, as required by Rule 1.4, shall consult with the client as to the means by which they are to be pursued. A lawyer may take such action on behalf of the client as is impliedly authorized to carry out the representation. A lawyer shall abide by a client's decision whether to settle a matter. In a criminal case, the lawyer shall abide by the client's decision, after consultation with the lawyer, as to a plea to be entered, whether to waive jury trial and whether the client will testify.


    From IN practice rules ... http://www.in.gov/judiciary/rules/

    Most all states have this provision .. either expressly in the rules or otherwise .. in Indiana, its expressly written

    And this is the only reason the lawyer gives to withdraw .... I'm sure the lawyer thinks its best & may well be ... I think the OP is willing to examine any offer ... but to give the total decision to the lawyer is not proper. The OP may have a complaint to file with the bar assoc.

  9. #19
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
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    10

    Default Re: Lawyer Withdrawing Unless I Agree to an Unspecified Settlement

    cbg: The EEOC sent the standard non-conclusion letter.

    davidmcbeth3. Thank you, very much, for quoting from the rules. It helps me immensely.

    Also, regarding Summary Judgement. The employer did not file for Summary Judgement.

  10. #20
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    Jun 2006
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    Massachusetts
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    Default Re: Lawyer Withdrawing Unless I Agree to an Unspecified Settlement

    Keep in mind that I am basing this solely on what you have posted here. If there are additional details you have not shared, obviously I cannot consider them.

    You don't have a great case. I'm not saying you have no chance at all to win, but you're a far cry from a slam dunk. You have some case, but it's not overpowering Even if you do win, I'm not seeing huge awards.

    A settlement might not be such a bad thing. Obviously it's your decision, but I don't think your attorney is necessarily out of line.

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