Legal Question in Personal Injury in District of Columbia
Atty did not pay Chiropractor bills
In June of 1998, I was involved in a car accident in which the other driver ran a light and stuck my vehicle, he was subsequently arrested. I went to the ER and retained an atty who referred me to a Chiropractor. I went to therapy for 3 mos. In early 2001 my atty issued me a check as a result of a suit against the other driver. A few months later I began to receive collection notices from the Chiropractor, which my atty assured me he was handling. In Sep. 2002, I was served a summons to appear in support of judgment, the Chiropractor is suing me for non payment. What can be done to my atty for not paying the doctor bill, our contract states that ''I authorize him to deduct from the gross amount of money realized, the bills of physicians and experts, and pay them directly to the persons authorized.''
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Atty did not pay Chiropractor bills
at the time you settled up with your atty, you should have received itemization of where the money went. If you did not, you should have asked for it. If no money was paid the chiro, then you owe it and it does not matter that the atty did not pay it. If the atty said he did pay the chiro but did not, then he's in trouble. Why don't you pick up the phone and ask him?
Re: Atty did not pay Chiropractor bills
When the attorney settled the case and you presumably came to his office to pick up your share of the proceeds, you should have signed, or at least been given, a disbursement statement. That statement would have shown whether any third party bills, such as the chiropractor's bill, were being paid from the settlement proceeds.
If the attorney didn't pay the bills, either the money remains in his trust account or was given to you. If the latter, it's your responsibility to pay the chiropractor--you've had the use of the chiropractor's money for several years! If the attorney still retains that money (which is unlikely, given the amount of time that's gone by), then of course he should send it to the chiropractor. If your disbursement statement states that the money is being withheld to pay the chiropractor, but the attorney didn't pay him and kept the money for himself, the bar authorities will investigate this for you if you file a complaint. But you should first ask the attorney to check his records to see why the chiropractor wasn't paid.
Re: Atty did not pay Chiropractor bills
Call the attorney and find out what happened. This could be
something as simple as an administrative oversight (i.e., patient not identified
when payment rendered thus chiro applied payment to wrong account).
Ultimately you are responsible for these charges; however, if the attorney withheld funds to pay the chiro
and did not, then you would be entitled to reimbursement from the attorney. If all the atttorney withheld was his/her
payment for legal services, no reimbursement lies.
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