Aug 11, 2021 · When legal representation goes wrong, injured accident victims may not know what to do or where to turn for help. As a legal client, you have rights and your attorney owes you a duty of care. If you believe that your attorney is not doing his or her job or if you have issues with your lawyer, you need to speak to our law firm immediately.
The Attorney's Duty to the Court Against Concealment, Nondisclosure and Suppression of Information as Coextensive with the Duty Not To Allow Fraud To Be Committed upon the Court. The extent to which it is regarded as counsel's duty to advise the court as to matters relevant to the proper decision of the case of which opposing counsel is ignorant or which he has …
Local Legal Services, Prepaid Legal, Legal Fee Financing, And more. Pa. Attorney General: 'Innocent of Wrongdoing' Pennsylvania’s Attorney General said Wednesday that recent charges that were filed against her were part of an effort by state prosecutors to conceal pornographic and racially-insensitive emails they circulated to one another.
May 17, 2017 · Peter Klenk is the founding member of Klenk Law, a seven attorney boutique estate planning law firm. We serve clients in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Minnesota and Florida. Peter Klenk received his Masters in Taxation LL.M. from NYU Law School and his J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School.
Attorney misconduct may include: conflict of interest, overbilling, refusing to represent a client for political or professional motives, false or misleading statements, knowingly accepting worthless lawsuits, hiding evidence, abandoning a client, failing to disclose all relevant facts, arguing a position while ...
The most common penalties for violating ethical rules are disbarment, suspension, and public or private censure. Disbarment is the revocation of an attorney's state license, permanently rendering the attorney unqualified to practice law.
Perhaps the most common kinds of complaints against lawyers involve delay or neglect. This doesn't mean that occasionally you've had to wait for a phone call to be returned. It means there has been a pattern of the lawyer's failing to respond or to take action over a period of months.
Legal malpractice is a type of negligence in which a lawyer does harm to his or her client. Typically, this concerns lawyers acting in their own interests, lawyers breaching their contract with the client, and, one of the most common cases of legal malpractice, is when lawyers fail to act on time for clients.
For example, in a custody, divorce, criminal, or civil case, your lawyer might not be fighting properly. It might be a sign of incompetence or even a conflict of interest in your client attorney relationship. If you believe that my lawyer is not fighting for me, it may be due to the lawyer's style and mannerisms.Jul 24, 2020
Formal complaint against [name of lawyer or law firm] describe what the lawyer had been hired to do for you [for example dealing with the sale or purchase of a house] • say when this was [give the date or dates when the problem occurred]. My complaint is that [list what you think went wrong or wasn't done properly.
Some common signs of a scam include:Payment needs to happen quickly. You can't ask questions or get clarification.It's an emergency. Someone may threaten you or your loved ones.Requests for money usually happen over text, email or phone.The person contacting you is not someone you recognize.Mar 29, 2021
A complaint against an advocate has to be in the form of a petition. It has to be duly signed and verified as required under the Code of Civil Procedure. The complaint can be filed in English or in Hindi or in a regional language where the language has been declared to be a state language.
If you reside in a state that allows you to file a lawsuit for criminal conversation or alienation of affection, it’s crucial to understand these t...
There is no doubt that one spouse can cause severe emotional distress to the other during the course of a marriage. This could be done through isol...
If you do not reside in one of the seven states that allow you to file a lawsuit for criminal conversation or alienation of affection, you may have...
A lawyer who knows that another lawyer has committed a violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct that raises a substantial question as to that lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer in other respects, shall inform the appropriate professional authority.
The Rules presuppose that disciplinary assessment of a lawyer's conduct will be made on the basis of the facts and circumstances as they existed at the time of the conduct in question and in recognition of the fact that a lawyer often has to act upon uncertain or incomplete evidence of the situation.
In some circumstances, a lawyer may be justified in delaying transmission of information when the client would be likely to react imprudently to an immediate communication. Thus, a lawyer might withhold a psychiatric diagnosis of a client when the examining psychiatrist indicates that disclosure would harm the client. A lawyer may not withhold information to serve the lawyer's own interests or convenience or the interests or convenience of another person. Rules or court orders governing litigation may provide that information supplied to a lawyer may not be disclosed to the client.
Once an agreement is reached between the seller and the purchaser, the client must be given written notice of the contemplated sale and file transfer including the identity of the purchaser, and must be told that the decision to consent or make other arrangements must be made within 60 days. If notice is given, and the client makes no response within the 60 day period, client consent to the sale will be presumed. The Rule provides the minimum notice to the seller’s clients necessary to make the sale effective under the Rules of Professional Conduct. The seller is encouraged to give sufficient information concerning the purchasing law firm or lawyer who will handle the matter so as to provide the client adequate information to make an informed decision concerning ongoing representation by the purchaser. Such information may include without limitation the purchaser’s background, education, experience with similar matters, length of practice, and whether the purchaser is currently licensed in Pennsylvania.
As advocate, a lawyer zealously asserts the client’s position under the rules of the adversary system. As negotiator, a lawyer seeks a result advantageous to the client but consistent with requirements of honest dealings with others.
When a client's capacity to make adequately considered decisions in connection with a representation is diminished, whether because of minority, mental impairment or for some other reason, the lawyer shall, as far as reasonably possible, maintain a normal client-lawyer relationship with the client.#N#When the lawyer reasonably believes that the client has diminished capacity, is at risk of substantial physical, financial or other harm unless action is taken and cannot adequately act in the client's own interest, the lawyer may take reasonably necessary protective action, including consulting with individuals or entities that have the ability to take action to protect the client and, in appropriate cases, seeking the appointment of a guardian ad litem, conservator or guardian.#N#Information relating to the representation of a client with diminished capacity is protected by Rule 1.6. When taking protective action pursuant to paragraph (b), the lawyer is impliedly authorized under Rule 1.6 (a) to reveal information about the client, but only to the extent reasonably necessary to protect the client's interests.
Others, generally cast in the term "may" or "should," are permissive and define areas under the Rules in which the lawyer has discretion to exercise professional judgment. No disciplinary action should be taken when the lawyer chooses not to act or acts within the bounds of such discretion.
Probatein Pennsylvania refers to the process where the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania recognizes the executor or administrator as the estate’s official representative. When someone dies, ownership of all assets in that person’s name will now pass to someone else.
When an executor hires a Probate Attorney, it is that Lawyer’s primary job is to advise and protect the executor. Probate Lawyers are well versed in preparing all estate related tax returns and can help make sure all returns are filed correctly and timely.
A codicil to your will becomes part of your will and will be read together with your will to figure out what you want to be done with your assets after your death. A codicil must be executed in the same manner as required by your states as for a will.
There is no set time limit for an estate’s probate. As explained below, I often tell executors to tell the heirs that the estate will be open for at least a year, but we can often close the estate earlier (making the executor look good). The actual time the estate will be open will depend upon the estate’s assets and the taxes that need be paid.
What are an Executor’s Duties and Responsibilities? Once a probate petition is accepted, the executor’s or administrator’s job is to gather all the assets, pay creditors, satisfy all income/inheritance/estate taxes, and then distribute the remaining assets as the Will directs.
A common misunderstanding is that if you die without a Will, your assets may end up passing to the Commonwealth. This is possible, but only if you have no living relatives.
If you have or adopt a child after you execute your will that new child will take the portion of your estate , after your surviving spouse, that they would have been entitled to if you had died without a will. Learn more about the essential legal documents for life’s big transitionsHERE.
Criminal conversation describes a spouse engaging in sexual relations with a person outside the marriage during the marriage. Proving this usually requires hiring a private investigator or gathering evidence to clearly prove that the other spouse engaged in adulterous sexual activity during the marriage.
Only seven states still uphold “homewrecker” laws for cases like these: Hawaii, Illinois, New Mexico, North Carolina, Mississippi, South Dakota, and Utah. If you experience adultery and you reside in one of these states, you may be able to take legal action against your spouse’s lover for “criminal conversation” or “alienation of affection.”.
Prenuptial agreements can be good tools for a couple to use if they are considering marriage. They help establish the financial rights of you and your potential spouse in the event that a divorce may occur in the future. However, there are various reasons that a prenuptial agreement may not be valid. This can include: 1 No written agreement – All prenuptial agreements must be in writing. 2 Not properly executed – Both parties to the prenuptial agreement must sign the document before the wedding. 3 You were pressured – No prenuptial agreement is valid if one party was pressured by the other to sign it. 4 No time to consider agreement – If one spouse asked the other to sign a bunch of documents quickly without giving them time to read it (or have an attorney review it), the prenuptial agreement may not be valid. 5 Invalid provisions – Prenuptial agreements cannot cover certain things such as child support obligations, child custody, visitation, or other agreements that would violate Pennsylvania law. 6 False or incomplete information – Prenuptial agreements are only valid when there is full disclosure by both spouses concerning their income, assets, and liabilities. If one spouse withheld information or included information that was not true, the agreement will not be valid.
However, there are various reasons that a prenuptial agreement may not be valid. This can include: No written agreement – All prenuptial agreements must be in writing. Not properly executed – Both parties to the prenuptial agreement must sign the document before the wedding.
Pennsylvania law also allows adultery to factor into property separation as well, so an adulterous spouse stands to lose much more from a divorce than a faithful one. Divorces can be messy and emotional, but anyone facing such a situation will benefit tremendously from hiring an experienced divorce attorney to handle his or her case.
Additionally, the plaintiff may not have also cheated; otherwise the plaintiff may not file for a fault-based divorce on the grounds of adultery.
Such agreements typically stipulate the conditions for ending the marriage, and adultery is a common inclusion. If your spouse violated your prenuptial agreement by engaging in an extramarital affair, the agreement may not give you grounds to sue your spouse, but it can provide financial relief during the divorce.
Fraud on the court occurs when the judicial machinery itself has been tainted, such as when an attorney / prosecutor, an officer of the court, is involved in the perpetration of a fraud or makes material misrepresentations to the court.
In some jurisdictions, a trial tainted by fraud on the court may be vacated or set aside for a certain time period (such as two years ), to be “reopened” at a later date. Fraud on the court is a criminal act that is a breeding ground for other crimes against the state and against litigants.
The case will usually need to be retried with different court officials, often in an entirely different venue. For the official who acted in fraud upon the court, they may very well be required to step down from their position and may even be subjected to criminal consequences such as a fine or a jail sentence.
Every land or property owner in Pennsylvania has the legal right to exclude certain parties from his or her premises. An offense that contradicts a landowner’s right to exclude others is a trespass. Trespassing refers to the intentional entry onto someone else’s land, without the landowner’s permission or legal privilege to enter.
What is Pennsylvania’s Trespassing Law? Section 3503 of the Statutes of Pennsylvania state that a person commits a simple trespassing offense if he or she knowingly enters, gains entry by subterfuge, breaks into, or remains in any structure or building. Breaking into a property refers to gaining entry by force or intimidation.
Other types of trespassing crimes under Pennsylvania law include agricultural trespass and agricultural biosecurity area trespass. Someone commits the first type of crime if he or she knowingly enters any agriculture or open land that has signs or fencing to exclude trespassers, or if he/she enters after the owner tells the person not to.
Defiant trespass occurs when a person who has no privilege or license to do so, enters or remains in any place where there is a notice against trespassing clearly provided. Defiant trespassing charges can apply when the property owner has given notices against trespassing including: posting signs. putting up fences.
Breaking into a property refers to gaining entry by force or intimidation. Someone is a defiant trespasser if that person commits the offense of trespass when the property owner has given notices against trespassing, such as posting signs, putting up fences, or communicating to the individual to leave the grounds.
Trespassing is a criminal offense in Pennsylvania that can result in serious penalties. If you have experienced issues with a trespasser, learn your rights and legal options under state law.
For a person to be charged with burglary, they must have entered into a building unlawfully with the intention of committing a crime. Typically, burglary charges apply when a person commits theft or intends to commit theft, but they can also apply if someone enters a building with the intention of causing harm to a person inside. ...
The testator must do this in the presence of two witnesses who must also sign. A legal will names the executor of the estate. The executor is responsible for administering the estate according to Pennsylvania law and the terms listed in the document. The court will appoint an executor if the testator fails to do so.
According to Pennsylvania statute, circumstances modifying a will include the testator's divorce, marriage, birth of children, or murder.
Requirements of a Legal Will. Any person at least 18 years of age and of sound mind may make a will in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania law requires that this document be in writing and signed by its author, called the testator. Any writing after the signature does not invalidate the document.
Any writing after the signature does not invalidate the document. This is true whether the writing was added prior to or after the signature. Pennsylvania does not require witnesses or notarization for the testator's signature.
The content is not legal advice. The statements and opinions are the expression of author, not LegalZoom, and have not been evaluated by LegalZoom for accuracy, completeness, or changes in the law.
The surviving spouse of a deceased individual in Pennsylvania may take an elective share of one-third of certain property, defined by statute. If the deceased fails to include a surviving spouse, he or she is still entitled to an elective share and the court ignores the stated terms of the testator's will. The testator may revoke or modify his ...