Things To Know About Filing A Disciplinary Complaint Against A Lawyer

Lawyers must uphold the law and remain ethical when working with clients. This doesn't always happen though, but there is recourse for clients thanks to disciplinary complaint forms. If you're thinking about filling some out because you think you weren't treated correctly by an attorney, remember these things.

Use an Attorney Assistance Program 

Before you go forward with filling out disciplinary complaint forms against a lawyer, it helps to find out for sure if you need to pursue these actions or if there is a better response for your situation. You'll get these answers when you use attorney assistance programs.

They exist for clients that have been put in this position by lawyers at some point. They can see what unethical behavior you have to report on and see if it justifies the process of pursuing a disciplinary complaint. If it does, someone who works at the program will let you know. Then you can fill out these forms knowing you're taking the right measures.

Be Thorough in Describing Conduct

When you start filling out disciplinary complaint forms against a lawyer, you will be asked to explain the lawyer's conduct. You want to be thorough when explaining these things because it will help the right legal actions get taken after your forms end up at the right institution.

Explain exactly what the attorney did that makes you believe they weren't ethical. It could be how they assessed you in the beginning or how they handled your case when it went to trial. Just explain every detail that you can that documents the attorney's unethical behavior.

Identify Statute of Limitations

You may be hesitant about filing a grievance against a lawyer for some type of unethical behavior, but you need to know that there are statutes of limitations for this type of reporting. If you just keep putting this disciplinary complaint off, then it won't matter what you try to do once the statute of limitations has passed.

There are different time lengths for this limit depending on where you live, so the best thing you can do is find out for certain what it is and then make a decision before this period ends. 

Some lawyers don't always act in good faith and do unethical things when helping clients out. If you've been on the receiving end of this behavior, you can go forward with a disciplinary complaint. Preparation will help this process go as planned. 


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