My atty messed up

[AlmostSingle]

My atty messed up. Bqsically he misread the CS work sheet and led me to believe that the ex had to pay me CS. Well he was wrong. He misread the CS WS. I guess thats why he is an atty and not an accountant. I actually owe the ex CS.

At first I thought that he was going to standby his mistake. But now that the ex has filed a motion, and we have a court date coming up, he pretty much told me that I am on my own. Unless I want to pay.

I believe that he made an honest mistake. His paralegal made the same mistake, and the mediator didn't even catch it. But since this is his mistake I feel that he should go to court with me, free of charge. Because after all, if he didn't make the mistake in the first place, this would have been dealt with in mediation and I wouldn't be going back to court.

I feel that he did a pretty good job for me through the divorce. He was fairly conservative with hours billed and has worked with me as far as payments.

I work in a very competitive service based industry. I just don't understand how he could not offer to stand by the mistake that he has made.

How do I handle this?

[formylilgirl]

Its called Yelp. Publicly bury his business with a very thought out well written review of his retarded services. Find every other review site you can post to. Lawyers are getting hip to this now because they have never had to deal with this level of exposure of their services.

[Trevor]

How long has she paid you CS? I know there is the issue with you seeing SD13 but there being no CS for her, though you see her as much as your child.

I think he needs to clue you in on exactly what the correct amount is and write up a consent decree for you and your X to execute so you can avoid trial. I am not seeing a winning argument about there being no CS ordered for a child that is not yours, even though you have raised her nearly a decade, if memory serves.

What does he say when you ask "You made an error, and I believe it is justified for me to ask you to correct that error in good faith."?

Again, if you know it was a mistake, why not just find the right numbers and settle the thing, avoiding court? Is your X amenable to adjusting CS for the SD, who she knows spends a lot of time with you?

[readyalready]

see... I see this, and I have been moping around for weeks, the reality that I'm even getting played about just WRITING a order or a PP, by the attorney I paid - I am careful not to refer to this person as my attorney anymore - as much as anyone...

And I get on here, and another dad is recommending smearing this dude's L over not reading the CS calc the right way?

I was planning on writing one bad review a day until one of us was confirmed dead, but have to wait, because, even though it has been MONTHS since trial - I still haven't seen the order, much less my kid...

Yeah, I have to agree. Those are big bucks, I sure didn't see the hours, that are billed at some rediculous rate in the hundreds of dollars, You screwed up, threw me under the bus, and I'm going to post it on every webpage from here to Sirius.

You will need to rehire, but get someone new.

[readyalready]

Example of what you write: "I now feel like the most neglectful thing I ever did to my kid was not researching the attorney more, and getting someone else, or even doing it myself, when I had a chance. Working with Mr/Ms So-and-so taught me a very important lesson on just how careful you have to be as a parent."

[AlmostSingle]

She has only been paying CS to me for a few months. She realized the mistake almost immediately after mediation. I have already been to court over this once, but the judge dismissed it because she didn't file the motion correctly. That is when we found out that my atty screwed up.

I may have been able to work this out with her outside of court in the begining, but based on my Atty's advice we sat back and waited for her to file the motions. He told me that we would deal with it when she filed. Now that the time has come he is not backing me up.

Negotiating with the NJ at this point is not possible. I have tried several times to get her to understand that SD is an expense. I don't ask her to cover any expenses for SD, but I have asked her not to take anything from me because of this. But she dosen't get it. Either way I'm not going to punish SD because her Mom is a greedy < edited >.
I don't have an argument in court when it comes to CS and SD. What I am going to argue in court is that CS be based on imputable income. NJ only works 25-30hrs a week, and is claiming her actual average income on the CS worksheet. There is no reason NJ can't work full time, other than she is comfortably where she is at and they won't give her full time hours.

[Fatheroffour]

Understandable how being forced to pay CS you didn't owe could cause some hard feelings.

[Trevor]

Since you knew her paying you CS was an error, I hope you set the money aside, knowing you'll have to pay her back this money, minimally since she filed for the correction (the first time).

I am unsure you can now argue, when 4 months ago you did not, that her income needs to be calculated differently than it was then.

[jumbledone]

^What FoF said^

And instead of working to resolve, sitting and waiting for her to pay for filing fees, etc.

Dude, once it was figured out, you should have been superdad working to figure it out. As it is, makes you look greedy for sitting and waiting.

I would go on an offensive against your atty, requesting that he represent you free of charge. They have malpractice insurance for this reason. S/He screwed up, s/he should fix it...

[AlmostSingle]

I forgot to mention that NJ is convinced that My atty and I new exactly what we were doing and that we tricked her becasue she was pro se at mediation.

I have tried several times to discuss it with her, and to try to keep it out of court. But she wouldn't talk. She is a "smart and independent woman" (que FOF's praying mantis) and "she knows that I tricked her on pourpose" and she "is not opening herself up to be tricked by me again."

Apparently my mistake was listening to my atty and not being proactive about it, and actually filling something with the court.