Smart Parenting During and After Divorce: When You Want to Complain About Your Lawyer

Sometimes conflicts with attorneys go beyond a falling-out or a loss of confidence. Attorneys must follow a code of professional ethics. When these ethics are violated, you have the right to file a formal complaint or a grievance against an attorney.

Although people have the right to complain about anything to anyone, grievances should be supported by information that suggests the attorney violated an important and well-established ethical principle. In most states, misappropriation of escrow money and failure to advocate for a client are grievable offenses.

A simple word of caution when considering whether you should file a grievance against an attorney: if an attorney has stolen money from you or otherwise taken advantage of you, or if an attorney's incompetence has had a profoundly negative effect on your life, you will be doing the world a favor by trying to limit this person's ability to practice. However, if you have merely gotten angry or disappointed with your attorney, you might want to think twice about filing a grievance. There should come a point at which you will want to be free of the legal system and all of the stress and strain that come along with it. Pursuing legal complaints and litigation should not become a full-time job. If that is the case, you would be better off going to law school and learning how to do it right (and getting paid for it).

For some people, getting wrapped up in legal struggles is a convenient way of avoiding responsibilities in "the real world." After all, if you are always in court, always complaining about your co-parent, always seeking some kind of relief for a wrong that was done to you, and complaining about your attorney, no one will criticize you for not managing the humdrum aspects of life that plague us all, whether we are embroiled in legal conflicts or not.

Remember, there is another life out there, beyond lawyers and beyond the people we no longer want to associate our personal lives with.

Quick Tip

It is often best to speak with another lawyer before filing a grievance against your present lawyer.