Idiot Attorney

There's this idiot attorney trying to mess me up. He's only been practicing for 3 years. He's like a little chihuahua, nipping at my heels. We have a court hearing today at 2:00 p.m., but the court's tentative ruling was to deny his motion for sanctions and to have me reported to the state bar. (Yes, another complaint, this time by an idiot attorney. It's a cruel world out there.)

A long story that I'll try to keep short:

2 years ago, I represented a woman who was 72-years old in an action where her son and son's girlfriend caused her house, where she had lived for 40 years, to be refinanced to the point where there was $100,000 in equity in it, even though at one point there was $500,000 in equity.

The son and his girlfriend were able to get this attorney, who was paid a lot of money, to fight this thing. And fight it he did, even to the point where he was acting unethically, and finally the house went into foreclosure and my client lost her home. It's a long story, but this is enough of a synopsis to give you an idea of what is behind going to court today.

Last summer, just before I got off the case (another attorney was taking over because a conservatorship had been established), the idiot attorney had been trying to get me to respond to discovery on behalf of the old lady. However, I subbed out of the case and didn't send any responses.

Little did I know that he had filed a motion to compel! He didn't serve it on me, I didn't file a response, and when he went to court last August, when the motion was heard, I was ordered to pay sanctions of $480. I didn't find this out until September, however.

When I found out, I was really annoyed. I asked for copies of his motion because I had never received them. He kept saying he was too busy to send me a copy.

I finally told him that he could have the money for sanctions that I was ordered to pay out of the sale of the house, because I didn't want to have to take time to draft a motion for relief from the order awarding sanctions from the hearing on his motion. They were about to settle the case (was my understanding) and I hadn't been paid for most of my work. So I told the new attorney representing my client's conservator that I would waive my fees, but to pay to the idiot attorney the sanctions out of the proceeds from the sale of the house.

However, in December the idiot attorney sent a new email around saying that the house had been foreclosed upon and that there was no equity left (market had just gone into the toilet) and no one would be getting anything. Turns out his client quit paying on the mortgage and my client couldn't afford to pay the $4000 per month that he had run the mortgage up to. The idiot attorney was now telling me I had to pay the sanctions to him because there was no money from the sale of the house.

He filed a motion in January asking for additional sanctions of $1500 because I hadn't paid the original sanctions, and he asked that the court report me to the state bar for disobeying a court order.

I file an opposition explaining to the court what happened, and the court has now ruled (tentatively) that there will be no additional sanctions and no report to the state bar.

The idiot attorney is such an idiot. I sent an email asking if he would be going to court to argue against the tentative, and he said that he was going to argue unless I promised that I was going to obey the court order to pay the $480.

I explained that the one thing didn't have anything to do with the other. The only point to arguing against the judge's tentative ruling is if he disagreed with it. It's not about whether I agree to it. I can show up and argue against it, too. The point it, either he agrees with the judge's tentative and doesn't need to show up and argue against it, or he disagrees with it and he shows up to argue against it because he wants to explain to the judge why there should be additional sanctions.

I told him that if he isn't going to argue against the tentative, I would call the clerk and tell her that I accept the court's ruling.

He then asked AGAIN if I was going to comply with the court's ruling. See how he's an idiot? I said I was going to call the clerk to inform her that I would accept the court's ruling. This means I will pay the sanctions within 15 days as ordered by the court in its tentative ruling. He doesn't understand, and he even finally said that he will assume by my silence that I don't intend to pay the $480. I told him that I don't have to answer to him.

Even if I say, right now, that I refuse to pay the money even though the court has ordered it, this doesn't change the court's ruling. If I don't pay it within 15 days, then I will probably be reported to the state bar.

He doesn't get it. He called my office this morning to ask if I was going to pay it and I told him that I wasn't going to teach him how to practice law. I hung up on him. He's probably going to go to court and tell on me.

The other attorney, who was also implicated in the idiot attorney's request for sanctions and for referral to the state bar, and who also worked for free on this case, was happy that my opposition to the motion won because he hadn't filed an opposition. But because of my opposition, the judge ordered that neither of us would be reported to the state bar, and neither of us had to pay any additional sanctions.

By the way: Funny side note is that the idiot attorney asked if I had filed an opposition, which I had. He said he didn't receive it and thinks I am pulling a fast one. I told him I had witnesses who saw me take it and mail it. He asked if I would email him a copy. I told him yes, just as quickly as he mailed the motion to compel that I didn't receive the year before.