It is perfectly ethical for an attorney to front costs for the client in a case when the client is unable to do so. Some of them make excuses like you did not need those records or you didn't do anything for me. Some clients re-pay my office as soon as we send a bill, others wait until the case is over (successfully) and pay, many other client who win never pay. My attorney fee contract specifies that the client is responsible for re-payment. Since then my office procedure is to obtain the records, pay for the records and bill the client. At some point in the early 1990s OHA stated that they did not have the time and personnel to obtain the records and that the attorneys should. Of course if we were aware of medical records we would obtain the records. At the beginning of my practice ODAR (then called OHA) developed the record based on information we provided. I have handled 5,000 Social Security Disability cases since 1979. What are Social Security's obligations in this situation? Should it warn Binder and Binder's clients? Is there anything more it can do? Could it contact the New York bar about the situation since that is where Charles Binder is licensed?.
What are his ethical obligations as an attorney when he knows that he is incapable of providing them with competent representation? Doesn't he have an ethical obligation to withdraw from representing them or at least to warn them? If Binder and Binder is sending letters to Social Security saying that it can no longer pay for medical records, is it sending copies of this letter to its clients? Shouldn't Charles Binder insist that this letter be sent to his clients? While the Binder and Binder that just went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy isn't a law firm, Charles Binder is definitely licensed to practice law. Charles Binder is listed as the attorney of record for most of the claimants that Binder and Binder represents.It only runs to about 2% of my firm's total expenditures, far less than what my firm pays in salaries and rent. Getting medical records is not inexpensive but it's not that big a deal. How can they continue to stay in business if they're not going to pay for medical records? It's basic to what they do. They're still paying rent on their offices. What kind of idiots are running Binder and Binder now? The company is still in business.