Is it a violation of the privacy act if an attorney you had retained has a secretary/daughter that give my name, address, and telephone number to a 3rd. Party and told them to bill me instead of the attorney that had requested the medical records for those copies? I then fired the attorney for legal malpractice The records would not have been ordered without his specifically requesting them, and he had me request them because his daughter/secretary did not know how to make out a HIPAA request form. Now, I'm being dunned for payment of the records. The records were for myself for a lawsuit. This occurred AFTER I had fired the attorney.

Your post is very confusing, but let me try and see if I can sort through what happened here...

1. You requested copies of some medical records - I assume you called up your medical provider, and they sent them to you.
2. Then the lawyer's assistant told whoever made the copies for you that the bill for this service should be sent to you.
3. Then you fired the lawyer (for some unrelated reason)
4. Then you got the bill, but haven't paid it
5. And now you're getting dunning letters.

If I have that sequence correct - what violation of privacy are you concerned about? No where do you say that any of your medical information was released to a 3rd party without your consent. Please clarify.

I don't know if it's an illegal practice in your State but I very often work on behalf of a law firm which provides me (a third party) with the name and address of the party on whose behalf I worked. Most of the time Attorneys pay me and then collect from the client but occasionally this happens.

If the records were for your lawsuit or were used by ANYONE in connection with your lawsuit they are your responsibility, it is your expense.

So that I have this straight - you requested the records because the Attorney's staff didn't know how to complete the request (in my area this is not a HIPAA request, it's a request for medical records). You ordered them. I would presume you provided your own name and address OR the medical facility had your info on file.

You terminated the Attorney for malpractice before you requested these records or after?

Were they used in your lawsuit?

OK, guess it was a bit confusing. I hired an attorney. He wanted my medical records for use in the lawsuit. He asked ME to write for them because his staff didn't know anything about obtaining medical records and have them sent to HIS office for HIS use. I wrote the letters and filled out the medical release forms (here its referred to as HIPAA), and the records were sent to the attorney. THEN the attorney caused a critical problem for me and I'm looking at a disastrous result from his action where he deliberately withheld critical information from me that would have dictated my actions as to whether to go forward with the suit. Had I been told this info the case would NOT have been filed. I fired him, my case is still pending with a different attorney. And now I'm receiving these bills from these health facilities that were supposed to go to the first attorney. Apparently the secretary is receiving the bills, then calls the med. Facility and gives them my name, address, telephone number and tells them to bill me, and not her father the first attorney. They know that as soon as this case is over there will be a legal malpractice suit filed against both of them for what they have done and I wanted to know if providing my personal info and location to a 3rd party would be a violation of the privacy act so that I could incorporate that into my lawsuit, etc. Thanks for your help.

I don't see any issue here. You ordered the records, so you pay for them. Giving the medical facility your name and address for billing purposes is not a violation of anything. If the attorney paid for these records he would just turn around and bill you anyway, and probably add on a healthy fee for his time in doing so.

I suppose I'm not making myself clear at all. The bottom line is: IF the attorney had not wanted the records they would never have been ordered. I didn't need them, I would not have ordered them. The attorney is the only one that wanted them so in my opinion he can pay for them. However, my name, address, telephone number is priviate UNLESS I choose to provide it to someone of MY choosing. It is not YOUR right to give my private info to anyone without my knowledge or consent! That is how identies get stolen. But, thanks for our input anyway.

No, JudyKayTee, the records have never been used. I fired him AFTER he had wanted me to order them and HE had received them. (I misspelled 'identities' and the word is 'thanks for YOUR input anyway. )

OK, here's the deal. YOU signed an authorization for those records. Whether you believed them necessary your attorney did and you signed the forms. If you believe the records were unnecessary then you sue the attorney to recoup the costs.

But there was nothing wrong in your info being given to the service that provided the records for billing. Since you signed the authorization, you are responsible for payment.

- What Scott said. If you had not "fired" the Attorney the records would have been used. He didn't order them as reading material for his own personal use.

I am more curious about the lawsuit against the Attorney for malpractice. In my area those cases are very, very difficult for a client to win so most people report the problems to the Bar Association. I'd like to know how the malpractice suit works out.

JudyKayTee: malpractice. I.e. in my case. IF you file a lawsuit or take a legal action that has an adverse effect on you and costs you thousands of dollars, loss of home, loss of vehicles, etc. and you can prove that what the attorney did caused this result, here that is malpractice BECAUSE he is supposed to provide you info that will allow YOU to make an informed decision. If he does not, and you make your decision because he deliberately withheld critical info from you, then he has violated his ficuciary commitment to you as your attorney to represent you to the best of his ability. Then, you can sue him, but you can only collect the actual amount of the damages and he can be disbarred. The Bar Association does not sue or take sanctions against attorneys - the disciplinary committee in the state where you live WILL hear your complaint, and then decided if the attorney has violated the Code of Professional conduct for your state. Each state has its own committees and rules but keep in mind that an attorney has to REALLY do something very negligent before they will take against him. It is virtually a license to steal short of committing homicide! They have no teeth, and don't exercise the ones they do have. There are four things in a malpractice case you must prove (this is legal malpractice, not medical malpractice, which is different), and those four things are: A) your attorney owed you a duty to act properly, b) your atty breached that duty by acting negligently, not following through with the agreement or possibly making mistakes an average attorney would not have made, c) your attorney's behavior caused you damage. This includes proving that the results of your case would have been different, for example, you would have won the case, ad the attorney acted properly, d) you suffered a financial loss as a result of the behavior. The only recovery will be actual damages, never punitive damages in a legal malpractice case. Thanks for the input - it has been helpful!

Oh, an actually, the records would NOT have been used because in this particular kind of case they are not allowed as evidence. So, this guy is a jerk, pure and simple! He has been in law practice for over 30 years and should have known that!

Okay, let's back WAY up here. This was my line of work prior to nursing, so please bear with me, but I have some questions to ask to get some understanding as to what is going on. These questions are very relevant to your question at hand. So, before I can respond to you, I need these answers. Okay?

Now...

Can you please tell me what the lawsuit is referring to?

Was this attorney a small local attorney or a corporation?

Are you suing a doctor or hospital?

Right, I'm "in the business" and I know how it works. Thanks for the info. Hope it works out for you.

This is a Chap.7 BK.
Local attorney but been around a long time - operates as an individual and as a 'cliinic' for BK.
Suing the attorney. It is NOT medical malpractice but legal malpractice because of the negligence of the attorney.
Does that help? What did you do - work in a lawoffice or were you a paralegal or an attorney, etc? Or p.A. or ?

I was a paralegal.

I'm wondering why the medical was necessary. Many times, in my experience, personal and professional, medical records are necessary to prove why a bankruptcy is occurring. i.e. cancer. Medical bills are high enough that it constitutes an inability to pay other obligations.

The State in question is of importance as well.

As far as my background is concerned, I have worked in insurance fraud litigation, med/mal, workers' compensation, property law, etc. I've worked on the side of the defendant as well as the side of the plaintiff.

We need to back up and get some background info as to why you filed bankruptcy. As I have stated, sometimes medical records are a necessity. When we file a suit, or open ourselves to litigation, it is important to know that our entire lives are under scrutiny to either prove our case or disprove it.

You have given some good info so far, but to properly give the correct advice, we need the details about why the case came into being, to start with.

A bk Attorney needed medical records?

Now I'm confused all over again

A bk Attorney needed medical records?

Now I'm confused all over again

I've been confused since the get go, but I'm trying to make heads or tails out of this.

It is important to know why this action began. We've been given the info from the middle of the case, not the beginning.

JudyKay, I'm sorry, (but you did give me a giggle).
The reason for the BK was a medial dianosis, lack of life ins. etc. and the transfer of real estate to a son to be sold and $$$ used to pay final expenses. Trustee gloamed onto the transfer and screamed 'fraudelent transfer' but it wasn't. The critical thing is - the transfer had taken place over 2 years PRIOR to filing which met Federal law, BUT then the STATE law takes precidence OVER federal law and the state law said FOUR years (this is the info the attorney deliberately withheld). IF the attorney had said the client WAS NOT in compliance with the STATE law the BK. Would never have been filed! Consequently, he wanted the med's in order to try to use that to convince the trustee NOT to take the client, rendering the client homeless at the age of 80 and with CHF, Pace/Deb. 2 stints, with upcoming heart surgery),etc. He KNEW the client did not meet the state requirement, YET he filed the BK anyway and took the attorney fee, filing cost, etc. KNOWING the client would suffer damages, loss of home, become homeless, etc. That is legal malpractice. Now, she has hd to hire another attorney, pay additional atty. Fee's and creditors are coming out of the wood work filing bogus claims against the BK hoping to collect $$$ they aren't even due! It is a REAL pan of worms! Horrific!

I do - as you know - 99% Plaintiff's work. I've certainly seen medical bills entered into evidence at Bk hearings and, for that matter, one Bk trial, but never medical records.

I'm just surprised - because in my area a potential Plaintiff would (literally) have to go out of the area to find an Attorney in a legal malpractice lawsuit.

Maybe this is a cut and dried case.

I'll stand over here with you and wait for more info. (OP certainly knows what she's talking about when it comes to legal malpractice so some Attorney has made her aware.)

I must apologize to all - this is so convolued and complicated it boggles the mind. I can't believe it myself and I'm the client. If you think you are confused you should be here in my chair - I'm fighting this thing DAILY (no kidding) and I'm filing complaints left and right trying to protect myself and my home. I have no place to go, so what does one do when you are the victim of a vicious, unethical, attorney that does this to a client and just shrugs it off? He could care less but I'm taking on the fed's, the disciplinary committees in two states, and the attorney generals office - using every recourse at hand trying to survice this clown!

No, an attorney did not 'educate' me, I did it myself. I'm a legal sec'y (unemployed right now), and when that attorney told me that no one was 'intelligent enuf unless they are an attorney or highly trained, they would never be able to understand bankruptcy". So, I made a concerted effort to learn and I have learned in weeks what it took him YEARS to learn - and now he is aware that I DO know what I'm tallking about and can adequately take his butt to court!

Yes, the OP knows what she is talking about. I'll agree with you there.

As a paralegal (in my past life, lol), I need to go back to the beginning as if I were interviewing this person to decide if I were going to take the case. There are many holes in this story that I am not getting.

What I need to know is...

Why the suit was filed, just to start, then we can go from there.

I'll give you an example...

A person was diagnosed with cancer. This person had health insurance to pay for medical, but had to miss an extraordinary amount of work at a company that did not offer STD/LTD. Due to this person's inability to work, credit cards; auto loans; mortgage, etc. went unpaid. Thus causing the person to file bankruptcy.

In this scenario the medical records are a necessity to prove the inability to sustain employment in order to maintain the necessary payments.

While the OP has an understanding regarding legal malpractice, I question whether the OP comprehends how all factors of daily living can affect the case in point.

Tagalong,

Could you please help us understand?

Please start from the beginning. Let us know why this case was filed, who was involved, etc.

Agreed - and I've seen things left off BK petitions (deliberately or accidently), mistakes (omissions, just plain errors), all sort of things - and the Petition is amended right up to discharge. I know of one discharge that was taken back into Court, the petition amended, the discharge changed.

So I'm confused, too.

OK, I was working, paying bills, etc. THEN, out of the blue I was sick, diagnosed with CHF (as a nurse you know what that is), then was replaced at work with a 'paralegal ", (lol), and then I was in hospital 9 times in 3 years, with about 6 diff. surgeries & procedures, heart related, and YOU as an employee know that those bills are. Lost my job, no life ins. And now subject to 'sudden death'. I have two living children, the first born died 1985 of WPW, so heart problems runs rampant in my family. I couldn't pay the bills, was constantly being sued by credit cards, etc. so consulted this guy about the possibility of filing, and it escalated from there into what pickle I'm in currently, BUT if he had told me about the Illinois (where I now live) state law none of this would have ever happened. HE KNEW I DID NOT MEET THAT CRITERIA AT ALL - YET HE FILED THE BK. KNOWING I WOULD FAIL! It has been almost a year now and the BK is still open and being defended - and I'm sinking in the west!

Errors & omissions are one thing, BUT if a trustee thinks you've committed fraudent transfer of real estate to defraud creditors the that is something else and you play holy H... changing their mind. HERE iin Illinois, they Don't back down or change their mind and they are going after my house, selliing it, and paying alleged creditors. EVEN though she knows what the first attorney did, she is STILL going forward with trying to take my house. She is interested in one thing only! Money - she will realize about $8250.00 out of the sale of my house as her fee for being the trustee on the case. I've been telling this current attorney to file challenges to the creditors, (I've prepared all 5 of them myself), Motion to Dismiss, etc. which I've done myself, yet it continues! I'm filing complaints against bogus creditors, and against corrupt attorneys, etc. fighting this daily, and I'm with all of YOU! I'm as confused as you are trying to figure out how on earth this garbage could be happening! But, it is. So, I'm out there swimming as fast as I can. The current attorney said - get a loan on the house and we'll try to settle with the trustee and try to 'buy her off' - and I'm saying, are you kidding? NO ONE is going to lend me any money against a bankruptcy that is still on-going! I think I've moved into the village of the local idiots! These are attorneys that have been in practice for years and years and specialize in bankruptcy? I knew nothing about it in the beginning but now I know as much if not more than they do! Yet I'm paying them!

I won't pretend I've followed everything here. I don't know for sure whether you have a case against your former attorney or not. But I do believe my answer to your original question is accurate. YOU did sign for the records, they were delivered. Therefore, you have a responsibility to pay for them. Whether the attorney had a valid reason for requesting them or not, is immaterial to the fact that you owe for the records. If the attorney incurred charges that were improper, then that is between you and the attorney. You may be able to sue your attorney to recoup costs that he incurred that were unnecessary. But I see no issue with the attorney providing billing information to the creditor and I do see you having to pay the bill.

Thanks, Scott, I did get your message. Thanks for your input and the time to consider the problem.

Wow - I'm not a nurse (although J9 is) so I have no clue what CHF is. From what I can gather of the problem Attorney #1 recommended and faciitated a "fake" transfer of real property to avoid having it taken in bankruptcy.

How am I doing so far?

The Court got wind of that and is selling your house to pay your debts.

If so, yes, I see a case.

I still see no case over the release of info, your responsibility to pay for medical records.

It sounds like an absolute mess (to put it mildly)!

And yes, if fraud is involved the BK Court doesn't want to hear about it.

Wow - I'm not a nurse (although J9 is) so I have no clue what CHF is. From what I can gather of the problem Attorney #1 recommended and faciitated a "fake" transfer of real property to avoid having it taken in bankruptcy.

How am I doing so far?

The Court got wind of that and is selling your house to pay your debts.

If so, yes, I see a case.

I still see no case over the release of info, your responsibility to pay for medical records.

It sounds like an absolute mess (to put it mildly)!

And yes, if fraud is involved the BK Court doesn't want to hear about it.

Judy: CHF is "Congestive Heart Failure". A very weak heart condition.
The attorney deliberately left off the BK. Schedules that I owned a house and had put it into my sons name to be sold at time of my death to pay final expenses. He had put in 'none' where applicable.
When the trustee asked me if I owned a house I said yes, but I had deeded it to my son to pay final expenses because the attorney did not tell me that he lied on the schedules.
She jumped on that as fraud, and closed her mind to anything else, assuming I had lied, not the attorney.
No. 1. IF the attorney had told me that an Illinois state law that stated a person cannot file BK IF they have sold a house, given away, to a relative, their house 4 years BEFORE the filed BK then they would consider that as fraud to avoid creditors! Federal law said if you give your house away 2 years before you file BK then you are OK, (but the state law was 4 years) - I was OK with the feds, but I missed/was SHORT the state law by 2 years! This meant that legally I could NOT file BK for an additional 2 more years! He KNEW this when he filed the case! And, all the rest of the garbage is a result of that one action. You see, I have a letter from him where he admits he deliberately withheld that information from me because he wanted me to 'feel comfortable', (to quote him). HE KNEW I COULD NOT FILE, YET HE FILED ANYWAY. So, I'm fighting this, literally, daily. Yes, it is a mess, a monumental mess, and I'm just trying to survive - too bad attorneys aren't sympathetic and take a case pro bono - but they don't! Thanks for asking!

I really appreciate all the info and input from all of you in this situation. You all have been great! BTW, there is one thing I did find out, the hard way, albeit, and that is: if any one EVER thinks the federal government is your friend and has your welfare at heart, you are wrong! They will throw your little body under the bus in a N. Y. second! Take that as gospel and believe it - it IS fact!

I worked for the Feds for a number of years - I believe you.

Let us know how this works out for you - this is one of these situations when I wish I had something wise and wonderful to contribute but I think it's all been said and you were put in a very bad spot by an Attorney.

Hate to see it happen but I know it does.

I wish you luck -

Thanks, what is, is (doesn't that link back to what Clinton said when he said it all depends on the definition of 'is'? ) I'm going for the jugular, believe me - he will know I've been there! Thanks for the good wishes and I'll let you know. It may take a while but I'll let you know...