What is the name of your state? Ohio
In late 2004 I was an officer in a small C Corporation. I met with a litigation attorney at the office of our Corporate Attorney to discuss a potential legal case that we might raise. Our Corporate Attorney found the litigation attorney and set the meeting up. We were looking for a sole practitioner who would work on a contingency fee basis.
We met for approximately 90 minutes discussing our potential case. The litigator asked questions and asked for data in written form. He indicated that he would review our information and advise us whether he would consider taking the case on a contingency fee basis. He indicated that if he did not take it on a contingency basis that his litigation rate was $295/hour.
Several weeks passed and after we sent the litigator the written data that he had requested. I then received a telephone call from the litigator advising me that after reading the data he felt that the case was too involved and complicated and indicated that he would only take the case on a fee basis. Our telephone conversation was approximately 10-15 minutes long. I thanked him and advised him that I would discuss his position with our Corporate counsel but I believed that we would not pursue any action on a fee basis.
He called a few days later as a followup and I advised him that we had discussed the matter and elected to not pursue the case except on a contingency fee basis. He said that he would close his files.
A few weeks later we received a bill for 3.75 hours @ $295/hour. I contacted our corporate attorney and indicated my surprise at receiving a bill as I understood the meeting and review to be simply exploratory. Our corporate counsel agreed that he too was surprised and recommended that I write the litigator with my impression.
I did so and advised the litigator that ususally when dealing with other lawyers "on the clock" we executed a letter of engagement and representation, identified the fee structure, identified the categories of billing (admin, litigation, research, associate paralegal work, etc.) and finally determined a dollar amount of exposure for work along with an agreed deliverable. We had done none of that and only received a 10-15 minute phone call as a deliverable. I received no reply to my letter.
Our Corporate counsel received a telephone call from the litigator offering to settle for 50% of the money which our counsel relayed to me. Within a short period of time we disolved our Corporation and liquidated all assets.
Now almost 2 years later, our Corporate Attorney has retired, and I receive a letter from the litigator personally threatening to sue me and my former Corporation if I do not pay him. He states that he will ask for all statutory interest and attorney fees as part of the complaint.
I am not concerned about his suing my former Corporation as it is out of business and has no assets. Any judgement would be moot. My question is what is my personal liability and how can I personally be named in this? All communication was done throught the Corporation's attorney or on Corporate letterhead, and the issue was he was considering was exclusively a business issue. What should I do to protect myself without having to hire counsel?
By the way the letter did not have any standard collection verbage found on most attorney collection matters that I have seen. There was no disclaimer indicating that this letter was an attempt to collect a debt, etc......
Thanks in advance.
In late 2004 I was an officer in a small C Corporation. I met with a litigation attorney at the office of our Corporate Attorney to discuss a potential legal case that we might raise. Our Corporate Attorney found the litigation attorney and set the meeting up. We were looking for a sole practitioner who would work on a contingency fee basis.
We met for approximately 90 minutes discussing our potential case. The litigator asked questions and asked for data in written form. He indicated that he would review our information and advise us whether he would consider taking the case on a contingency fee basis. He indicated that if he did not take it on a contingency basis that his litigation rate was $295/hour.
Several weeks passed and after we sent the litigator the written data that he had requested. I then received a telephone call from the litigator advising me that after reading the data he felt that the case was too involved and complicated and indicated that he would only take the case on a fee basis. Our telephone conversation was approximately 10-15 minutes long. I thanked him and advised him that I would discuss his position with our Corporate counsel but I believed that we would not pursue any action on a fee basis.
He called a few days later as a followup and I advised him that we had discussed the matter and elected to not pursue the case except on a contingency fee basis. He said that he would close his files.
A few weeks later we received a bill for 3.75 hours @ $295/hour. I contacted our corporate attorney and indicated my surprise at receiving a bill as I understood the meeting and review to be simply exploratory. Our corporate counsel agreed that he too was surprised and recommended that I write the litigator with my impression.
I did so and advised the litigator that ususally when dealing with other lawyers "on the clock" we executed a letter of engagement and representation, identified the fee structure, identified the categories of billing (admin, litigation, research, associate paralegal work, etc.) and finally determined a dollar amount of exposure for work along with an agreed deliverable. We had done none of that and only received a 10-15 minute phone call as a deliverable. I received no reply to my letter.
Our Corporate counsel received a telephone call from the litigator offering to settle for 50% of the money which our counsel relayed to me. Within a short period of time we disolved our Corporation and liquidated all assets.
Now almost 2 years later, our Corporate Attorney has retired, and I receive a letter from the litigator personally threatening to sue me and my former Corporation if I do not pay him. He states that he will ask for all statutory interest and attorney fees as part of the complaint.
I am not concerned about his suing my former Corporation as it is out of business and has no assets. Any judgement would be moot. My question is what is my personal liability and how can I personally be named in this? All communication was done throught the Corporation's attorney or on Corporate letterhead, and the issue was he was considering was exclusively a business issue. What should I do to protect myself without having to hire counsel?
By the way the letter did not have any standard collection verbage found on most attorney collection matters that I have seen. There was no disclaimer indicating that this letter was an attempt to collect a debt, etc......
Thanks in advance.
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