I can't believe it, my attorney set me up and called the police, lying, saying I pushed his secretary physically.

I went to his office this am to pick up some paperwork they refused to fax over to me, I'd faxed them three times requesting, While at his office I explained to him that he tripled billed me and I would turn him over to the bar if he didn't refund me the amount. I was very stern. He tried to get me to sit and talk, I said no, I was sick and had to go, I only needed one document and then they were fired.

I also told the attorney that his help and he were obviously incompetent and weren't listening to me or following my directions, so that I was over billed irked me even more. I was adament that my husband be served by a private server and not the sheriff's department, that they were to call and confirm with me before hiring someone. They hired a sherrif's officer and told me when I called it was a done deal, without my permisson. My husband's moved to a small town and I wanted to save him the embarassment, of course the attorney didn't care, he wanted to make him mad.

There's more, he called my husband's attorney to tell her all the things I was going to do to him, and it was without my permission, in fact I set the guidelines that even if I walked away with less money I wanted this negotiated out of court. I know from my husband that this call took place, my attorney denies it. Again he was trying to make my husband and I as mad as possible it appears.

I faxed both attorneys at this point, telling mine to file a motion to put the divorce on hold as that's what the court clerk told me to do, I wasn't able to do it myself since they had an attorney on record. My attorney didn't follow my instructions. I also faxed that I needed a copy of the statement of my account, they didn't fax or mail it to me. I set an appointment with him weeks later and they finally gave me a copy of the bill. This weekend as I lay around sick I went through it noticing how they were overbilling me, obviously on purpose.

So I called later today, told the secretary that if they didn't want me to turn this over to the bar that they could leave a check taped to their door and I'd pick it up this afternoon. She said the attorney wasn't there all afternoon. I was out of town doing business. When the attorney got back he called the police saying I had pushed his secretary physically. The police officer called me from his office.

Of course I told the officer that it was the attorney's way of telling me to back off on turning him over to the bar, and obviously it scared him enough that he set me up. The officer listened to me, I told him it was obvious that it didn't happen as the attorney would have called when I was in the office so called pushing his secretary, not in the evening when he returned to find out I'd told them I'd turn him over to the bar. The cop hadn't even bothered to ask at what time the incident took place, he assumed as he should have that it had taken place late in the day. He said I'm on warning, if I call or drop by the attorney's office again I'll be arrested and charged with assault.

I called the officer back later tonight telling him I was being set up, they could easily make up a phone call by me or say I'd dropped by the office. The attorney said he witnesses me pushing his secretary and the secretary said I did it meaning, they'd use each other as witnesses. And if they are threatened by me they'll do it. I guess it's true, that if this attorney is making a habit of triple billing all of his customers and I have record of it then he could be in serious trouble.

He said he was going to retire in two years, here's how, he's hiring two assistants to do all his work, filings, typing, returning of calls. He then bills almost everything they do at his rate, meaning he's making his hourly rate a day times three. Most clients don't even ask for a copy of their statements, when they do they stall. Clients wouldn't tape record conversations and would have no proof that this overbilling took place, nor would they be comparing notes with one another. So yes, it's quite possible this attorney will retire in two years by ripping every one of his clients off, he didn't even know enough about my case to answer my questions, nor did he care. He knew the case was going to court, I bet all of his cases do. There's no working with attorneys to settle with this guy.

So now what to do? Do you think he'll stoop to setting me up saying I called or dropped by the office. The people in the office already lied for each other. I'm calling an attorney friend tomorrow about this. The police officer didn't want to work on the case anymore, I told him I had witnesses that I was out of town all afternoon, and I'll be traveling the entire next week. That he needs to be forewarned that it's obvious that this attorney was very, very threatened by me to do this... I don't even know if the officer believed me or not. And I know the truth, he has so many cases himself, he's going to have a hard time remember the details.

WHAT DO I DO.....

I called the bar, they said to file a complaint this attorney would have to know who did it. He lied with his secretary yesterday, and he's capable of doing it again. I know that he double billed me, if he did it to me he's doing it to all of his clients as standard practice, And when I said I'd turn him into the bar he was very very threatened. Basically what he was saying is that if I turn him in, he'll lie again to the police... I'm going to call the DA plus an attorney friend of mine in town. I can't believe that an attorney and his secretary would stoop to lying to cover their own butts. She's in with him on the billing...

How very upsetting. Too bad ethics is so low on your attorney's list of priorities.

From now on, keep a careful record of all your activities, your phone calls, your whereabouts. So sad you have to do this to defend yourself but you are dealing with vermin.

That's what I told the police officer, I'd have to record every day where I am, what I'm doing, the works. I'm in sales so it's natural anyways to be writing things down, but now it'll be more details.

This attorney was sick, sick. Shows that I was right about him when I told him he purposefully overbilled me and likely does it to all of his clients. That he could pull this off with a straight look on his face, means he and the secretary have no conscious whatsoever, it's actually worse then I thought. Meaning he's seriously out to overbill customers and I was a huge threat.

I told a cop about it in another town, the cop believed my story and said I should turn the attorney in anyways to the board that oversees attorneys and try to get them to audit his books. The attorney was basically threatening me so I wouldn't do that. The cop gave me a "warning" but he said the cop could still go back and back charge me with "trespass" if I contact them again, even one phone call. That doesn't even make sense since he didn't have the evidence to do it the first time. I know that cops have a license to lie to make their cases "tight" in court, and they do.

I doubt anything will become of this. I called an attorney friend I used to share an office with. He said this attorney ought to know that he can't continue down the trail of lying, as it's hard to keep it all straight. He didn't think he'd do it - say I called or dropped by. But I'm off to find a new attorney, have the names of some ethical ones from my attorney friend. I just hired this guy out of the phone book.

What the other attorney ought to call his services is paralegal, but as the secretary does all the work, they typing, returns calls - they bill at his rate. He said he'd retire in two years, at this rate I figure he's making over 800k per year if not more, billing his time for two assistants while he's gone half the day. I ran into something really WIERD....

I don't know anything about these things, but is it possible to get a restraining order against him.

He's threatened you with legal action (and he's lying). You are now very intimidated by him. Who knows what he is capable of next?

I would go to the bar. Make sure you get all your legal ducks in a row. Make sure that you can prove your whereabouts that day.

And then, if he goes "legal" on you, then you call the media. He might be a little nervous about taking legal action against you, because when it hits the media, past clients of his might come out of the wordwork to tell their story.

It is a tough battle. I once fought a case (against the RCMP). I had all kinds of proof...but their word counts 10x more than any proof we had. (It was actually my H's case, but I was very involved in it). We hired a major Cdn. attorney (known across the country). It didn't go to court, and almost everything was dropped, with a small conditional discharge on one charge. He didn't deserve that, but we didn't need the publicity a trial would get. It was worth taking the one hit, because once discharged there is NO record of it (we pray). We didn't want any criminal record to inhibit his ability to travel across borders (he does so in his job).

All this because I called 911 one night when he was trying to commit suicide. He was in the car, windows closed, car running. Police arrived. He drove out of the car about 20 ft. (nowhere near a road or sidewalk). He was charged with dangerous driving, driving under the influence, and driving while intoxicated. All this for backing out of the garage to get away from the police who stormed the garage like a swat team. They put him in jail (best place for a man at the lowest point in his life). He was beaten up in jail. This guy is a regular in the drunk tank. He is in fights all the time (including another one that night). Husband was charged with two counts of assault. That makes FIVE charges. I pressed my lawyer to get the videotape. It showed that H was assaulted, not the other way around. But, they held firm...damned idiots. It was on the news. It was awful. He quit his job. Me and the kids moved across the country. H left the country for another job. Seven years later, we'll still separated. It's tough. It cost us a fortune.

But, I felt that such a horrendous WRONG had been done, that I was willing to risk even more to make it right.

I'll fight the good fight when necessary. I just hate that it becomes necessary sometimes.

That's why, if I were you, I'd be very very careful, but I'd go after this guy. He is a crook.

I stopped at a small town police department today while driving for business. And a very nice cop listened to the story. He said the secretary was likely lying for the attorney to protect her job. Since he's a criminal attorney it's likely he was sending me a message to make me paranoid. So that as I talked to the bar and typed all of this up, I'd get paranoid and not turn him in. That's what I'd told the cop. But the cop was from a bigger city, he said that department is so busy cops don't slow down much. Meaning I'm screwed, they make easy cases, then turn them over to the courts. He said they'll either set me up again or they won't. That I need to make sure I don't drive anywhere near his office. It'd be hard for them to prove a phone call as I could request records. But they could make up that I showed up, and have a so called third witness there this time and call them to arrest me, or put a warrant out. It's only if I persued it that he'd do anything don't you think? If I turned him into the bar? The bar said they'd have to give him the name and info of who was protesting him in order to research a complaint. What a JERK.

I have a little boy, it's likely I can't risk it but on another hand I'd love to nail his butt. I sort of figured out how while driving. I'd first go through my billing and see what days he called me. I'd have my cell company give me a list of calls incoming that day, I only use my cell phone for business and personal calls. I'd go to the court house and see if he was in court at that time. Most of the time he seemed to be in court, which is why his two secretaries were doing his typing, returning of calls, the rest - yet in my bill I was billed at his rate not theirs for a lot of the work. I know for a fact he didn't call me, not once, yet in the statement he's saying he did have "conferences" with me. It was really the bimbo secretary. With this at least I'd have proof that he couldn't have called me during those times, thus an incorrect bill I could turn over to the bar. I'd type up my other complaints plus what he did with the cops. They may or may not look into it.

Another option is to go to the courthouse and I believe it's public record which attorneys are handling which cases, in fact it might be on a board. I'd be able to possibly research other clients of his and give a few a call. If my bill is that EXTREME that it's not simple little billing mistakes, likely the others have similar bills. I could set them up to tape record conversations and get copies of their own billing statements. Of course if he figured I was doing this he'd set me up with the cops.

Yes, the guy's a crook. It's obvious I need to be careful here. Likely it's not worth it, I'm just tempted. I have the next three weeks off. I run a business on deadlines only every other month... just dreaming of this man losing.

My advice is to not become obsessed over it. Treat it like a hobby. I obsessed, and I had depression for years, mostly over this. I was angry about the financial lose. I was angry that they lied. I was angry that he didn't get the medical help he needed that night. I was just angry angry angry. I'm sure many of the gray hairs on my head came from this period of time. And, I'm still angry about it...but not so obsessive. I wanted that lying cop to hang for what he did. NOTHING happened to him. Karma bus is waiting for him somewhere I hope.

Document your stuff, get your proof, and consider carefully if you want to pursue this or not. You sound smart enough to gather all the relevant information, and smart enough to not put yourself in a position of being able to be "framed" by him again.

I wish you luck with this. Nasty people really don't deserve to get away with it.

No nasty people shouldn't get away with it... The police officer in another small town said the cop was wrong too, I had wanted to come to the police office to write my story down so if this happened again it'd be documented. He said no. A good cop would have given me that time, especially since he'd called me up threatening to arrest me "if I did this again" and I didn't do anything they said.

It's worse then I thought actually, the cop said they were filing a "trespass" warning. The other cop said that would have meant that they had to have asked me to leave and I didn't. It was the opposite, I was at the attorney's door saying I could only stay a few minutes, they wanted me to sit and talk about it, I said no and left, telling them as I left they better fix my bill. So they lied about that and about my so called pushing the secretary who sat in her chair the entire time across the room. Yes they "framed" me and did so intentionally.

The other cop said the attorney wanted me to be so paranoid when I was collecting info and typing paperwork on this that I wouldn't turn it over to the bar. And he succeeded, I have been nervous about it. The cop said I only have to worry as long as I have dealings with that attorney. I have no reason to other then turning him over, and basically if I did that's when they'd go after me. Another attorney friend said the same. This basically means even in the good old USA someone can be framed for something they didn't do. Innocent people go to jail all the time.

Guess the only way I'd follow through and turn the attorney over to the board is if I knew I was leaving town, or would't be around. I dont' think there's a way to protect myself. That's what the other cop was basically saying, either they are going to do it, or they won't. What I'm doing won't make a difference either way. I can't spend months documenting every day what I'm doing just for a nasty attorney. He knows that, so basically he's won. What a sick, sick, man.... likely he's getting off making at least 800k per year billing his rate while two secretaries do his divorce work and he's in court half the day. It doesn't seem right, life isn't fair. Bad guys often win.

But the truth is that life isn't fair.