Lesson learned from suing an attorney

Several years ago, I was hired by a plaintiff's attorney as an expert witness on a personal injury case. He paid the fee in advance, but the night before the trial, his co-counsel called me to review the case. It was clear she did not have a thorough understanding of the case, so I spent two hours on the phone with her trying to bring her up to speed. I also typed up questions I suggested she use when taking my testimony and emailed them to her, as well as bringing her a copy the morning of the trial. I told the co-counsel that I would be submitting an additional fee of $600 or $ 300 per hour for the extra work I did. I was advised by co-counsel to inform the lead attorney of the extra fee before the trial. He told me that all I had to do was send him the bill, and he would pay the additional fee. I gave my testimony and later learned that the verdict was in favor of the plaintiff.

The bill was sent to the lead attorney, but he ignored several bills and several phone calls. I decided to take this to the state bar association and submitted a complaint to its ethics committee. They tried to mediate the dispute and "suggested" that he pay the $600. He refused, and they informed me that they could only make suggestions but could not compel him to pay the fee.

At Christmas time, I sent him a note suggesting, in the Judeo-Christian spirit of the holiday season, that I would accept his donating $600 to charity and that I would acknowledge that I had done the two hours of additional work on behalf of his client. This, too, was ignored.

I shared my story with an attorney friend who offered to help me. My attorney suggested that he write the plaintiff's attorney a letter informing him that I have retained an attorney and that his letter requested payment, or that we would file a demand for payment in small claims court. My friend assured me that this would result in getting paid. After several contentious phone calls between my attorney and the plaintiff's lawyer, during which the plaintiff's lawyer resorted only to name-calling, he advised me to file a suit in small claims court. The filing fee was $600! There were also $200 of additional costs for pleadings, motions, etc.

Shortly after filing the suit in small claims court, I received a notice that the plaintiff's attorney had filed a defamation of character suit against me. My attorney assured me that if we won the case in small claims court, there would be no grounds for defamation, as the truth is not defamation.

My attorney suggested we depose the co-counsel to confirm that the extra work was indeed done on behalf of his client. Soon thereafter, my attorney received a call asking, "How much will it take to take to make this go away?" The plaintiff's attorney finally paid the $600, the court costs, and my attorney's fees.

What did I learn?

First, it takes a lot of time and energy to teach someone a lesson. I estimated I spent over a dozen hours writing letters, speaking to my attorney, and attempting to have the situation mediated by the state bar association. I could have used my time more productively, like contributing to this blog! Second, it put pressure on my wife and family to proceed with litigation for only $600. Finally, I placed undue stress on my friendship with my lawyer, who never complained and never made me feel bad about seeing the process through to completion.

What would I do the next time? I would send the demand letter for payment from my attorney, but I would have stopped there and not pursued the grievance and further.

What did I do with the award? I gave it to my synagogue's social justice fund. I certainly didn't want to enjoy or profit from this ill-gotten award.

Bottom Line: Teaching someone a lesson is expensive and probably not worth the energy or effort unless it is your child or someone you love. So if you are in a similar situation, learn from my experience and "look before you leap!"

Neil Baum, MD, a Professor of Clinical Urology at Tulane University in New Orleans, LA.