Should I dump my lawyer?
I applied in LA Consulate a few years ago from GGF - GM - M - Me. I submitted homework just before people were getting denied for the minor issue. I got caught up in that and spoke with a lawyer from the recommended Cassazionisti list. We decided to take a different line through the 1948 route in the Italian courts. I’ve sent two payments by now and have signed a contract and POA. I started collecting docs for this line. During the time of gathering the 1948 documents, of course the minor issue and generational limits changes for my favor and I received that letter from the LA consulate saying my case would be re-reviewed. My lawyer recommended I still go through the courts but to switch my line back to the same one I used for my original consulate application.
Because of the timeline of this all and knowing they were deeply involved in arguing cases before the supreme court, I gave a lot of grace to this firm with their inattention to my specific case. I always faced extreme delays (weeks) in getting back to me and the responses are often for lack of a better term, lazy. Not answering my questions. Not providing any support. Etc.
One example of what I perceived as being lazy and unhelpful is the translations. It was only after I got “unofficial” translations of all my docs that they told me the translations needed to be sworn. This was only mentioned previously in the contract language, not through any conversations. OK, I guess we can chalk that up to a misunderstanding on my end but it really would have been nice if they mentioned this in conversation or email. But they then went on to say in the email (and this is a quote) “If you obtain sworn translations in the US, a further Apostille on each translation will be required. If you obtain them in Italy, the second Apostille is not needed.”
So… document -> apostille -> sworn translation -> apostille again
That seems very strange to me. I did not read that in this subs wiki. Naturally I want to avoid it. The offered to connect me with the translator their firm uses to have it done in Italy. I’ve been waiting almost an entire month for them to provide me the name and contact info. We’ve exchanged a few emails in this time, every time I ask. The receiving email on my end is nothing ever of consequence. I even received one email where they said they could not find my signed contract and POA and asked me to do it again. I told them the date and name of person who confirmed its receipt and they then located it.
Another area of laziness is I’ve offered several times to meet on zoom so we can just hash it all out and my request keeps getting ignored.
Basically this is supposed to be one of the better firms and I feel like I’m getting the terrible service. I’m concerned if I use their translator, it is going to be more of this. I’m debating pumping the breaks on this whole thing and waiting to see what happens with my consulate re-review, or potentially eating the lost money and getting a new lawyer.
Looking for some advice from folks who have succeeded here and are familiar with the legal process.