The lawyer took the money and is inactive: what to do and where to complain?

Where to file a complaint against a lawyer?

In accordance with the Code of Professional Ethics for Lawyers, a client who is dissatisfied with the work of a lawyer has the right to file a complaint. However, in most cases, such complaints remain unconsidered, and for a rather banal reason - they are addressed to the wrong government body (for example, the prosecutor's office, the police, the Ministry of Justice or Rospotrebnadzor).

Today in Russia there are only two authorities to which you can file a complaint about the work of a lawyer: the Bar Chamber and the Civil Court .

Complaint against a lawyer to the Bar Association

Contacting the Bar Association may result in the following disciplinary sanctions for the lawyer:

• Warning;
• Comment;
• Disbarment.

You can file a complaint either personally or by your legal representative (if you have a notarized power of attorney). The complaint is drawn up in two copies: you leave one at the bar against signature, the second, with a note of acceptance, remains in your hands. In order for your claim to be accepted for consideration, it must contain the following information:

• The name of the bar association to which you are filing a complaint;
• Your data (full name, address, contact phone number);
• Full name and number in the register of the lawyer whose actions you want to appeal;
• Details of the order and agreement for the provision of legal services;
• Description of the specific actions of the lawyer that served as the basis for filing the complaint;
• Your requirements;
• List of documents attached to the complaint;
• Date and signature.

Appealing the actions of a lawyer in court

If contacting the Bar Association does not bring the desired results, you have the right to appeal the actions (inaction) of your lawyer in court. In this case, the complaint is filed with the court at the location of the lawyer. The appeal period is 3 years.

The rules for drawing up a statement of claim are the same as in the case of a bar association. The only difference is your requirements. If in the first case you can only expect disciplinary measures against the lawyer, then when you go to court you can demand compensation for material damage and/or compensation for moral damage.

Note! If you have any difficulties in drawing up a statement of claim, you can contact our lawyers for a free consultation.

Where can I complain if my rent is charged incorrectly?

The main task of lawyers is to help citizens protect their legitimate interests and rights from attacks by other citizens and organizations. As a result, this profession is very complex, important and responsible, and under the protection of a lawyer, the client should feel calm and confident.

But what to do if the lawyer’s services only harm the client? What should you do if a lawyer is rude, ruins your case, or even commits crimes right in front of your eyes? Only a complaint will help here. Our article will tell you where and how to submit it.

Grounds for filing a complaint

A good place to start is with a list of reasons why the complaint is being filed. Since the powers of lawyers are very broad, the list of reasons for applying is also very diverse. The most popular of them are:

• Incompetence of a lawyer, inability to apply their knowledge in practice, lack of skill in work, misunderstanding of the law or complete ignorance of it;
• Ignoring the facts and materials of the case (intentional or unintentional), refusing to listen to the opinions of witnesses or study the evidence in more detail;
• Gross errors during the conduct of a case or at the stage of preparation for it;
• Incorrect behavior during work , insults towards the defendant, judge, witnesses or even the client;
• Disclosure of information that is not subject to public disclosure. For example, personal data of the plaintiff;
• Violating any laws, regulations or rules, as well as committing fraudulent activities.

As you can see, you can only complain about a lawyer if he has committed significant misconduct. So if the lawyer you hired tried their best but didn't win the case, you won't be able to file a claim.

Where to contact?

The list of places that will accept your complaint against a lawyer is very limited. These include:

• Management of the organization that the lawyer represents;
• Bar Association of your region;
• Prosecutor's Office;
• Court.

Each of these places has its own characteristics, reasons for filing a claim and rules of operation. Therefore, we will consider them separately.

Appeal to management

At the first sign of violations and the lawyer’s refusal to comply with any norms, you should immediately contact directly the management of the organization where you hired the incompetent lawyer. This is very easy to do, since you don’t need to follow any strict handling rules.

The claim can be submitted either orally or in writing addressed to the head of the organization. The good thing about an oral complaint is that it is easy to prepare—you just need to clearly formulate your idea and convey it to the authorized person.

But, if you have the opportunity and time, it is better to submit the complaint in writing in two copies, after signing, keeping one copy for yourself - this way you will document your appeal to management for future proceedings.

It is worth noting that transferring a claim to management when working with lawyers is surprisingly effective. This is due to the fact that the main thing for law firms is reputation and error-free work. So if you contact management before a minor violation develops into a conflict, then you have every chance of avoiding it completely.

Contacting the Bar Association

Let's move on to more serious authorities for appeal, namely the Chamber of Lawyers. This organization is a kind of Rospotrebnadzor, but for the control of legal organizations. His tasks include:

• Setting standards for the work of lawyers;
• Monitoring the quality of work of lawyers;
• Settlement of disputes between lawyer and client;
• Checking the activities of a lawyer in order to identify errors and violations;
• Checking both the documentation of the offices themselves and the case materials used.

The Bar Association is good because it will help you resolve disputes with a lawyer, even if you know nothing at all about regulations or laws.

But it’s worth going there only if the lawyer has committed a serious offense in his work, and the management refused to help you without explaining a logical reason.

It is in this case that the Chamber of Lawyers will be able to help you as effectively as possible.

In order to submit your request, you will need to make a written statement. Its form is free, but you will need to provide the following information:

• Full name of the applicant and his registered address;
• The full name of the chamber to which your claim is being submitted;
• General information on the case and a detailed description of the problem;
• Your request to the Chamber of Lawyers.

It is important to keep in mind that only the Bar Association in your region will accept your application . So don’t get confused and don’t send your appeal to the Federal Chamber of Lawyers - it is not authorized to consider citizens’ appeals, since its task is to determine the standards of work for lawyers and resolve global management issues.

Complaint to the prosecutor's office

Let's move on to claims to law enforcement agencies, namely the prosecutor's office. The peculiarity of this service is that it considers only problems of violation of citizens' rights.

That is, she will not take on cases related to service problems, the quality of the lawyer’s work, or other issues that do not affect the client’s civil rights .

So a claim can only be filed for serious reasons, such as fraud or dissemination of information.

An appeal to the prosecutor's office already has a strict form, and drawing it up is much more difficult. Let's start with the general rules.

Each appeal to the prosecutor's office must be written in a business style, there should be no threats or insults, and all facts and events described must be truthful and confirmed.

If at least one of these rules is violated, they will no longer be able to help you and the appeal will be returned.

So, let's move on to the form of complaint against a lawyer to the prosecutor's office.

1. Title. Serves to identify the parties to the conflict. It should indicate: The name of the department to which the complaint will be filed, as well as the name and title of its head;
2. Information about who is filing the complaint: full name, registration address, contacts;
3. Information about whom the complaint is being made.

Upon your request, prosecutors will be required to conduct an investigation, the results of which you will be notified in an official letter.

Complaint to court

The last place in which you can protect your interests is the court. You have every right to sue an attorney for any significant issue. But it is worth remembering that you will be suing a lawyer, so you may need the help of an equally, but more competent lawyer.

If you were able to enlist support, you have evidence of guilt and the opportunity to participate in litigation, then feel free to write and submit a statement of claim. Its form is completely similar to the complaint to the prosecutor's office, except that it is not necessary to indicate an authorized person.

You can submit a completed application along with documents in person, by mail or by a representative.

It is worth considering that a complaint against a lawyer in court is the most effective and versatile measure, since with its help you can demand compensation for expenses, compensation for moral damages and other punitive measures against the violator.

Sample

Download

Drawing up a statement to the investigative committee.

There are also a number of situations in which a citizen needs to contact the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation directly. Let's consider what these situations are and what the immediate appeal should be.

We help you find justice for fraudulent lawyers

The scheme by which swindlers defrauded gullible citizens of money is quite well known. Clients are lured with a free consultation and promised a favorable outcome, even in the absence of prerequisites for this. They enter into an agreement, accept funds and... do nothing. In the absence of representatives, courts are lost, and people lose not only money and time, but also the very opportunity to defend their legitimate interests. After all, you can go to court with claims only once. If the case is lost (no matter whose fault it is), it is no longer possible to make the same demands again.

According to one of the former employees of Law and Order, this company is focused on the banal taking of money under the guise of providing legal services. The main task of the employees is to force the client to enter into an agreement and part with the funds. In general, there is no one to practice law in a “law firm” - lawyers are not paid for three months, which is why there is a constant turnover of staff.

Dissatisfied clients gathered together and went to the law firm's office to demand a refund for legal services that were never provided. They were accompanied by a lawyer for the protection of consumer rights of our legal center, civil lawyer Oleg Tenitsky, and the film crew of TC “360 Moscow Region”.

As soon as indignant people began to enter the Law and Order office, the “lawyers” there hurried to barricade themselves in one of the offices. No one dared to go out and talk to clients. Those gentlemen whom the secretary introduced as managers said that they were ordinary employees, had been working for a month, knew nothing and were not responsible for anything. Meanwhile, particularly nervous “lawyers” tried to leave the office through the window.

Having failed to take the path of dialogue, dissatisfied citizens call the police. True, the arrival of law enforcement officers also could not identify the leadership among the frightened clerks. Following the recommendation of a civil lawyer, the deceived clients filed a criminal complaint. But the prospects for this process are not bright. Even if Law Order LLC is forced to return funds for services not provided, the likelihood that at least some money will remain in the company’s accounts by that time tends to zero.

“It’s alarming that the agreements on behalf of Law and Order, supposedly signed by one person, have, it seems to me, different signatures, clearly made by more than one hand. This is immediately obvious, although I am not an expert,” says civil lawyer Oleg Tenitsky. “In my opinion, this fact indicates that the company’s activities contain a crime under the article “Fraud” of the Criminal Code. There is obvious seizure of someone else’s funds through abuse of trust - there is an agreement, but there is no fulfillment of obligations.”