Belgian Woman Claims Lawyer Exploited Her During Divorce Proceedings

"I got married in Morocco to a man younger than me. He came back with me to Belgium last August. And a few months later, it wasn’t going well anymore," explains RTL Info Saida, a mother of four children, who contacted the lawyer at the end of January in the context of divorce proceedings. On January 25, she went to the lawyer’s office. After listening to her, the latter assured her "that he would take steps with the family court to request urgent restraining orders for [her] husband who had already left the home".

For this consultation that lasted "less than an hour", Saida paid 190 euros and an initial provision of 726 euros. And then radio silence, even though she had sent all the documents to initiate the procedure as agreed. "The procedure is ongoing," the lawyer informed her in an email. "On February 24, I went to his office. He no longer remembered my file. In fact, he had done nothing... I pointed out to him that I had paid 1,000 euros. He returned all my papers, telling me that in any case my file is too complicated," laments Saida.

For this second consultation of barely 20 minutes, the lawyer demanded 200 euros. "I was stunned. As I was leaving, I told him he was a scammer," she specifies. Believing she has been wronged, Saida decides to discuss her situation with the court. "I had an appointment with an ombudsman who is a kind of conciliator. He listened and took notes," the teacher confides. After hearing her, Master Xavier Borne, the ombudsman, called the lawyer in question who "claimed to have filed for divorce that he had not done, in any case, he did not submit it to the client. Me, I insisted a lot that he reduce his statement. He felt he did not have to do it."

Saida is outraged. Mr. Borne advises her to refer the matter to the fee commission within the bar association. This is what the mother of the family intends to do. In the meantime, she has consulted another lawyer for her divorce. "He asked me 50 euros for the first session. Then I paid a provision of 650 euros. And within the same week, I had my appointment at the family court. He is very clear on the next steps. And, according to him, such a divorce is not complicated," assures Saida, who is convinced that she was "cheated" by the first lawyer.