Elliot (Elliot Quiroz Juarez, his former lawyer in Mexico--made "former" only recently) attempted to file a false document to the courts, forging my brother's signature, stating that Carlos had rescinded his appeal and was "giving up" on his case and his attempt to be reunited with Sage.
Yes....you read it right.
Carlos' lawyer, in a childish and illegal at best, vindictive and evil at its worst, attempt to make my brother pay for deciding it was in his son's best interest to let him go and work with another attorney, filed a falsified document trying to destroy his case to bring Sage home. It was only when his new attorney had gone to the court to work on the case that this attempt was discovered and shut down. Although there aren't a lot of details regarding consequences at this point, it sounds as though the judge involved has already involved the prosecutor to investigate Mr. Quiroz's actions. I'm still stunned that he thought he could get away with it, but then again, he wasn't fully aware that a new lawyer had been appointed the day he was let go, so maybe he thought that by the time Carlos noticed it would either be too late or cost him tons in time and energy to fix. Which definitely would have been true if not for the swift action of the new lawyer.
Wow, right??! Well, here's the thing...and I know that in the past I've made posts praising Mr. Quiroz and his work to "help" my brother, but I'll get to that...I never really trusted this man. Without going into all the lengthy details, here's why:
1.) He scoffed and often downright refused to carry out the wishes of my brother during the trial in terms of legal strategy.
2.) When I was in Mexico, I met his girlfriend in each city we visited (three total), and she was NOT the same person between any two. I know this may be irrelevant to the case, but it tells something about his character.
3.) He was bleeding my brother dry for money, and producing no results. Carlos' first (and also current) lawyer had made it through three levels of courts, and won in two of them during the same amount of time it took Mr. Quiroz to lose in one.
4.) After he lost the trial (just recently), he refused to send my brother a copy of or to submit the appeal until my brother sent him more money (which he didn't owe). He claimed that my brother's payments during all that time had only been covering his "costs," and not his actual fees (keep in mind there was no contract here). To get an idea of how ridiculous that was, consider this: Mr. Quiroz bought a dog that my brother cared for while he was in Mexico. After Carlos returned to the U.S., suddenly the dog became "Carlos' dog," and because Elliot had fed him for three weeks my brother now owed him $300.00! He recently sent Carlos an email stating that if he did not send him more money, Justicia was going to die (presumably for lack of food).
5.) Although he did not have to make the (1.5 hour) trip between Guanajuato and Salamanca as often as he did (or as he claimed he did), even if he had, the amount he claimed he spent in gas was ridiculous...amounting to something like $250.00 per trip (he later added that this included food, tolls, tips, parking (which is free), maintenance, life insurance, car insurance, and his security on the trips)!!!!!!
And, of course, social networking plays a part in just about everything these days, doesn't it? Well, after Carlos ceased to retain Elliot as his attorney, both he and I were immediately "un-friended" on facebook. Hmmm...
I also got an email saying I owed him $40,000 more... which is close to what I've already paid him in just the last 16 months.
ReplyDeleteI think lawyers generally, but certainly Mexican lawyers, are a lot like diapers. They have to be changed frequently, and for the same reasons.
As time continued it became clear that it was less about bringing my son home or ever closing the case and more about the established routine of collecting monthly payments (close to 2K) -- which were increasingly not enough to even cover out of pocket expenses supposedly.
At the end he was even acting like he was running a charity by doing me the favor of charging so little. Which, of course, begs the question of why he became so bitter about being replaced if he wasn't even making money.. indeed he was even losing money! Funny how my new, quite competent, lawyer is quite happy to earn half of what I was paying previously without all the histrionics about having to, altruistically, go out of pocket.
I've been trying, and failing, to wrap my head around how he thought submitting a statement to the court, forged with my signature, that said I want to give up was good idea. Perhaps he thought he could create a crisis that I would ask him to save me from (and of course not blame him for.) I had hinted in the past that I could have the Mexican Central Authority represent me for free and avoid paying attorneys altogether. e may have thought that I had decided to go that route and wanted to create a situation where I would "need" a local attorney.
When people are in desperate circumstances, (especially when their children's safety and well being are at stake) they look to someone they can trust. They will do anything, and pay almost everything to help them and to bring them home. Despicable to think a licensed attorney and so called "friend" would take advantage in this terrible way. Don't these people realize that they could use this opportunity to earn a sterling reputation, guaranteeing their future success in this and all other areas of their law practice.
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