answer foreclosure lawsuit
Can an atty. settle a case w/o notfy. parties?
We are pltfs. who sued an individual because of breach of contract on a real estate deal gone wrong. While in this lawsuit, we find out that Def. never revealed to us that he owed back taxes and the same were picked up by a corp. and they filed suit for payment or foreclosure on the house. We filed an Answer (the only one) and then the Def. atty in our case (who never contacted us and went ahead and paid the back taxes due to the Treasurer, but did not pay the atty’s fees due to corp. atty.) We just rec’d a ME reflecting that t aJudgment was filed against the Def. in our case. Did the Def. atty have the right to settle w/o even contacting us re: how they were going to take care of the delinquent back taxes?
Is is legal for an atty. to settle a case (we were named Def. in this case) w/o even contacting us, the Pltfs.? Since it was us who initially sued the Def. ecause of del. back taxes and breach of contract?
An attorney cannot ethically “settle” a case without his client’s consent. However, from your post it appears (a) the attorney who paid the back taxes represented someone other than you & (b) he did not “settle, ” the case; he simply paid the back taxes. It appears your case has not been “settled,” & you still have whatever claim you originally sued for less any back taxes that were paid by the Defendant.
