I am an Indian citizen who was working in Bahrain in the restaurant industry since 2010. Since 2016, my company was not paying me for 2 years. I had lodged a complaint with the court through a lawyer in 2018 to get my pay and severance.
Unable to find another job and due to poor financial situation, I had to leave Bahrain and move back to my country in 2019. Before leaving, I had given permission to my lawyer to fight the case on my behalf. I was constantly in touch with him since then. He kept updating me that the case is with the court and still pending verdict. That my claimed salary was not yet settled by my previous company to the court. This went on for over a year.
Recently I found out (through a friend who went and checked my case details directly in court) that the verdict had come in 2019 and that my full settlement amount was claimed. I contacted my lawyer who said that this is false information and the photo was photoshopped. He tried to convince me that the case is still in court and pending verdict.
Upon constantly confronting him, he now says that the verdict has come out but only half of my total salary claim amount has been approved by court as part of the verdict. And this amount can be paid only in installments of 200BD per month for the coming months (due to some financial audit issues with the court).
I double check with another lawyer (through a friend) and it is confirmed that my lawyer has received the full amount. I am no longer in the country and my assigned lawyer is cheating me. What can I do?
I do not want to risk hiring another lawyer who may be similar to the first person nor do I have money to pay the lawyer. I am not able to return to Bahrain due to the gloomy state of job market and the lack of money from my side. Please help
What to do when cheated by your (labour) lawyer?
Unfortunately, there is absolutely nothing you can do except hiring a new lawyer. I would recommend Khalid Khan.
Thank you XTang. Is there any council where I can file a report against my old lawyer like Consumer Protection Council? Lawyer's association or something?
You can file a complaint at the bar but that won't get you the money back. Essentially, it is a case of breach of contract / fraud by the lawyer and as such, falls under the jurisdiction of the courts hence you have to file a case. If the lawyer gets a judgement against him then he can be disbarred. So there is a sequence that needs to be followed.
Got it. Thank you once again for the information!
@RobLewis The exact same thing happened to me with lawyer Essam Al Tayeb. Not only was he bought by the other side and lost the case for me even if I had strong evidence in written, but also refuses to give the settlement amount which is only my end of service money. There must be an entity where you can report these supposed lawyers who are cheating expats!
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