· Step 1, Gather your information. Find copies of receipts or warranties. If you paid with checks, find the canceled checks. Also jot down anything you remember staff telling you about the product or service.Step 2, Contact the business or individual to resolve the issue. Many states require or strongly recommend that you contact the business before filing a complaint. …
While the Attorney General represents state departments in legal matters, he does not seek to impose his own policy judgments or control the administration of the business of his client agencies. For assistance in resolving a problem with a state agency, we suggest that you contact the director of the agency, your representatives in the ...
· These complaints should be written to your state Attorney General, rather than the U.S. Attorney General. The Attorney General will most likely get involved if it is question of wide public concern. But, in writing a letter you might provide new evidence to a case the Attorney General is already building or inform him of an emerging problem.
For identity theft on a state level, you should contact the Office of Attorney General, Bureau of Consumer Protection at 800-441-2555 or by email at [email protected]. To report identity theft on a federal level, you should contact Federal Trade Commission at 877-438-4338 or on their website.
Your complaint about a California attorney should be directed to the State Bar. You may contact the Bar as follows: Telephone: (213) 765-1000 (outside of CA) or (800) 843-9053 (toll free) Your complaint about a California judge should be directed to the Commission on Judicial Performance.
For complaints against city employees or agencies, address your complaint to the head of the city agency, the city attorney's office, the mayor's office, and your representative on the city council. For complaints against county employees or agencies, address your complaint to the head of the county agency, the county counsel's office and your representative on the county Board of Supervisors. If you believe you have information indicating criminal conduct on the part of a public employee, you should immediately contact the appropriate police or sheriff's department in the city or county where the incident occurred. If you feel your complaint about improper governmental activities has not been addressed satisfactorily by the local government agency, consider submitting your complaint to the county grand jury. Contact information is available from the California Grand Jurors' Association. If after investigation the grand jury concurs with your allegations, it will request the intervention of the district attorney. The state Attorney General would not ordinarily become involved in such a case unless the local district attorney had a conflict of interest that would prevent the district attorney from making any criminal charging decision in the case. If after taking these steps you continue to doubt the legality of an action taken by your local officials, consult a private attorney who can represent your interests in a dispute.
You may obtain a referral to a certified lawyer referral service by contacting the State Bar at (866)442-2529 (toll-free in California) or (415)538-2250 (from outside California), or via their website at: http://www.calbar.ca.gov.
You may obtain a referral to a certified lawyer referral service by contacting the State Bar at (866)442-2529 (toll-free in California) or (415)538-2250 (from outside California), or via their website at: http://www.calbar.ca.gov.
How do I obtain court forms? You may obtain court forms by visiting the Judicial Council of California / Administrative Office of the Courts website at: http://www.courts.ca.gov/formsrules.htm
Who can help me with legal research? California law is available on the Internet at http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes.xhtml and United States law is available on the Internet at http://uscode.house.gov/search/criteria.shtml. You may also wish to visit your county law library. You can locate your nearest California law library at http://www.publiclawlibrary.org/law-libraries/ If you are unable to find a law on your own, then we suggest that you consult with a private attorney. Our office cannot provide legal advice, analysis or research to parties other than state officers and agencies.
The Office of the Inspector General is responsible for independent oversight of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which includes Adult Operations, Adult Programs, Juvenile Justice, the Corrections Standards Authority, the Board of Parole Hearings, the State Commission on Juvenile Justice, the Prison Industry Authority, and the Prison Industry Board. You may contact the Inspector General as follows:
For the Attorney General of the United States address the envelope: The Honorable/ (Full name)/Attorney General of the United States/ (Address). The salutation of the letter should be: Dear Attorney General (last name).
Describe steps you have taken. If you have already complained to the company or reached out to other government agencies, you should make the Attorney General aware of this. It is important to indicate that the responsible party is aware of the situation. Also detail any other steps you plan to take in the future.
wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. In this case, 90% of readers who voted found the article helpful, earning it our reader-approved status.
Depending on your situation, the letter will let you know that the Attorney General's office is reviewing your complaint and working toward a resolution.
Register a protest. If you are upset with federal or state legal policy, you can send a letter of protest. When sending such a letter, you should make sure that you send it to the correct jurisdiction. For state issues, send the letter to the state Attorney General; for national issues send it to the US Attorney General.
Some examples of circumstances that would justify writing a letter include billing issues, warranties, health care complaints, privacy violations, contracts, consumer complaints, and illegal wage practices. If you have gone through the initial process of contacting the organization responsible for the unfair practice and have not received satisfactory results, then the next step may be to write a letter to the Attorney General.
1. Seek redress from the company or individual that wronged you. Appealing to the Attorney General should be a last resort. Even ff you do eventually write the Attorney General, you will want to prove that you first approached the company in question and that they were unwilling to rectify their error.
You should contact the Judicial Conduct Board.
You should contact our Bureau of Consumer Protection at [email protected] or phone at 1-800-441-2555.
You may also want to contact the Pennsylvania Department of State, Bureau of Commissions and Elections at 717-787-5280.
You can report welfare fraud to the Pennsylvania Office of Inspector General’s Fraud Tip line at 800-932-0582.
For identity theft on a state level, you should contact the Office of Attorney General, Bureau of Consumer Protection at 800-441-2555 or by email at [email protected]. To report identity theft on a federal level, you should contact Federal Trade Commission at 877-438-4338 or on their website.
You can contact the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, Bureau of Child Support Enforcement at 717-783-9659.
You should contact the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry at 717-787-3756.
Those who address these investigations or actions properly have the best chance of obtaining a positive outcome. An attorney general investigation can come in many forms, from a simple letter to a Civil Investigative Demand (“CID”) or subpoena.
If a lawsuit has been commenced, the goal is to get the quickest, most cost effective and painless resolution.
Experienced counsel can help determine what is at the core of the investigation and who the real targets are – which can help limit the investigation or point it in the proper direction.
If you are interested in ensuring that you are compliant with current regulations or if you are facing an investigation from a state attorney general or other regulatory agency, please e-mail us at [email protected], or call us at (212) 246-0900. Attorney Advertising. Related Blog Posts:
The cover-up often is worse than the crime. Third, contact experienced counsel immediately. Attorneys general commence investigations for a wide variety of reasons. Perhaps they are seeking information about, or are investigating, your industry generally.
Finally, a penny of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The best way to succeed in an attorney general investigation is to never appear on their radar screen in the first place. Retaining counsel that is knowledgeable and experienced in Internet practices and online marketing, that knows the red flags Attorneys general will look for, could save you substantial time and money, as well as allow you to avoid the distraction of dealing with a regulatory inquiry or action.
If you don’t understand something your lawyer has said, ask for clarification. You can say, “I don’t understand what ‘injunction’ means. Can you explain that?”
1. Organize your thinking. At your first meeting , you need to give your lawyer the background of your dispute. Your lawyer will need to know the “who, what, where, when, how, and why.”. You should spend time trying to get this information organized so that you can share it in a clear way.
Expect timely responses. Your lawyer should promptly answer any question that you have or provide a general status update when requested. Admittedly, you can’t always expect your lawyer to be immediately available. However, he or she should respond to your call or email within a business day.
Keep emails brief. If you send information by email, then briefly tell your lawyer why you are sending the information. If you have a question, then ask the question and explain why you want to know the information.
By asking questions, you gain a stronger understanding of your case, which helps you communicate clearly and efficiently with your attorney.
Your lawyer should also send you copies of documents filed in your case. Keep these and read them. If your lawyer doesn’t give them to you, then ask for copies . You may have to pay a small fee.
If you don’t, then you won’t know what information to tell your attorney. Take notes if you talk to your lawyer in person or over the telephone. Store your notes in the same place. For example, you might want to keep a special notebook for your case. Always review your notes before contacting your attorney.
You should ask your lawyer why he asks for continuances. You can explain to your lawyer that you want to go forward, but you should really have a conversation with him and listen to what he has to say. I understand you want your case over with, but frequently continuances are a good thing...
The decision to continue your case is not really up to you. The rules give your attorney fairly wide latitude in handling a case. And what the client wants isn't always required. The attorney gets to dictate tactics, you don't.
Every night before I retire each night, I pray "God, deliver me from Criminal Defendants who want immediate closure!"
In almost every case, continuances benefit the defendant and burden the prosecutor. Your lawyer knows this; so does the prosecutor. Why do you want to second-guess your lawyer? Who has the better state of information and knowledge?
A defendant who phones his or her attorney with a request for information can indicate a willingness to speak with the lawyer's associate, secretary, or paralegal. The lawyer may be too tied up on other cases to return the call personally, but may have time to pass along information through an assistant.
Defendants should insist that their lawyers adhere to their ethical obligation to inform them about the progress of their cases. As defined by ethical rules, a lawyer's duty to keep clients informed has two primary components: 1 to advise the defendant of case developments (such as a prosecutor's offered plea bargain or locating an important defense witness), and 2 to respond reasonably promptly to a defendant's request for information.
As defined by ethical rules, a lawyer's duty to keep clients informed has two primary components: to advise the defendant of case developments (such as a prosecutor's offered plea bargain or locating an important defense witness), and. to respond reasonably promptly to a defendant's request for information.
The critical questions are the likelihood that a difference in interests will eventuate and, if it does, whether it will materially interfere with the lawyer's independent professional judgment in considering alternatives or foreclose courses of action that reasonably should be pursued on behalf of the client.
[8] Even where there is no direct adverseness, a conflict of interest exists if there is a significant risk that a lawyer's ability to consider, recommend or carry out an appropriate course of action for the client will be materially limited as a result of the lawyer's other responsibilities or interests. For example, a lawyer asked to represent several individuals seeking to form a joint venture is likely to be materially limited in the lawyer's ability to recommend or advocate all possible positions that each might take because of the lawyer's duty of loyalty to the others. The conflict in effect forecloses alternatives that would otherwise be available to the client. The mere possibility of subsequent harm does not itself require disclosure and consent. The critical questions are the likelihood that a difference in interests will eventuate and, if it does, whether it will materially interfere with the lawyer's independent professional judgment in considering alternatives or foreclose courses of action that reasonably should be pursued on behalf of the client.
For example, a lawyer asked to represent several individuals seeking to form a joint venture is likely to be materially limited in the lawyer's ability to recommend or advocate all possible positions that each might take because of the lawyer's duty of loyalty to the others.
A lawyer may be called upon to prepare wills for several family members, such as husband and wife, and, depending upon the circumstances, a conflict of interest may be present. In estate administration the identity of the client may be unclear under the law of a particular jurisdiction.
A conflict may exist by reason of substantial discrepancy in the parties' testimony, incompatibility in positions in relation to an opposing party or the fact that there are substantially different possibilities of settlement of the claims or liabilities in question.
[21] A client who has given consent to a conflict may revoke the consent and, like any other client, may terminate the lawyer's representation at any time. Whether revoking consent to the client's own representation precludes the lawyer from continuing to represent other clients depends on the circumstances, including the nature of the conflict, whether the client revoked consent because of a material change in circumstances, the reasonable expectations of the other client and whether material detriment to the other clients or the lawyer would result.
[14] Ordinarily, clients may consent to representation notwithstanding a conflict. However, as indicated in paragraph (b), some conflicts are nonconsentable, meaning that the lawyer involved cannot properly ask for such agreement or provide representation on the basis of the client's consent. When the lawyer is representing more than one client, the question of consentability must be resolved as to each client.
The most frequent complaint about attorneys is their failure to prosecute cases vigorously enough. The reason was best stated by Chester Smith when he was president of the American Bar Association:
Lawyers are trained in logic. They respond to objective, well-reasoned, unemotional statements. If you begin with, “It sounds like you’ve been busy,” or “Is there anything I can do to expedite collection of the fee?” you’ll be encouraging a dialogue, not two monologues.
Lawyers: A Client’s Manual by Joseph McGinn tells the steps to use if you’ve reached the point of no return:
While you can dismiss an attorney whenever you choose, this is obviously the last resort. Time and money can be lost in the transfer, and many lawyers refuse to accept cases that have been handled by others.
You don’t have to write the Gettysburg Address. Just confirm the status of the case, fee or whatever else was discussed. State the next step that must be done, who is going to do it, and when it will be completed.
If your attorney knows the area of law, even fees in trade secrets cases can be predicted accurately. Push for numbers regardless of whether you did at the beginning. Then you should be able to avoid this problem in the future.
Most people who seek the services of a lawyer expect to pay. A responsible client will not start litigation he can’t afford if he knows that you will have to stop work if he doesn’t pay the fee as agreed.