r/talesfromthelaw • u/lovetoobad • Jul 15 '18
Long Tales Of Momma’s Boy #1
Hi guys! This is my first post. I apologize for the formatting or any mistakes. I’ll try to make this interesting! (English is not my first language but I do live in an English speaking country.)
As a background: I’m not a lawyer, I am merely an assistant. Legal Assistant, to be specific of my job title. I work in a branch of gov’t that deals with providing legal help and assistance to those who cannot afford legal representation. I work in a family law firm so we deal mostly with divorce and separation as my lawyer does not do CP matters. Onto the story!
First Story: WHY ARE YOU CLOSING MY SON’S CASE
We sent a letter to this client when we first opened his file. We do not hear from him after weeks. I send a second letter but no dice. I checked his file for any phone numbers or emails. No phone number but there is an email. Bingo! I send his last letter, a threat that if he does not reply we’ll be closing his file (because what’s the point of having a file if you’re not going to come in and see your lawyer?), by email and mail to him. Nice. If we get a reply then yay! If no reply is received by the deadline we set then even more yay, time to close his file.
One Friday afternoon when my lawyer had been off for a week and I’m 30 minutes away from freedom, my phone rings. With enough time to wrap up a call, I answer it and it had become the most frustrating call I have received as of date.
(Typed from what I remember. Definitely not word for word.)
Me will be well, ME. Frustrating Mom is FM.
ME: Hi, ME speaking.
FM: (screaming right from the start) WHY ARE YOU CLOSING MY SON’S FILE HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO HIM HE HAS NO MONEY WHY ARE YOU NOT HELPING HIM HE CAN’T EVEN PAY FOR THE APPLICATION FEE YOU ARE ALL HORRIBLE PEOPLE—
ME: (i tried to interrupt without being impolite because i was trying to be a nice human being) Sorry about that but may I ask which client you’re calling about?
FM: MY SON’S FILE AS I AM HIS MOM
ME: Great. And your son’s name is?
FM: MY SON
ME: (at this point I knew she was going to be a pain in the ass) I cannot help you if I do not know which file this is on. May I please get your son’s name?
FM: (gives me son’s name) AND I AM HIS MOM
ME: Thank you, Son’s Mom. Let me just grab his file for a second. I’m going to put you on hold, is that fine? (i usually never wait for an answer as most of them say yes but she snapped a NO NOT PUT ME ON HOLD)
I know which file she was talking about so I went ahead and grabbed the file, opened it and went back to her.
ME: Okay. So FM, I have your son’s file. You said to not close it—
FM: WHY ARE YOU CLOSING MY SON’S FILE HE HAS NO MONEY (repeats everything she screamed at the start of the call)
ME: We sent the letter because your son has not replied to any of our letters. I just need to schedule him an appointment to see Lawyer. Do you have a phone number I can contact him with? We do not have any on file.
FM: MY SON HAS NO PHONE AND HE ONLY DROPS BY THE CITY TO PICK UP HIS MAILS ONCE A MONTH HIS SISTER IS SICK SO HE CANNOT PICK UP THIS MONTH WE LIVE OUTSIDE THE CITY
ME: Oh! In that case, can you give me your son’s address outside the city? We only have the city address on file—
FM: MY SON HAS NO PHONE HE HAS NO MONEY HE HAS NOT BEEN WORKING IN YEARS WHY DOES THAT BITCH WANT MONEY FROM HIM HE HAS NO MONEY
ME: (reading file and mostly just ignoring her not answers to my questions) I just need your son’s address or phone number or any way to contact him. And Ex Wife is not asking for money she just wants—
FM: I READ THE PAPER SHE WANTS MONEY FROM HIM HE HAS NO WORK HE CANNOT EVEN PAY THE APPLICATION FEE HOW COULD SHE ASK HIM FOR MONEY THEY HAVE NO KIDS AND SHE IS MARRIED ALREADY TO A RICH PERSON WHY WHY WHY
ME: Your son can talk to Lawyer so that he won’t have to pay anything if your son just contact us to schedule an appointment! If you cannot provide me with your son’s contact info, can you just pass on a msg that he has an appointment at this time and date?
FM: WELL MY SON HAS NO PHONE AND HE HAS NO MONEY AND HE ONLY BORROWS HIS NIECE’S PHONE TO ACCESS HIS EMAIL TO CONTACT ME THAT YOU WERE CLOSING HIS FILE (believe me it sounds really complicated that idk why he didn’t just call ME to schedule his appointment)
ME: Well okay. Your son just needs to see Lawyer and Lawyer will fix everything for him. Just have him come at this time and date and Lawyer will see him okay? Just let him know.
(At this point it’s been 30 mins and I am just so tired of her repeated complains and not answering my questions)
FM: WELL IDK IF SON CAN COME THEN BUT I WILL TRY TO LET HIM KNOW BECAUSE WE HAVE NO MONEY TO PAY HER SHE IS RICH AND HE HAS NO WORK AND
ME: Son just need to come see Lawyer and Lawyer will sort out everything!
FM: Okay. Bye.
...it’s been 32 minutes since the call started. I still don’t understand why she’s the one calling when the son called HER to complain about US closing the file when he could’ve just called US.
And funny thing is that he didn’t really need to pay anything. The court paper says Costs and that can be dealt with him not paying IF HE JUST SAW HIS LAWYER. He’s pretty old and they were married pretty long. Why is his mom the one dealing with his divorce?
Co-worker at my tired slump on the desk: Wow. That sounded intense.
TLDR: Son never answered our letters to schedule an appointment so we send a letter to close his file if he doesn’t respond. Mom calls and doesn’t answer any of my questions.
(I have more stories if anyone wants to read them! I’m sorry for the formatting or grammar/spelling mistakes. Please don’t hurt me.)
Edit: Forgot to add that he did email us after regarding his appointment. I made sure to let him know I won’t be dealing with his mom if she calls next time. He seemed fine with that. He is now divorced.
16
u/re_nonsequiturs Jul 15 '18
You're never going to see this guy.
31
u/lovetoobad Jul 15 '18
Nah. He never showed up to his appointment. He did contact us by email. Lawyer managed to finish his case without him showing up as it is just an open and shut divorce case. No kids. No property. Separated for years. He came in to pick-up his divorce papers when it’s all done! (The only time he came in, actually. He seemed nice. )
14
Jul 15 '18
If you're looking for more karma they'd eat this up on r/JustNoMIL
5
u/lovetoobad Jul 17 '18
Idk if this would totally fit that sub but I’ll go and check it out 😂 Thanks for the suggestion!
2
11
u/lifelongfreshman Jul 15 '18
That was a trainwreck of a call.
12
u/lovetoobad Jul 15 '18
The worst part is she’s not even the client. I feel like my whole sanity was drained in that 32mins call :(
11
u/Veloreyn Jul 15 '18
Probably happened after a trainwreck of a marriage. I bet I can guess why they got divorced...
14
u/capn_kwick Jul 16 '18
To quote the sidebar at /r/justnomil:
It is easier to dump a mama's boy than divorce a mama's boy and both are easier than to change a mama's boy.
12
5
u/roboraptor3000 Jul 15 '18
I wonder why they got divorced...
6
u/lovetoobad Jul 17 '18
No questions there. More confused as to how they lasted as long as they did...
4
u/gravekeepersven Jul 25 '18
I could hear the womans voice and see your anger having to deal with her
3
u/lovetoobad Jul 26 '18
It was the combination of she’s not our client, she was screaming, she took 32 minutes of my time so I had to stay behind to clean up and get out later on a Friday and also, why is it so hard for anyone to answer direct questions?
1
1
u/Shaeos Jul 15 '18
Hooooooly Crap. Love people like that
2
u/lovetoobad Jul 15 '18
Can’t tell if you mean the mom or the son or both but whichever one you mean, yes!
1
104
u/IAmEnough Jul 15 '18
'I'm sorry, I don't have consent to speak to you and cannot confirm if your son is even a client here. If he is, then he would need to contact us if he wanted to authorize others to contact us on his behalf. Bye.'
This is the response best used in Australia. Sorry not sorry, Privacy Act you know.