Forgive me, the title may be phrased poorly. Let me give some detail and maybe you’ll be able to help better.
I am currently dealing with a local law firm of about 25 lawyers. I have two separate issues that they are attending to. Both seem pretty straight forward and both are stretching out for months. One of them is time-sensitive and so soon, even if we win, it will be a rather useless win (I was promised that a letter would be sent out a month ago, but none has gone.) The other may or may not be time-sensitive. We have started a business and are waiting for some of the documents to be finalized. AFAIK, we will not incur any fees or fines if they are not done so in the next few weeks. However, since I was physically with all of my partners last week, that would have been the time to get their signatures.
My requests for updates and pleas for a timeline are being ignored.
Is there typically a managing partner to whom I could complain? How would I discover who this partner is?
“managing partner;”
“partner in charge;”
“chairman;”
“managing attorney” (this last one could be a bit different but still maybe what you want – IME, this is more the “head of administration,” but that could still get you the results you want as part of his job is preventing malpractice.
I don’t know anything about the firm representing you, obviously, but I do know something about the organization of law firms. I’m not a lawyer, but I’ve worked in the legal business for years.
A law firm will usually have a managing partner (or someone acting in that capacity with a similar title). He or she is in charge of the business of the firm (not the legal representation – the management of the firm itself). A managing partner usually does not have any kind of supervisory authority over the other partners in the firm, at least not when it comes to the actual practice of law. This person may or may not have clients of his own. While a phone call to this person may do some good, unless you are a client of the managing partner, he’s not the person responsible for your case.
Of course, in a small firm like the one you describe, the lines of authority and responsibility may be a lot less clear.
The person you should be discussing your problems with is the partner overseeing your matters. This person may be named on your bills as the “originating attorney” or the “billing attorney” or the “supervising attorney.” This may be the person you approached about representation. It may be that your work was delegated to associates (it almost certainly was), and those associates are overworked, or incompetent, or simply too inexperienced to manage their caseload. You must impress upon the partner in charge (this is, or should be, the person who is “your” lawyer) that you are not getting the service you need, and that if this firm can’t provide that service, you’ll find a firm that can.
What Saintly said. Also, in a firm that size, the guy whose name is on the door might still be around, and if so, he might be a person to complain to. Unfortunately firms vary in their organization.
I’ve worked for a couple of big corporate law firms, and the way they’re usually structured is:
Senior Partner - Technically the highest position, but it’s more like a figurehead who does a lot of media work and acts as an ambassador for the firm rather than running day-to-day affairs.
Managing Partner - The equivalent of a CEO, actually manages how the firm’s strategy and how it works day-to-day.
Heads of departments - head of corporate department, head of banking, head of tax department, and so on. The more important the department is to the firm, the more important its head tends to be in the structure.
Obviously that’s in bigger firms (dozens of partners, hundreds of lawyers) so I’m not sure whether it would be the same in a smaller firm like the one you’re dealing with. But if you ask for the managing partner or senior partner I’m sure they’d direct you to the right person.
The ways medium sized law firms may be organized are as varied as the number of law firms out there. It can range from one person having all of the control, with everyone else pretty much working for him or her, to each partner (or equivalent title) controlling his or her bit of the business, with virtually no oversight from other partners on a particular partner’s business.
Further, even if there are formal managment structures, it is likely that the actual control and oversight vary significant from what is set out in the formal processes. Whatever the structure is, a lawyer who brings in and controls a significant amount of business will have considerable power.
Many law firms that size or larger have a “management committee” or “executive committee” in which control of the firm is vested, at least nominially. There may also be an “managing partner”, “executive partner”, “chairman”, or “administrative partner,” but it is difficult to know whether that partner is actually in overall charge, or whether he or she is the person to whom is delegated the administrative management of the firm. Even the head of a firm must tread lightly when dealing with clients of other partners of the firm.
I would concur with the advice that you should first talk to the partner with responsibility for your business, and if that does not resolve the issue, look to the folks with their names on the door.
what I meant was: I have been speaking to the lawyer at the firm who is supposed to be representing me and he has not been responding to my request for a timeline.
When I said
What I meant was, I spoke to to the lawyer at the firm who is supposed to be representing me, I spoke to him on the phone, he promised me that a letter would be sent on my behalf and he hasn’t done so.
So, just to try and be thorough:
I have emailed him. I have called him. I have left him messages. (The him in these sentences is the partner at the law firm that is supposed to be representing me.)
The reason I feel I need to escalate the issue is that the lawyer at the firm who is supposed to be representing me is not performing.
So please, no more advice to call the lawyer at the firm who is supposed to be representing me. After weeks of frustration, I’m not really looking to keep doing what I have been doing - that isn’t getting results.
Only because you’ve been as sweet as pie, but if you are serious about starting your own business, you can’t be afraid of escalating this issue to another partner in the firm (say a name partner, or failing that, calling the receptionist and asking her to direct you to another partner who can help you) or to take your business elsewhere.
If you really need the Straight Dope Message Board to tell you this after weeks of dissatisfaction with your lawyer, you might want to hold off before swimming with the sharks in the business world. They’re going to be even more brusque than I’ve been.
LOL. Wow, you are like a business guru. Do you write books and stuff?
But what makes you think I’m “afraid of escalating this issue to another partner in the firm”?(your words) Take a peak at the original post and see if you can spot these words:
Each business has its own nomenclature. I simply wanted to know who I would ask for.
My point is you can’t get tripped up on nomenclature. Even if it means calling up the receptionist and saying “Hello, I am a client of Lawyer X. Unfortunately, I am having some trouble with his responsiveness and the timeliness of his performance. I’ve made several attempts to discuss this with him by phone and by email, but I’ve been rebuffed. I need to speak with another partner at your firm now or you’ll be hearing from my new lawyers.”
What will the receptionist do? Probably patch you through to someone. Maybe she’ll laugh and say “Ha ha. You don’t know the right terminology. Sucks to be you. <click>” Then you find your new lawyers I referred to above. But it can’t be worse than staying in this limbo of non-responsiveness and non-performance.
I don’t want to speak for the person who raised the issue, but for me, it was that you let the critical in person meeting happen without having the papers in hand.
That your partners seem equally laissez-faire about it doesn’t strike me as a good sign either.
Indeed. But for them it IS a minor issue at this time. Our main business is in the UK and they are already well established. The business here was established - on advice from our lawyer here - to allow us an easy way - or rather less messy way - of paying me. Their original intent was to open a branch here and our lawyer thinks that opening a business here owned by all the same people is less messy than navigating the complex international business laws of opening a branch.
And now we are set up far enough to pay me. The rest of the details are ownership agreements - percentages and Intellectual Property. Currently I own 100% of the US company and it owns the IP.
On one hand, the guys over there are too damn trusting, knowing I won’t screw them. Although this is true, it is my opinion that EVERY THING SHOULD BE SPELLED OUT. Why put any of us at risk for a drawn-out messy IP fight?
On the other hand, they are right, this isn’t an emergency. We have everything that they care about - for now. They remain focused on maintaining the other parts of the business.
While it is true that there is no emergency, drawing up the documents of ownership and IP should be straight-forward and should *not *be taking months. Most of this is boiler-plate.
When my lawyer was notified that I would be going over there, I asked if it would be feasible to finish the documents before I leave. He said that he could and would. I waited a week and asked him again. And then reminded him one more time before I left and then reminded him again twice while I was there.
It is my opinion that it is time to escalate - despite there being no emergency. I’ve been patient, but now I’m done being patient.
It is also my opinion that all of this is TOO MUCH INFO for what was a reasonable question: Is there someone I can ask for? If not, I’ll take the needed steps anyway.
But it is a pretty freaking easy question to answer. [ul]
[li]Yes, *here *is the title of the guy. [/li][li]No, every firm will be different. [/li][li]Well, it varies, but it is most commonly this.[/li][/ul]
I won’t be tripped up on nomenclature. The risk assessment was done and the decision was made that asking this question today and moving forward at the end of the week won’t put me in any worse position than if I just called today without doing due diligence on terms. With no negative impact, why not ask?
Since Huerta88 and a few others have given a reasonable answer, I can’t see a positive outcome in keeping the thread open. Mods, you might as well close this - question asked and answered.
Also, I didn’t 100% follow the exact details of what’s going on, but one possibility here may be that the lawyer doesn’t consider you his client. He may consider you the guy who does business with his clients and won’t stop bothering him even though he is keeping his client happy. So maybe also talk to the other people involved.
Not receiveing a timely response to your questions is A BIG WARNING SIGN. Something is messed up with your situation, but from the limited information I’m not sure what or who is to blame. Have you paid their outstanding bills? Have you done what they asked you to do (i.e., gather documents etc.?)
Remember that as the client, you’re the boss in the attorney-client relationship. Too many people forget that. Consistent with the Code of Professional Responsibility or its local equivalent, the lawyer is supposed to give you the best possible advice and to do your bidding in your case. If he doesn’t, you may fire him, demand all materials you’ve given him during the course of the representation (or copies thereof), and find another lawyer. You may also wish to look into making a bar disciplinary complaint. Neglect of a client’s case is not smiled upon by the bar association.
Yes. Often. On many SDMB threads. I’ve programmed myself to ignore the adverts, that Google ad services seems to think we, the Dopers, would love to browse, until my cubicle mate pointed that one out to me. That’s just the way it is, when browsing the Straight Dope Message Board at work.