[tagalong68]

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.

[ebaines]

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.

[JudyKayTee]

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?

[tagalong68]

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.

[ebaines]

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.

[tagalong68]

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.

[tagalong68]

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. )

[ScottGem]

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.

[JudyKayTee]

- 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.

[tagalong68]

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!

[tagalong68]

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!

[J_9]

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?

[JudyKayTee]

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

[tagalong68]

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 ?

[J_9]

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.

[JudyKayTee]

A bk Attorney needed medical records?

Now I'm confused all over again

[J_9]

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.

[tagalong68]

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!

[JudyKayTee]

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.)

[tagalong68]

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!