My attorney I think violated a number of the Rules of Conduct and I would like to know what I can do and what kind of damages he is responsible for as a result of his malpractice. Please take 5 to 7 minutes to read through and 5-10 minutes to reply and I will reward for that. This is one of the reasons I signed up for this service. I think if you're an attorney this will probably stun you. No way that most attorneys could be this bad and actually do what is not in the best interests of their client again and again. And I never hired an attorney before him, so I had no attorney-client experience, just a basic understanding of what is right and wrong.

In an eviction case where the "landlords" and their lawyer represented and lied to the court that an apartment was illegal, my lawyer failed to:

- File a counterclaim of any kind even though he said there were numerous
- Provide me receipts for payments I made to him for his $350/hr fee
- Argue their case was a fraud and should be thrown out
- Advise me that the judge made a decision (after the judge sat on it for three months) on Dec. 21 when I had told my attorney I would be out of town on holidays and promised to call me if a decision (which he said unlikely during holidays) was handed down.
- Tell me the truth when I returned to find an eviction notice on my door and I had to leave the very next day
- Argue to the court that an eviction on the tenants record was discriminatory because the apt. in question was illegal and the lease was a fraud
- Allow me to change the judge when I did all the paperwork before the trial required by law to change the judge. He did not do what I had told him to do (and he even slapped me on the arm when I tried to enter the document to change the judge at the onset of the hearing).
- Advise me properly of my right to appeal, instead telling me that even though I would probably win on appeal, that I didn't have the $10-20K to fight it, even though I find out now that was not the case that I could appeal
- The other point to the statement right above this one is that he obstructed my right to appeal in two other critical ways: He never informed me as promised that the judgment had come down against me and I needed to return to California and then he later lied to me and said he did try to call me and my phone was out of service which I can prove with phone records was not the case. And if that was true, why wouldn't he try again, call my parents number I left him or email me where we had previously emailed back and forth?
- Additionally, he never entered, even though we discussed that he would, my claim to damages in the case (recovery of attorney, court fees, moving costs for illegal apt), which is just stunning and suspicious to me. Of course the judge didn't award me any damages but instead awarded the "landlords" $5K! Isn't my ex lawyer responsible for that $5K plus my fees to him, my hotel stay, the destruction to my credit, etc. all because he made me believe that I could never appeal (and he obstructed my ability to appeal on a number of levels).
- Return my case file after numerous requests until THREE months after the judge's ruling so of course I couldn't appeal as well, plus I only had 8 hours to prepare to move because he never informed me of the decision and then lied (which is provable) when I asked why he didnt'.

Is it just me or is this the most incompetently handled attorney-client case you've heard in a while?

I feel he is responsible to reimburse me a lot of money because of his malpractice. It's so blatantly colossal. He really screwed me.

Optional Information:
Country relating to Question: United States
State (if USA): California