My attorney colluded with the other side, first thing is to seek a second opinion and consider to stop all major decisions until you have clarity. Trust forms, one of the core elements of the legal relationship since it relies on confidentiality, communication, loyalty, professionalism and respect. It is, however, hard to imagine being in the middle of a law suit and then finding out that the attorney who is supposed to represent your interest might have other motives and is working against you.
An attorney is the person, we rely upon for protecting us from the legal processes that we do not understand. But what happens when that trust breaks? That is a question that most people would ask; what if you find out that your lawyer, the person who should be protecting you against the other side, is in fact acting as a co-conspirator with the other side? This article digs into this topic of attorney’s collusion in terms of signs, effects and what to do if you got yourself in this situation.
What Does Attorney Collusion Mean?
What Does Attorney Collusion Mean?
Collusion is defined as an act whereby, two partners have an understanding and engage in a fraudulent or deceptive activity together. In the terms of the legal representation, it is called as attorney collusion, which means that your attorney and the other side work hand in hand against client, with the intent to betray clients, or influence the outcome of legal proceedings, abuse the legal system, or obtain an unfair advantage.
This can be done by many ways like price fixing, witness tampering, conflict of interest, violating legal ethics, breaching the contract. This action of attorney collusion could carry legal and ethical consequences of legal subversion and breach of legal professional ethics that can greatly compromise the client and might lead to legal implications for client.
How Your Attorney Has A Conflict of Interest?
Attorney and law practices are prohibited from acting where a conflict of interest exists, or where there is a perception of a conflict. There are three common scenarios where an attorney or law practice may come across a conflict of interest:
- Representing one client against a former client;
- Representing two or more individual clients with differing interests; or
- Where their own business or personal interests differ from those of their client.
Why Would An Attorney Collude?
Why Would An Attorney Collude?
The first and foremost reason of being involved in professional misconduct, which describe collusion is for financial advantage which is an ethically unacceptable practice by attorneys. There are some attorneys who may be bribed by the opponents or engaging in other criminal acts and frauds to acquire money especially in high litigation cases.
Some lawyers develop personal relationship with his fellow friends who work towards the opposite side or party that compels them to make biased decisions. Lawyers may also engage in collusion due to pressure by or get threaten from the more powerful other party. This could be in the form of threats, blackmailing, or fears that make attorneys to work against their own desire to collude.
Unfortunately, there are legal professionals who have no sense of honesty to work as lawyers. Sometimes when the attorney’s ethical values are not upheld, the attorney will do what it takes to achieve his goal’s even though that may mean colluding with client or another attorney’s.
Signs Of Attorney Collusion With Other Side
Signs Of Attorney Collusion With Other Side
In the legal field you should keep an eye on your case as well as your attorney, it is important to get maximum understanding of legal matters regarding the case so that if you found any misleading in your case you can get alert and suspicious on the attorney activities for the sake of your case. There you found lots of signs or red flags that shows whether your attorney colluded with the other side. Below are some common signs where one can find his attorney involvement in fraudulent activity against your case:
Has your attorney ever been slow in sharing information about your case? Do they appear to know more about opposing actions than you do? You ask a question and end up getting a response that helps the other party more? These are the common questions come in mind if you feel suspicious on your attorney.
It is also suspicious if your lawyer is not progressing and no one can provide you with appropriate reasons for being delayed in court hearings for a long time. The delay that has no reasons beyond themselves may show about an attorney’s secret intentions, or even illegal and unjust behavior.
It is a very bad sign, if your documents essential to your case are tampered or being modified for no legal reason. Documentation is very important in legal proceedings; absence of important documents can greatly affect one’s case.
This would be a red flag if you find that you are not treating well, whenever, you consult to your attorney. Additional fees that seem like a bill for more services than what has been received may also mean that your attorney is not working for your interest.
Common Cases Where Attorney Colluded With Other Side
Common Cases Where Attorney Colluded With Other Side
If we go through legal cases, we found out that there are three most common cases that happens to be affected by attorney collusion if the client won’t keep his eye on his attorney’s activities and does not have enough knowledge about his case.
Corporate Scandals: These kinds of cases, mostly attract the big fishes of the legal field. Attorneys may unite with executives for their interests and get involved in activities like manipulation, bookkeeping fraud, and other illegal activities, by creating a kind of strategy for their best interest. Such collusion can result in a lot of losses to the clients and make the firm involved in such act to suffer a bad reputation.
Divorce Cases: Attorneys may target the other party in bitter divorce cases and orchestrate the fabrication of evidence, failure to disclosure of assets, or assist in offering biased legal advice to secure unfair advantages in legal proceedings. This means that the client can receive unfair outcomes, which harms the interests of the client.
Criminal Cases: Attorney collusion can occur in criminal cases, when the defense attorneys work in collusion with the prosecutors and the witnesses to tamper with the evidence, influence the testimony, against the directive of the court.
Immediate Steps to Take
Taking the initiatives to prevent attorneys from colluding can be done to avoid any adverse effects on your case. If you feel that something unethical is going on, or is about to happen in your interaction with your attorney; don’t disregard that feeling, go ahead to act on it. Most times, your inner feelings can tell you when there might be an act of collusion or some form of bad faith.
Document every communication, meeting, understanding and any off the wall activity that raises a red flag to indicating that attorney may be colluding. Document can also be useful as objective evidence in case you need to face the issue on official level.
If you want to be sure that whether you get the best legal assistance or collusion, consider consulting a second legal expert to examine the case and get an objective opinion. It should go over the entire process of calculation with a new pair of eyes so an irregularity or unethical practice may be discovered.
If there is a suspicion of collusion, you should probably think about stopping the legal proceedings or decisions. Resting helps in avoiding the potential of worsening the situation or any new adverse effects.
How to Gather Evidence Against Attorney
How to Gather Evidence Against Attorney
By conducting evidence of an attorney’s collusion, you can develop a case so that you can promote your legal interests or sue your attorney of this unethical activity.
There are many jurisdictions in which phone recordings with an attorney are allowed, try to tape the conversations you have with the lawyer and other individuals participating in the case. These recordings can be used as evidence of any conspiracy between the involved parties or illegal movements on their side. It is advisable to refer to the laws in your state or country to make sure everything is ok.
Keep records of all emails, text messages, or any other correspondence or communication in relation to the case under discussion. These digital footprints are visible records of interactions and can show when and how the attorney and other individuals have engaged with one another and whether they worked together or not.
Find it there are any potential witnesses who might have been at the scene or aware of any collusion. Testimonies of witnesses can support your contentions in terms to finding unethical conduct on the part of the attorney.
Legal Actions If Attorney Colluded
Filing a Complaint: You can raise an official complaint from the legal bodies or the state bar association so that the issue of misconduct is reported and you can sue your attorney. Put up a strong case and back it up with substantial evidence and documents to prove a case of collusion for investigation to be opened.
“If you believe that your previous lawyer colluded with the opposing side and that this collusion caused you to lose your case, you may be able to file a claim for legal malpractice. In order to file a claim for legal malpractice, you will need to prove that: Your lawyer had a duty to you as their client.”
Criminal Lawyer: BrandonEsq
Legal Action: It is wise to recourse to the courts for the unethical practices by the attorney. Pursue with another attorney to understand what legal options one has in place to file a lawsuit on the ground of malpractice or breach of a fiduciary relationship to sue a colluding attorney for his misdeeds.
Public Exposure: In case, this does not work you can expose the attorney’s involvement in collusion by using media or any other ways to notify the legal forums or other websites usage platforms. Outing offends the offender and makes people aware of his misconduct to avoid repeating the same.
Legal Consequences On Attorney Who Colluded
There are some potential legal implications borne in the act of collusion within the field. Lawyers that are involved in the collusion or conspiracy may be subjected to enforcement procedures from legal professional governing organizations. This can lead to punishment, penalties, suspension of their licenses or acts that can lead to disbarment.
“I frequently hear people say that they believe the lawyer has colluded with the other side. This is always very unlikely. The reason it is unlikely is due to the serious nature of the penalties should the lawyer be caught. Most likely the lawyer learned something in mediation that caused him to do the 180. I would suggest you sit down with your lawyer, in person, and try to express your concerns. If you cannot regain your confidence and trust, then you really ought to seek a new lawyer.”
Jennifer L. Ellis
This type of behavior can open up civil lawsuits, where the affected parties will be entitled to seek compensation in terms of their losses, or unfairness the collusive activity caused them. Both lawyers who have initiated such collusion may be subjected to paying the damages as civil litigants.
However, collusion which thrives in serious violation of law like fraudulent practices, bribery or obstruction of justice comes with criminal penalties. Attorney involved in criminal conspiracy may be charged, penalized, and put behind the bars.
Legal professionals are also affected in a negative way by the act of collusion in a professional manner. It has the potential to cause mistrust from clients and colleagues, the general public, and the consequent loss of job or career and social life opportunities.
Conclusion
Trust forms, one of the core elements of the legal relationship since it relies on confidentiality, communication, loyalty, professionalism and respect. It is quite devastating to find out that your attorney colluded with the other side. Therefore, you must be able to recognize the signs, take immediate action, and report the issue in court to obtain the deserving legal compensation. You should seek the best legal knowledge about your case for the sake of your best interest. Make sure to remain alert and get the help needed to get through these circumstances and always be ready for the second opinion.
FAQs
What constitutes attorney collusion?
Attorney collusion involves an attorney secretly cooperating with the opposing party to challenge their client’s interests, often for financial gain, personal relationships, or other unethical reasons.
Can I recover damages if my attorney colluded with the other side?
Yes, you can potentially recover damages by filing a malpractice lawsuit against your attorney, demonstrating how their collusion caused you financial or other harm.
What legal actions can I take against a colluding attorney?
You can file a complaint with the state bar association, sue for malpractice, and consider alternative dispute resolution methods like mediation or arbitration.
Do lawyers make deals with each other?
Yes, lawyers often negotiate and make deals to settle cases outside of court.
How to know if your lawyer is selling you out?
Look for signs like poor communication, unexplained delays, pressure to settle, or decisions that don’t align with your best interests.
Can I sue my attorney for collusion?
Yes, you can sue if you have evidence that parties colluded to act against your legal rights.
Can my attorney force me to settle the case?
No, your attorney cannot force you to settle; the decision is ultimately yours.
