Cheating & corrupt lawyer not refunding large amount
The Only One
(Querist) 02 February 2011
This query is : Resolved
My lawyer has cheated me, misled me & taken advantage of my faith & trust in him. He first charged Rs. 55,000 for me for a criminal cum civil case against 2 fellow professionals (including a senior) continuously harassing me in my company for 2 years leading to a lengthy health breakdown for me from stress at work. My lawyer also asked for 20% of final award received by me as part of the fees. He was referred by a friend & being my first time with legal system I had no knowledge of prevalent fee structures & trusted him to be a good man & never questioned his intentions accepting his fees without any negotiation or even a single question. Till now, he has only filed the complaint in court with most non-technical knowledge (100% cut-copy-paste of my own words). Later on I realised going rate for such a small case for such a lawyer is only Rs. 5,000 - 10,000 in the District court and that as per bar council rules lawyer can only charge equivalent amount to other lawyers of his standing, not more. Also, that asking percentage cut on reward as fees is not allowed for lawyers per bar council rules.I was shocked and hurt to know that but kept quiet waiting for the right time. After sometime I decided to withdraw the case as I did not want to upset things at my work-place & asked him to refund the Rs. 55,000 minus the case filing charge which should be very small, as per bar council rules. He pointed out that in the receipt he had sent me via email he had mentioned this amount is only for initial filing & consultation and hence since filing is over the money is exhausted and there is no refund since he is also losing out on the percentage part of the deal. I never expected this trick from him - consultation charges according to me meant his services for the whole case because I did not expect him to be so sly when he had issued me the receipt and no one can believe a simple filing of case could be worth a huge amount of Rs. 55,000. Pl suggest - how is it justified for him to charge such a huge amount only for a silly filing which hardly required any efforts from him (99 percent document drafted by me), the case has not even started and the offending parties not even notified. Complete cases are done by similar lawyers for less than Rs. 10,000, this is only very initial filing. Also, fees as percentage of reward is not allowed and I have proof that he asked for it on email. He also asked me on 2 different occasions for bribes for police and reader for my case which I refused or ignored. He also did not get a power of attorney signed with me before the case and has taken action in the case unilaterally without my consent in court like asking judge to go ahead with police investigation (which is now underway) when I was actually planning to take back the case & had asked him to wait in court for me to accompany him to the court which he didn't & gave wrong instructions to the judge when he should have waited for me to listen to my decision. Now he is asking for huge money of Rs. 12,000 as bribe for the reader if I want to take case back and reverse the investigation. How can I press charges against the lawyer for cheating me, taking advantage of my trust and gullibility, for breaking bar council rules of conduct for lawyers and corruption charges. Any one would agree that Rs. 55,000 for a small thing like filing a case (where 99% wordings in the 10 page doc are mine) is a total rip-off and farce/big joke!!! Hope to know from you how to get back my money and get serious action done against the cheating and corrupt lawyer. What could be the options - complaint against him to bar council (but would that recover my money?), FIR or case for cheating against him in court, etc.? Pl advise. Thanks a lot. I am more hurt by his taking me on a ride despite the 100% faith I put in him as my own brother than the money, though the money rightfully is mine.
Jainodin shaikh
(Expert) 02 February 2011
Your profile shows that you are an expert in this forum and you did not disclose you true details which creates reasonable doubt against you! I think you are suppresing some matterial facts.
The Only One
(Querist) 03 February 2011
@Jainondin - I dont know why I m listed as an expert on this forum. I m not a lawyer - this is my genuine query - mayb I posted under wrong heading. Nonetheless, pl provide ur advice. Wd appreciate a lot. Thanks.
@Shahikumar - can u pl tell me if u meant if this is my fault? how?
Is it believable that 55k amount can b fees for just simple filing a case anywhere???
Is it not allowed by bar council for lawyers to charge percentage fees on final outcome?
Is it wrong to trust a lawyer as ur brother on face value & accept his fees on trust basis with no negotiations for a newcomer? After dat is it not criminal for the lawyer to betray that innocent trust on a moral front?
As per bar council rules, is not a lawyer supposed to charge same fees as other lawyers of similar standing? can a lawyer not be trusted to uphold dat? Is it necessary for a person to go shopping around with 5 diffn lawyers than trust one lawyer explicitly as his brother?
55k fees for whole case is something n 55k for simple filing??? is it not a mockery of the system?
Can a lawyer take unilateral actions without consent of client on client's case esp. when he does not even have a power of attorney?
Is the lawyer not committing a crime by asking his client for bribes for police & ludicrous amount of bribe of Rs. 12,000 for reader for simple withdrawal of case. Is a lawyer allowed to act as go-between in corruption cases?
Please - this concerns moral ethics and standing of whole lawyer community. I hope u will condemn wrong actions of few bad lawyers and be in the favour of getting them punished so the innocent public can actually put full faith in the lawyer establishment.
Money earned thru fair means is sweet n leads to prosperity. Undeserved money (esp. by backstabbing a trusting person) leads to ruin.
Hope to hear from upright lawyers on this & hope to get fair & objective advice from u. Thanks a lot. God bless.
The Only One
(Querist) 03 February 2011
small correction above - fees as percentage on outcome (reward) is not allowed as per bar council rules for lawyers. Charging that from an unsuspecting client (over & above an already huge fees of 55k for small case that is fought for 10k or less) is both against the bar council rules and the trust of the client. Is that not correct?
H.M.Patnaik
(Expert) 03 February 2011
You can file a complaint against the erring
professional with the State Bar Council stating the exact facts and harrassments meted out to you.
DEFENSE ADVOCATE.-firmaction@g
(Expert) 03 February 2011
