One horror story is when an attorney dragged out the process just to bill more hours. The couple was ready to settle amicably, but the lawyer kept creating disputes over minor things. It cost the clients a fortune in legal fees and made the whole process much more painful than it should have been.
There was a case where a divorce attorney completely mismanaged the paperwork. They missed important deadlines, which led to the court dismissing some of the client's key requests. This not only set the divorce process back but also put the client at a great disadvantage in terms of property division and alimony negotiations. It was a total nightmare for the client who had trusted the attorney to handle things professionally.
In another story, a divorce attorney overpromised and underdelivered. They told the client they could get a huge settlement and full custody of the children. But in the end, the client got very little in terms of settlement and had to share custody. The attorney had made false assurances, which was really disappointing for the client who had high hopes based on what the attorney said.
In some horror stories, district attorneys might be influenced by political pressure. They could be pressured to pursue certain cases or not pursue others based on political affiliations. This can lead to a miscarriage of justice. For instance, if there is a case involving a powerful political figure, the district attorney might be persuaded to go easy on the prosecution, or even try to cover up the case, which is a serious violation of the public's trust in the justice system.
One horror story could be when someone gives power of attorney to a so - called 'trusted' friend. That friend then starts misusing the power, selling off the person's property at undervalued prices for their own gain. Another example is when a family member with power of attorney neglects the principal's medical needs and instead focuses on draining their financial resources.
In another instance, an attorney's junior associate misfiled some documents. These documents were related to a high - profile client and contained privileged information. The misfiled papers were found by a rival law firm during a discovery process in an unrelated case. This put the client at a great disadvantage and led to a breakdown of trust between the client and the attorney. The attorney had to work hard to regain the client's trust and deal with the fallout from the exposure of the privileged information.
One horror story is when an elder law attorney took a large upfront fee from an elderly client for estate planning but then did very little work. The attorney kept making excuses for delays and finally disappeared, leaving the client out of a lot of money and with no proper legal documents.
A couple hired a divorce lawyer who seemed very confident at first. But as the case progressed, it became clear that the lawyer was not well - versed in family law. He made several mistakes in filing the paperwork, which led to the court rejecting their initial filings. This caused a lot of delays and additional stress for the couple, who just wanted to get the divorce over with as smoothly as possible.
There are cases where personal information is leaked during divorce mediation. In a divorce mediation horror story I heard, the mediator accidentally shared one party's financial details with the other in a non - confidential way. This led to a huge fight between the couple and made the mediation process break down completely. It not only violated the trust but also made the situation much more hostile.
One post - divorce horror story is the financial nightmare. For example, a woman was left with huge debts that her ex - husband had secretly accumulated during their marriage. She had no idea about it until after the divorce and she was legally responsible for half of them. It ruined her credit score and made her life extremely difficult.
There was a situation where a couple had a business together. During the divorce court proceedings, they couldn't agree on how to split the business. Each side hired expensive business valuation experts. The courtroom was filled with complex financial jargon and accusations of mismanagement from both parties. It was a nightmare as the business started to decline because of the ongoing legal battle.
There are horror stories about elder law attorneys who are not well - versed in elder - specific laws. For instance, in some states, there are unique laws regarding long - term care and how assets are counted for Medicaid. If an attorney doesn't understand these laws properly, they can guide the client wrongly. This can have serious financial consequences for the elderly client. Imagine an attorney advising a client to sell their home too soon to qualify for Medicaid, when in fact there were other legal options available that would have allowed the client to keep their home longer.