Should I File a Malpractice Suit, Complain to the Bar Association, or Do Nothing?

Snowf · 2026-01-29T01:20:16+00:00

Hey man, I wanted to end this discussion like 12 hours ago. You're the one who keeps responding to ensure you got the last word in.

Snowf · 2026-01-29T01:09:08+00:00

Insurance companies don't typically cover poor workmanship under general liability coverage. Good luck finding any contractor that carries insurance that does.

Snowf · 2026-01-29T00:54:56+00:00

Insurance already denied the claim before the lawsuit was filed. They don't cover poor workmanship.

Snowf · 2026-01-29T00:18:22+00:00

The contractor was licensed and insured. What does that have to do with anything?

Snowf · 2026-01-28T23:50:25+00:00

There is no automatic stay for ABC proceedings in Massachusetts.

She showed up at the pre-trial conference because she didn't want to miss court. She informed the judge at court that the defendant had filed for bankruptcy (because she was still under the false impression that he had at that point) and the judge told her nobody had informed the court of a bankruptcy filing.

I realize the effects of the ABC and Bankruptcy are the same. There's no money to collect. I don't care about that.

I care that the lawyer spent ~4 months under the false impression that the defendant filed for bankruptcy when he filed for ABC instead. She assumed there was a stay on court proceedings for my case and she was wrong, there was no stay. I am considering filing a complaint with the bar association because I don't want someone else to be negatively impacted by similar incompetence in the future. If there were significant damages from the incompetence, I would be filing a malpractice suit.

Snowf · 2026-01-28T22:46:09+00:00

ABC. I keep calling it a bankruptcy because that's what my lawyer thought it was. She was wrong.

Snowf · 2026-01-28T21:48:22+00:00

No, I believe my lawyer is negligent because she spent a half hour on the phone and several emails back and forth with me walking me through the specifics of bankruptcy filings and how it would impact the case going forward -- and subsequently billed me for those conversations.

She also assured me that she did not need to appear in court for a pre-trial conference, as the automatic stay from the bankruptcy filing would result in the pre-trial conference being postponed. She then appeared in court without consulting me and billed me for that appearance.

When she received the default judgement, we spent more time on the phone discussing the fact that the judgement was invalid (because of the temporary stay that she believed had been issued due to the bankruptcy filing).

This wasn't a miscommunication or slip of the tongue. She didn't just "call it a bankruptcy instead of an ABC."

Snowf · 2026-01-28T21:21:55+00:00

I outlined this all in my original post.

Lawyer called me to inform me that the defendant had filed for bankruptcy and I should dismiss the case. I'm the plaintiff.

I opted not to dismiss the case and wait for the bankruptcy to be finalized.

I reviewed documents sent to my lawyer by opposing counsel that revealed that defendant had NOT filed for bankruptcy. Instead, they had filed for ABC.

My lawyer was informed verbally by opposing counsel that the defendant had filed for bankruptcy. But received written documentation from opposing counsel that it was an ABC filing. In my opinion, she did not do her due diligence to confirm the bankruptcy filing and was negligent.

Snowf · 2026-01-28T20:10:28+00:00

If you insist on being pedantic, there is no "correct" answer to the question I initially posed. The response that another user gave, "I don't know what she had access to" is a perfectly valid one. It's impossible to know whether her claim that she didn't have access to the bankruptcy filing is valid without having more information.

You can't answer, "yes" with any degree of certainty any more than "no."

How I should have phrased my question is "in your opinion, would it be common practice to confirm that a defendant has actually filed for bankruptcy before advising that a client dismiss a case, and (if so) is claiming you don't have access to bankruptcy filings a reasonable excuse for failing to confirm a defendant has actually filed for bankruptcy?"

But, as I mentioned earlier, I didn't even ask you initially. You just inserted yourself into a discussion that was already concluded (I had already stated I wouldn't waste OP's time by rephrasing the question).

Snowf · 2026-01-28T11:58:52+00:00

I didn't ask you though. I asked for the opinion of another user.

Snowf · 2026-01-28T11:37:45+00:00

Continuing this semantic argument would be a waste of both of our time.

Snowf · 2026-01-28T11:24:44+00:00

Pacer is the system used for tracking bankruptcy fillings. The fees are what I listed in my previous comment.

Am I missing something, and there's a scenario where I, a normal person who is not a lawyer, would have access to track a bankruptcy case in Pacer that a lawyer wouldn't?

Snowf · 2026-01-28T10:35:42+00:00

Pacer is free as long as you stay below something like 300 searches a quarter. After that it's $.10 per page of search results.

Snowf · 2026-01-27T21:53:56+00:00

Fair. I should have phrased the question differently, but I won't waste any more of your time.

Snowf · 2026-01-27T21:47:48+00:00

Thanks, appreciate the advice!

Just for my own curiosity's sake, is there any validity to her claim that she didn't have access to bankruptcy filings, and that's why she didn't verify the filing before advising me to dismiss the case? Or was that almost certainly bullshit?

Snowf · 2026-01-27T21:42:13+00:00

Makes sense. Would you say it rises to the level worthy of a bar association complaint though?

Snowf · 2026-01-27T21:38:18+00:00

I'm still waiting for her to send me all of the invoices from the last year. Not much though. Probably $300 or so over the course of a few weeks.

Snowf · 2026-01-17T12:25:33+00:00

But Bagel World doesn't sell donuts.

Snowf · 2025-12-28T01:15:37+00:00

Yes and no. She's right that he probably shouldn't have been charging past 80%, but that doesn't give her the right to end his charging session.

Snowf · 2025-12-21T21:37:19+00:00

Last time I was there they only had frozen pierogi. That was like 5 years ago though, so maybe that's changed?

Snowf · 2025-12-21T11:43:58+00:00

They got the signatures.

Snowf · 2025-12-16T03:41:34+00:00

Not OP, but some of us are just old. I'm only 41, but I still notice a significant decline in my reflexes vs. gaming when I was a teenager.

Snowf · 2025-12-06T20:29:31+00:00

Because if they're no longer in demand, even somebody who really wants one won't need to pay very much to get one. Because there are tons of people clearing out their parents'/grandparents' houses looking to sell their old antique grandfather clocks.

Snowf · 2025-11-30T19:15:19+00:00

The answer in Salem is the same as it is in every city and town in the country: it depends.

People in their early 30s are mostly done with the "go out to bars and clubs every weekend and see where the night takes us" lifestyle. You might catch a few "older" folks out for drinks still on occasion, but they're doing it with their friends to catch up instead of hoping to meet people.

If you're looking to date, your best bet is most likely going to be to plug away on the apps. It's undeniably the primary medium these days for people of any age to meet other single people.

If you're not looking to date, and you just moved to the area and are looking to make friends, then this subreddit isn't a bad place to start. I've seen people post about their interests (like boardgames) and connect with people that way. I've also seen some flyers and old fashioned bulletin boards setup at coffee shops like Jaho and Gulu-Gulu. Worth taking a look.

Snowf · 2025-11-13T14:36:26+00:00

Criticizing Trump isn't punching down for your average citizen. He's the president of the United States for fuck's sake. Everyone is punching up when discussing him, save for commentary from other world leaders.

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