I am in a big mess.
I am contesting a divorce case filed by my husband. I had appointed a lawyer by taking reference from a known senior lawyer. My lawyer kept fooling me for almost a year by remaining absent on almost all court dates and sending his juniors who knew nothing about the case, not filing papers on time, using delay tactics etc. So much so that the judge got worked up and even warned me that my case would get dismissed.
He did all this inspite of charging me a good lumpsum amount in advance as his fees. Finally I had no option but to file an application in court for CHANGING MY LAWYER. Now the court has given me time to hire a NEW LAWYER. The situation is tough as I am not working, have a child to support and difficult to pay a hefty sum to a new lawyer again. To add to my woes, the ex-lawyer has stopped responding to my calls and msgs. He has also changed the place of work, so I dont have his office address.
Now I am worried about my N.O.C. that I have to take from him, before appointing a new lawyer. I also wanted suggestions from experts here, if there is any way to get a refund of atleast part of the money I paid to him.
Professional ethics may not allow most of my lawyer friends here to comment on this post. However, it would be a real big help if somebody can help me out.
As far as possible, I dont want to ruin his career by complaining to the BAR COUNCIL.
Please help.