I've begun to believe that the local bar association has no intention of disciplining

attorneys who misbehave. I filed a legitimate complaint about five months ago and, so far, they have failed to do anything because the attorney never responded to their notice of complaint.

So.......I'm going to try a different approach. Please, if any of you have had a particularly frustrating experience with a local attorney, I would very much like to know about it. You need not divulge names at this time. If, together, we find that there are a few particularly bad apples, then perhaps we can share the cost of a lawsuit to recover some of our expenses from those guys.

Contact me at: greberting@yahoo.com. All communications/information will be held in strict confidence until a plan is agreed upon amongst us. (Assuming there is some "us")!

 

Bebasguy, just remember you are a guest here, no matter how much tax you pay. You will never be able to take a Philipino to court even if he comes into your yard and tries to steal something as they start the "Mahirap" sh*t meaning i am poor.. and guess it right you are rich.. A court case here can cost a lot of money but always remember a bullet is cheap and you might be on the wrong end of it..

 

Whatever.. I refuse to be crapped upon by a smug guy who thinks he can do whatever he wants under the shield of being a well connected lawyer. I fully appreciate that one of his body guards may come by one day. I've decided to try to be part of the solution (reduce corruption in the Philippines) rather than abetting it by letting him run freewheel over other unsuspecting victims. And I do know of at least one other victim of the same guy. He has developed a slick M.O. which has to be STOPPED!

 

I know an expat who got a judge disbarred here in Dgte. And he's still alive to talk about it!

 

If its true then there should be no problem naming the judge or the guy who said he had the judge disbarred..

 

It's true, and not only a judge was took down by a foreigner, but also the head of immigration in Cebu.

 

Passing the bar exam results in a license to steal.

Larry

 

I am posting the following to hopefully help others who may use a local attorney.

I have used this same attorney for three transactions, all of which were successful and without negative issues. However, in my case, which is different than yours, I had researched the subject matter and only used the attorney to finalize legal reviews. As you stated in your case, you hired an attorney to work on Philippines legal transaction that you were not authorized to participate in - an unmarried foreigner wanting to adopt his gf's child. Had you performed the simple internet research and made a few phone calls to Philippines government agencies prior to hiring the attorney, you probably would not have put yourself in that compromising position.
So you hired an attorney who apparently knew less than you do about the type of transaction you were looking to do and are putting the blame solely on him.

I am not defending the attorney for taking your money and not delivering the goods, and I am aware of his reputation. I can tell you that in my three transactions I followed up with him at least weekly for progress checks including going to his house, if necessary, not sure if you did that. I do hope you are refunded your money.

The lessons learned for others who are considering hiring a local attorney are to do as much research as possible on what you are hiring an attorney for, be proactive and followup frequently for progress checks, and construct the contract to pay for periodic results, as opposed to a large upfront payment. Buyer beware.

 

Good advice, Pat. Attorneys here should only be used for performing duties that only an attorney can perform. They should not be used primarily for obtaining advice as they are in the western world. Usually if you do diligent research you will know more than the attorney here about many legal matters. Most everything one needs to know is available online. Think of attorneys here as document processors and notaries, not as someone who knows the law. Many will gladly take your money knowing nothing about the law pertaining to your case, or even knowing full well that what you want done is against the law. You have very little to no recourse against them.

Larry