Failure to File Motion

When I handed my attorney the Motion for Protective Order I had drafted, I expected him to ask me questions.  I was prepared to explain my position in requesting this motion be filed, but he did not ask me any questions.  He made only a single statement to the effect that he was glad I was taking that route rather than trying to hide the fact that I had bought the old farmhouse I was trying to protect.  I took that to mean he was going to take my draft, clean it up and file  the motion with the Court.  Why I thought that, I have no idea...just seemed that was his indication when he voiced his approval.  That was April 20, 2010.

The protective order requested the address of the old farmhouse I had purchased and in which I have been living, post separation, be provided only to the Court as needed, but protected from disclosure to the Defendant and his counsel, for safety reasons.  After all, Defendant has repeatedly threatened to burn down the "marital" residence, and kill me.  When he was served with my complaint for divorce, his first order of business was to call me on the phone and threaten me....  So, I decided it best to move quickly to secure another place to live, leaving the "marital" home vacant.  The protective order was requested in time to have it in place when the Pendente Lite hearing was held on April 23, 2010.

As it turned out, my attorney did not file my motion, as requested.  Instead, he focused on ensuring I submitted my proffers and budget sheet so he could have them filed and available to the Court during the P/L hearing.  That was, in my opinion, a complete waste of time.  Apparently no surprise to my attorney, the judge refused to consider fault and refused to look at the budget when making his Pendente Lite ruling...he opted to simply go by the "guidelines." 

Back in my attorney's office two weeks later, I asked again about my motion for protective order.  I was being pressured to complete discovery questions demanding I disclose all purchases made since separation.  I had willingly supplied these records, carefully covering the address so it could not be seen in the photocopies.  I had read the Virginia Code and knew if I wanted to withhold that address, I MUST have requested, by motion, the protection of that information.  Again I asked my attorney to get that motion filed.

On May 27, with the motion STILL not filed, having received yet another phone threat, this time from Defendant's "girlfriend," I met again with my attorney.  I carried with me, again, the proposed motion.  This time he asked the questions I'd imagined he'd ask when I originally submitted the motion request to him.  "Why do you want to file this motion?"  I explained my need to protect the house and my location from the Defendant and his attorney, and as I read the Code, I must file this motion to be able to withhold that information.  He explained again about, "how things are done" in this court.  The more "procedurally correct" method was to simply answer the discovery requirement, but not give the address.  When Defendant's counsel squawked about it, and the judge asked why I was withholding it, we could then present our case, and need for the protective order. 

Trying to trust my attorney, willing to accept he was the expert and I am just some goofball with access to the Internet and full of energy to make certain I am not completely ripped off by this system, I promised to let him work the case the way he knew to be best.

As Murphy's Law would have predicted, my attorney's failure to act as requested has now come back to bite me.  On Saturday, June 5,  I was alerted by my neighbor there was a man with a red car looking for me....this, it turns out, was the processor, here to serve me papers.  He showed up here, at my "safe" location.  And I don't have any way, now, to protect my address from disclosure... it has already been compromised.  And my life is, once again, in jeopardy, because of my attorney's failure to file.

My attorney told me, when last we met, that he was concerned that we are operating in an adversarial manner, which would make his representation of me more difficult.  Wanting to ensure he was given every chance to win my case, I resolved myself to the notion I would let him show his talents, without interference.  

And so, tonight, as I started to send him an email asking for explanation on his failure to file, and in which I shared the fact that the processor served me HERE and that the motion, or request to protect the address is now made moot by the fact that they already have it and are using it, I decided there was really no point.  A bell cannot be "unrung" and he was never going to file my motion anyway, so I could point to it as my defense for not providing the address during discovery.  I will not send the letter.   I will await my attorney's next move.  Proactive it will not be, I am afraid....