Birds of a Feather

When your attorney hires your opponent's attorney, you know that vultures of a feather really do stick together. My divorce attorney, (Barry Finkel of Fort Lauderdale, FL) recently hired my ex-husband's attorney to represent him in a lawsuit. I find it ironic. Did Finkel admire my husband's attorney that much?

People: do your homework when choosing an attorney to represent you. In a divorce case emotions run high for the Plaintiff and the Defendant, but to your attorney, you are nothing but a paycheck. Nothing should happen so quickly that you don't take a deep breathe and use your intellect to make decisions that protect your interest. Don't pay for legal services in advance. Finkel took a large "retainer" and only showed billable hours for 1/2 the advance. Then, he refused to refund the balance or perform any legal services for "post-judgement" work. He blamed me for not reading his Terms of Representation, but could not present me with a signed document, because I neither received nor signed it. That was the first of a series of sloppy errors in my case.

My advice is: DO NOT FEEL PRESSURED TO SIGN ANY PAPERWORK THAT YOU HAVE NOT THOROUGHLY READ AND SLEPT ON. If your attorney has taken a retainer, it's likely that they want to wrap it up quickly and move on. Unless a lawyer sees a goldmine at the end of the tunnel, they may pressure you to take the first deal that is on the table, because it is less work.

My attorney met with my ex-husband, his attorney and a mediator out of my presence. MORE ADVICE: NEVER let a discussion occur about your property and finances when you are not in the room. It was another way to double the time (and double the bill) when they have to repeat their conversations.

Even vultures nurture their nest eggs. Keep your money. Represent yourself and you won't feel victimized.

More Bad Review for Finkel's performance.

A quick look-in on a lawyer rating site showed that 2 of the 5 posts were DISSATISFIED with Finkel's performance in their divorce cases. Both lack of attention to detail and over-billing were cited.
If you are considering using Finkel to represent such an important transition in your life, look for a lawyer with consistently positive ratings. Finkel may not be the man for you. He turned out to be inadequate for me - and my case was a comparatively simple one.

Why did an Insurance Company file a case against Finkel?

In Dec 2008, First Protective Insurance Company filed a case against Barry and Susan Finkel to resolve a dispute of Contract and Indebtedness.
When you have attorneys (who as members of the bar, take an oath to uphold the law) clogging the system with their own personal disputes, how can they focus on their own case load?
Court records are public documents, so anyone seeking legal advice should thoroughly research their attorney to be certain that they do respect their own contracts.