I need to be assertive with L, but how

[Before you can make things better, you have to stop making them worse...]

Two years three months ago I filed for divorce. Custody issues have been dealt with (for now)so it is the division of property that is left. At the two year mark ( for the state I am in, after two years of separation I can be granted a divorce). a form letter was sent to h's L. They had twenty days to respond which on the nineteenth day h said I can have the divorce but he wants his legal option to settle economic issues. I said no to divorce till economic issues are final, because h would drag it on indefinitely . H has to pay me $175/mo in alimony that will end when divorce is final so that is my only ace card. Then we heard  nothing from h. My L wrote a letter asking what is it they want? Nothing. Five weeks ago my L sent a chart with what he says is marital and non marital property. After two and a half weeks I asked my L if he heard anything , he said no to give them time to prepare their case.  Should I just wait it out ?  I want to call my L to ask what is going on but I need to be very specific. If L sends another letter out to h's L, what can I ask to be in it ?  A few months ago and months before that I asked my L when is this going to end, his answer was that he cannot see my overwhelming desire for divorce and that h is not as bad as bad as some of his other cases etc.  Being assertive with my L didn't always work.

I asked if we could set a trial date. L said no, not until a settlement is attempted first and I would be the one paying for to because I have more money the he does.

[whirlpoollife]

Two years three months ago I filed for divorce. Custody issues have been dealt with (for now)so it is the division of property that is left. At the two year mark ( for the state I am in, after two years of separation I can be granted a divorce). a form letter was sent to h's L. They had twenty days to respond which on the nineteenth day h said I can have the divorce but he wants his legal option to settle economic issues. I said no to divorce till economic issues are final, because h would drag it on indefinitely . H has to pay me $175/mo in alimony that will end when divorce is final so that is my only ace card. Then we heard  nothing from h. My L wrote a letter asking what is it they want? Nothing. Five weeks ago my L sent a chart with what he says is marital and non marital property. After two and a half weeks I asked my L if he heard anything , he said no to give them time to prepare their case.  Should I just wait it out ?  I want to call my L to ask what is going on but I need to be very specific. If L sends another letter out to h's L, what can I ask to be in it ?  A few months ago and months before that I asked my L when is this going to end, his answer was that he cannot see my overwhelming desire for divorce and that h is not as bad as bad as some of his other cases etc.  Being assertive with my L didn't always work.

I asked if we could set a trial date. L said no, not until a settlement is attempted first and I would be the one paying for to because I have more money the he does.

[scraps66]

I had a similar situation with my L's inactivity through this period.  Not sure if she was intentionally dragging it out, but it did ened up in one lost opportunity to settle, and an additional year on my settlement.  Seems you are further along.

I know in my State, PA, the "process" is ripe for being drug out and especially in my courthouse where the Masters do "nothing."  So you do need to push.  I had also pressed my L about setting a trial date at the onset.  She claimed that we needed to go through the "process" first, before requesting a court date.  I knew that this would be fruitful because at the time, my STBex was Pro Se and through three ED conferences had provided no financial documents for either side to work with.  I had asked how this was possible in the letter where I fired my L.

Anyway, push in some way.  A documented e-mail to your L, something to the effect, "Dear Mr. Lawyer, I have made my intentions known and I am again expressing my concern with the lack of closure with this case when all information has been presented regarding a settlement.  I understand that there may be steps that need to be negotiated with the court to arrange a trial date - what are these?  Knowing these steps, how do we most efficiently get through these steps to arrive at a trial.  Can we demand a trial be set right now, today?  My ultimate concern is having this process drug out another couple months only to arrive at an impasse and at that point have to request a trial date, and then wait again for the trial to end the case."

Make sure your L answers your e-mail.  Mine avoided mine and avoided giving me answers.     

[david]

I live in Pa too. If one party files for divorce there is a 90 waiting period. If both parties sign after that you can proceed. If one party refuses to sign the divorce papaers the other party must wait two years. At that point you can proceed with the divorce. Before the divorce can be finalized you must go through equitable distribution (ed) or division of the assets. I believe that either party can file for ed at that point. A conference before a master is then set. If an agreement id reached then a judge will sign the divorce within 24 hours. If an agreement can not be reached then a court date is set so a judge can decide. Usually the judge follows the masters recommendation.

Of course, during this time, either party can delay and drag things out.

I would figure out how your state works and figure out how to proceed. Once you have the rules of the game figured then you should be able to figure out if your lawyer is just letting things drag along to collect more money.

I had a bad atty and figured it out after spending lots of money. When I figured the rules out I talked to my atty. She avoided me. I stopped paying her. I then got a call. I negotiated a discount and got about 30 % off of what I owed. I called her out for what she was doing in a very controled manner. I then found another atty after talking to about 5. Things have worked fairly well since that time. The only difficulty now is that ex drags things out. I filed for a custody modification in July 2013. I finally have a court date for this Sept. It didn't cost me that much money because of the delays.

[Matt]

I would probably call his office and set up a meeting ASAP.

Then ask him for a timeline to finish the divorce, assuming the other side does not cooperate.  Ask for specific dates when each task will be done.  Make it clear that if those tasks are done on those dates, and done right, you will pay him, but if not, you will find another attorney who will get the job done.  Mention that you are also looking into how much of what you have paid you can get back, and that you are in touch with the state bar association to find out what rights you have.

If you can stay on good terms with him, great.  But remember that you are his boss, he is your employee, and he is obligated to give you the service you are paying for, which includes moving the case forward in a timely way.  Don't accept any double-talk or excuses.

[whirlpoollife]

Thank you , scrapps66, David and Matt !   Glad to know and not glad to know that my case is like others where the process is ripe for being drug out . Im going to take some of each reply to form an email to my L.   He does reply or calls me in a timely fashion. But you said it right , Matt, he has a lot of double talk and when I am done talking to him for 20 min. I have no new information.  So with help of new wording maybe I can get a more specific answer.  He has been very repetitive on going over information , I did speak up that we already did this and I said I paid him for this... .that made him upset that I was angry at him.  ( and I was only assertive not ragging BPD mad) We are too involved in the paperwork for me to fire him. Maybe he knows that he can save me money and he wants his share now.

At the moment mine is just the property distribution, I can't imagine over a year waiting for a custody modification.

[Matt]

Property distribution is important but pretty mechanical.  It should not take a lot of your lawyer's time - he should tell you what information to gather, and let you do most of the work.

When you talk with him, maybe it will help if you write out your questions in advance, and leave space for the answers - maybe just short notes not whole sentences - and if you don't get a clear answer, repeat the question word-for-word, til he gets the point.

"What documents do I need for the meeting Monday?"

"Blah blah blah."

"What I am asking is, what documents do I need for the meeting Monday?"

You don't want to interrupt him, but since you are paying for his time, you are entitled to keep him on track, politely:  "Excuse me - I don't mean to interrupt - but we need to get through this discussion by 8:30 and I only have a few questions I need answers to.  So what documents do I need for the meeting Monday?

[david]

Once the papers are filed for equitable distribution they set a date in front of a master. Ex's atty sent a large packet to my atty. I forget what it is called but it asks questions about assets, etc. The packet I received from ex's atty was ridiculous. The majority of it ( at least 80%) I simply answered NA since it had nothing to do with our situation. My atty then sent her atty the same exact thing.

My stbx had all kinds of nonsense in hers. She claimed I stole everything out of the house. I had proof she actually did that. She valued our assets at 1.2 million. That was not even close. I wrote my own counter based on ex's papers. I agreed with the valuation. My atty objected. I then explained my reasoning. I figured since I had solid proof she actually emptied the house I would agree to the valuation and all I wanted was half in cash. My atty laughed and went with it.

We had all the proof for a trial so ex had no idea what I had. During the conference ex attacked me several times verbally. I simply stared at the tan wall and said nothing. When it wasmy turn my atty simply handed a few of the pieces of evidence off of a big pile of evidence to fher atty. He explained what the pile was. Her atty took ex out of the room and we quickly settled at a 70/30 split. My atty said we could go to court and get 80/20 in my favor. Ex was still out of the room.  I explained to him and the conference officer that if we agreed today I would no longer be married tomorrow. I said it was worth the 10%. The conference officer was pleased since he didn't have to write up a recommendation. Within about 20 minutes after that we were done. The next day the judge signed the divorce order and I recieved it in the mail a few days after that.

We had an escrow account that was split by some percentage. I don't remember the number. Both of us had to go to the bank together so they could cut the checks. I got there first and we had already figured the numbers at the conference. It was off by a small amount because of the interest. I told the person at the bank to cut my check to the amount in the order and give ex the extra. It was under 10 dollars. Ex showed up about 15 minutes after that. The person explained what happened and ex ran out to her car to get a calculator ? I looked at the bank person and said as soon as she comes back in just give me my check and I am outa here. Ex came back in and started to make a stink about it to the bank person. I walked out as soon as the check was in my hand and never looked back.

[whirlpoollife]

I have what I plan to email, part of scrapps66 letter, but with that in front of me, I think I will call L tomorrow with a shortened version... ."hi L, it has now been five weeks since you sent the chart to h's L, what are the steps we need to take to get h's L to respond? ".   ( that is more specific than me asking why haven't we heard?)

If L says he can write a letter to h's L if I want, should I say yes and what can I request my L to say in it ?

David, interrogatories , I think is the word you were looking for. I completed those in 2012 and again in 2013. Many pages of useless information.

[Matt]

One way to organize work is a very simple list, "What When Who".

First, what are the specific tasks that need to get done?

Then, when does each task need to be done?

Then, who is the best person to get that task done?

So it might look like... .

 What                                  When              Who

 Gather receipts                     By 8/20            Whirlpoollife

 Get the formula                    By 8/20            Attorney

 Prepare the interrogatories     By 8/22            Attorney

You work this out as you talk with the attorney, and go over it at the end of the conversation:  "So I wrote down three tasks for  this week - I'll gather up the receipts by Wednesday, you will get the formula by Wednesday, and you'll prepare the interrogatories by Friday - is that right?"  It's key to get him to say, "Yes, that's right." or offer you some change;  if he doesn't buy in to the list it won't work.

Then if you set a time to talk again on Friday, for example;  and a few minutes after talking with him, you send him an e-mail with the What/When/Who list;  when you talk with him on Friday you can run down the list, and check off whether each one got done.  Peer pressure makes whoever didn't get his tasks done look bad, so next time he'll probably do better.

Keep focusing on the list - if something didn't get done, ask him for a very clear commitment - "So we agreed that you would get the interrogatories done by today, but it sounds like they're not done yet.  When can you commit to get them done?"  He says, "I guess by Monday." - "OK, so I'll write down Monday - will you have those done by the time the mail comes Monday, or will you send them by courier later in the afternoon?" - focus on specific commitments to complete tasks, and don't let up or let him change the subject.

This is a simple - almost remedial - way of managing tasks and teams - shouldn't be needed for an experienced professional but in my experience many attorneys are horrible at managing their time and keeping commitments, so you need to manage them very assertively and consistently.  Your lawyer will learn very soon that the easiest way for him to deal with you is to just get the work done.

[david]

Yes interogatories is the word. Why did you have to do two ? My ex's atty sent me the one stack of papers. Like I said before most of it I answered with NA. It was sent back to me to complete. I simply sent it back the same way as I sent it the first time. Never heard from ex's atty about it again.

[david]

Just remembered something. The interogatory asked questions about 401k and IRAs. My position was my retirement stuff was mine and I wasn't going there. Ex had her stuff and I wasn't going there either. During the conference ex's atty wanted info on my retirement stuff. I had answered in the interogatory NA for all that stuff. I already told my atty my position. In the conference , when her atty started with the questions about that, my atty replied that his client was not interested in going there and if it was pursued he would file form xyz. Apparently that was some form that required an in depth forensic accounting of ex's 401k all at ex's expense. Her atty backed down after that. If the retirement plans were in the millions I am sure that would have been the course we would have taken but it wasn't worth the expense ex would have so they backed down.

[Matt]

Just remembered something. The interogatory asked questions about 401k and IRAs. My position was my retirement stuff was mine and I wasn't going there. Ex had her stuff and I wasn't going there either. During the conference ex's atty wanted info on my retirement stuff. I had answered in the interogatory NA for all that stuff. I already told my atty my position. In the conference , when her atty started with the questions about that, my atty replied that his client was not interested in going there and if it was pursued he would file form xyz. Apparently that was some form that required an in depth forensic accounting of ex's 401k all at ex's expense. Her atty backed down after that. If the retirement plans were in the millions I am sure that would have been the course we would have taken but it wasn't worth the expense ex would have so they backed down.

Where I live, all this has to be turned over - 401ks, IRAs, everything - all the information has to be on the table.  You can say, "But 65% of this money was accumulated before the marriage.", and then she only gets half of the 35% that was accumulated during the marriage.  But you can't refuse to turn the information over.

[whirlpoollife]

I called L. I asked if he had heard from h's L. No he hasn't . I then said that it has been five weeks since they received the property chart so WHAT are the steps that we need to take to get a response from h's L?

L's response was that since we have not heard from h's L is to appoint a master, who will hold a conference, from there to a trial if no settlement can be reached. He then decided for me to hold while he calls other L. Short hold.  Other L said that he had an appt with h but h canceled it. To give him two weeks more. My L asked if we should appt a master. Other L said no.

So two weeks I wait ,  but in 6 1/2 minutes I got an answer!

As for interrogatories , was same set but twice . When I first received them I had twenty days to respond.  They wanted info dating back to 1994, and besides banking and property,  who paid for what and prove it etc. I panicked and tried to have it done but that was not possible. Never sat down with first L to over it, she said to just answer the questions. I was able to get an extension but in meantime I changed L's. New L had to go over it with me because it was all new to him and he did not want N/A for an answer. Many days spent on it and  then proof reading and corrections. The box of pages got sent over to h's L. And back then there was no response. In meantime h's L passed on his case to one of his associates.

[ForeverDad]

I didn't have interrogatories for the divorce, but did for the later case seeking custody.  Her L sent a long list of questions.  I answered as best I could, over 600 pages.  (Granted, I copied front and back including the pre-printed statement backs, so the count is a little inflated.)  It was frustrating, so we sent our own interrogatories.  Got ZERO response, totally ignored.  I wish I had told my lawyer to hold my response until her lawyer was ready to exchange with her response.  Yes the legalese mentions huge repercussions for failure to timely reply or for noncompliance but I've never heard of the horrible consequences ever actually being enforced.

[scraps66]

My opinion, instruct your lawyer to appoint a Master.  Since there is no point in assumign there could be a settlement out of court, get the ball rolling on the equitabel distribution front.  I can also tell you from experience, that can get drug out too based on the Master's case load and the overall "f'd upness" of your courthouse.  This was my situation, go through a 19 month settlement process, 15 months of which I was living elsewehre and paying for the marital residence where ex resided with her boyfriend.  In that time period -  a whopping three conferences which were absolutley pointless and unproductive - 84yr old Master - only to arrvie at (despite several offers of settlement which went unacknolwedged by pro se ex) an impasse and a request for a trial.  THEN, it took two to get to trial and that was the longest wait I had for any court appearance.  This is Delaware County, PA.

So you can see what waiting gets you. Nothing.   

[Matt]

Yeah, it sounds like there are two big lessons here, which most of us can sympathize with.

One is, don't wait - contact your lawyer frequently and ask him what he has gotten done, what needs to be done next, and when he will get that done, and hold him accountable for it.  If his excuse is "The other L didn't respond.", then the answer is, either call the other L and get him to respond, or move forward by filing whatever motions - Master or whatever - to get the job done without any cooperation from the other side.

By the way, this pretty much proves that both your L and the other L have no experience with high-conflict people, or they wouldn't have assumed that your ex would cooperate.  When he didn't, they both sat on their hands, instead of knowing how to move forward without his cooperation.  So only you - of all those involved - really understand that your ex will probably not cooperate until he gets afraid, and that won't happen til near the end of the process.

The second big lesson is that you need to have a plan to get this done without any cooperation from the other side at all.  Courts often complete cases without one party doing anything at all - not even showing up or submitting the required documents - it happens all the time and the courts have a process for finishing the case anyway.  Your L should explain that process to you, and set off down that path, and let the other L know that if they want to cooperate, great, but if not, this process will go forward without any delays til it's done.  Then the other L will advise his client, "You better cooperate or you'll get a worse result."

[david]

Sometimes I am able to anticipate what ex will do. I am not 100% accurate but in the ballpark. I tell my atty what I expect and ask him what to do if that happens. In the beginning he would explain it to me and say that is unlikely to happen. However , we did have a plan discussed beforehand and when it happened that was the plan we followed. A few times of it going in that direction my atty simply expected things to go the way I expected. That does help.

Example, we have a court date this Sept. I expect ex to show up without an atty so she can delay. My atty is prepared with some evidence to show the boys do the majority of homework when they are with me, school starts around the same time, ex had the same atty for the last 6 years, the custody eval recommends I get more time during the school year. If she shows up without an atty I will have my atty ask for a temp modification of the existing order until we can have a hearing on the matter. On top of that I filed for modification last july (2013). That is over a year ago and I have all the evidence showing how she has delayed time and again.

Sometimes I have a few scenarios that I think are possible and we discuss each one. I try to be brief and he gets to the point quickly.

I also let my atty know what is acceptable to me and what is not. My basic plan is always focused on the kids. He knows I will not budge on those things.

[toomanytears]

One way to organize work is a very simple list, "What When Who".

First, what are the specific tasks that need to get done?

Then, when does each task need to be done?

Then, who is the best person to get that task done?

So it might look like... .

 What                                  When              Who

 Gather receipts                     By 8/20            Whirlpoollife

 Get the formula                    By 8/20            Attorney

 Prepare the interrogatories     By 8/22            Attorney

You work this out as you talk with the attorney, and go over it at the end of the conversation:  "So I wrote down three tasks for  this week - I'll gather up the receipts by Wednesday, you will get the formula by Wednesday, and you'll prepare the interrogatories by Friday - is that right?"  It's key to get him to say, "Yes, that's right." or offer you some change;  if he doesn't buy in to the list it won't work.

Then if you set a time to talk again on Friday, for example;  and a few minutes after talking with him, you send him an e-mail with the What/When/Who list;  when you talk with him on Friday you can run down the list, and check off whether each one got done.  Peer pressure makes whoever didn't get his tasks done look bad, so next time he'll probably do better.

Keep focusing on the list - if something didn't get done, ask him for a very clear commitment - "So we agreed that you would get the interrogatories done by today, but it sounds like they're not done yet.  When can you commit to get them done?"  He says, "I guess by Monday." - "OK, so I'll write down Monday - will you have those done by the time the mail comes Monday, or will you send them by courier later in the afternoon?" - focus on specific commitments to complete tasks, and don't let up or let him change the subject.

This is a simple - almost remedial - way of managing tasks and teams - shouldn't be needed for an experienced professional but in my experience many attorneys are horrible at managing their time and keeping commitments, so you need to manage them very assertively and consistently.  Your lawyer will learn very soon that the easiest way for him to deal with you is to just get the work done.

Hi Matt

Love this - What When Who - so simple, I'm going to stick it on my fridge. My lawyer is very efficient and committed but I do sometimes forget what he's said and it will help keep me focused more than anything else.

However, I'm also going to try using it as a tool to nail down my 21 year old son who is as slippery as a fish when it come to task setting... .

[whirlpoollife]

The two weeks will be up today, or next Tues technically,  when I can ask for a DM to be appointed.

L said  wait the two weeks.

This time I plan to email my L so he will see it Tues morning. ( he is always in his office so he might see it sooner if I send it sooner). This is my draft, feel free to critique it.

"L,

Interrogatories were sent spring 2013 to other L. We heard nothing. Letters have been sent to other L since August 2013 concerning settlement. You have stated all ' financial matters.' We heard nothing. I waited patiently for the two year separation mark, only to wait another 19 out the twenty days allotted to hear that they want to settle financial matters. We heard nothing. In July the final draft of the marital/non marital chart was sent to other L. We heard nothing. After five weeks you called other L , he asked for and was granted another two weeks. We heard nothing.

L, do you see the pattern here?

I would like to appoint a DM since the other party is not cooperating with a settlement. Once an appointment is made I would like to know in detail the steps I need to take."

Sincerely, wp


I know my L has other cases he is dealing with so maybe if he "sees " mine vs hears it from me he will see the pattern. 

Maybe though since this the end of the two weeks I hear something.

[Matt]

Sounds like a good plan.  Maybe worthwhile calling him a few hours later to ask if he got your e-mail and what are his thoughts.

What's a ":)M"?

[whirlpoollife]

DM ,... divorce master.   Follow up call good thought, as L says he looks at email every morning and also says he hasn't looked at email... .

[Matt]

DM ,... divorce master.   Follow up call good thought, as L says he looks at email every morning and also says he hasn't looked at email... .

I have a program that tells me who opens my e-mails and when.  I find that some people open my e-mails, often more than once, but later act like they didn't read it.

If your lawyer knows that when you send him something, he is going to get a call on that subject within a short time - you might have to call him and then wait while he reads what you wrote - pretty soon he'll realize that an e-mail from you needs to be read and acted upon the same day.

Normal expectations in other industries but unfortunately not always in the legal profession.

[david]

What is the program called for emails ?

[Matt]

What is the program called for emails ?

Signals by HubSpot:  www.getsignals.com/e339c?utm_id=e339c&utm_expid=69277952-28.CDDgrG1vT-aDnDElMI2LyA.4

Starts out free but then you have to pay to keep it working.

[whirlpoollife]

I did the follow up call today after had sent the email over the weekend.  I left a message, my L returned call within half hr. (His was in his office over the weekend too) After first saying he should be receiving something from h's L , then realizing how long it has been of not hearing, agreed to appoint a divorce master without telling the other side know.    All info that was presented to other side will get sent to the court and divorce master. He will give out a few dates and we pick one from there.  Surprisingly my L said he will motion for costs to be split, instead of just me, on account that we haven't heard anything to even start talks.  My L could not understand what I meant by letting me know what each step is that is next and possible outcome.  After I explained some more he understood. Everyday things to him is new to me.    So this week my L prepares what goes to court for divorce master, I sign and it goes in on Friday. 

[ForeverDad]

Ask and you shall receive.

Actually the Scripture is more accurately translated in the active verb tense, "Keep on asking, and it will be given you." - Matthew 7:7

[Matt]

I did the follow up call today after had sent the email over the weekend.  I left a message, my L returned call within half hr. (His was in his office over the weekend too) After first saying he should be receiving something from h's L , then realizing how long it has been of not hearing, agreed to appoint a divorce master without telling the other side know.    All info that was presented to other side will get sent to the court and divorce master. He will give out a few dates and we pick one from there.  Surprisingly my L said he will motion for costs to be split, instead of just me, on account that we haven't heard anything to even start talks.  My L could not understand what I meant by letting me know what each step is that is next and possible outcome.  After I explained some more he understood. Everyday things to him is new to me.    So this week my L prepares what goes to court for divorce master, I sign and it goes in on Friday. 

This seems like a really good example of taking the initiative and communicating well with an attorney.

One thing that speaks very highly for your L is that he called you back right away.  Lots of attorneys don't return calls in a timely way.  This shows he cares about you as a client and sees himself as responsible to you - a very good (and unfortunately not too common) thing.

It also sounds like you were able to get him to see that it has been too long without a response from the other side, and when he saw that he followed your lead and agreed to take positive steps - a motion to have a master appointed.

I'm not sure, but my guess is that the court will notify the other side, and they will get a chance to respond before a master is appointed.  But I like that you and your attorney are directing your efforts toward the court, and not wasting more time and money trying to get the other party to cooperate.

It's also pretty revealing that when you asked for the process to be explained, your lawyer didn't get that at first:  you and he are not living in the same world.  He thinks it's obvious, but it's not obvious to you (or to me or most other non-lawyers).  But that's OK, because you talked openly with him about your expectations, and it sounds like he agreed to explain things more.  (But you might need to keep taking the initiative on that - ask questions as things go forward - you'll learn more and more.)

I hope it keeps going well!

[whirlpoollife]

L called and left a message (I don't answer if kids are around). He said the inventory (marital/nonmarital property) has been filed at the courthouse, and he will prepare for the motion of divorce master. (Friday as that is done on certain days)

He added that if I didn't understand what he just said to call so he could explain it.

I didn't quite know how to take his last sentence but thanks to your responses I take it much lighter.  

[whirlpoollife]

Last Friday, a divorce master was to be appointed. I called a follow up call today because I haven't heard anything.  Well,   a master will get appointed this Friday, on account L forgot to do it last Friday. 

[Matt]

Last Friday, a divorce master was to be appointed. I called a follow up call today because I haven't heard anything.  Well,   a master will get appointed this Friday, on account L forgot to do it last Friday. 

More evidence that your lawyer is not reliable and must be managed very closely.

With 20/20 hindsight, what if you had called him at 9:00 last Friday morning, and asked, "Is the motion ready and will you get it filed this morning?"  He might have answered, "Oh no - I forgot - I'll get to it shortly."  You call back at 11:00 and he says, "Well I started on it but another client called so I worked on her case.  But I'll do it right after lunch."

You ask him when it has to be filed and he says, "By 2:00." so you say, "Well maybe you could get it done first, and take it to the court to make sure it's filed in time, and then go to lunch." and he says, "Oh yeah - good  idea - I'll do that."

You call back an hour later and he's working on it.

You call back an hour later and it's done so you say, "Can you take it to the court and file it by 1:30 to make sure it gets processed today?" and he says "OK."  You call back at 2:30 and he's at lunch.  You call back at 3:00 and he tells you it got filed, and you suggest he call the court and find out if the judge has acted on it yet.  You call back and 4:00 and he tells you the judge approved it.

If he was a professional who knew how to manage his time, you wouldn't have to do all that.  Since lawyers have a lot of education and they're usually very smart, we assume they all have good judgment and can manage their time well.  But in quite a few cases, that doesn't work.

I think you will have to manage him as if he was a very smart 10-year-old.