ASSAULTED BY MY OWN LAWYER

In recent weeks, I have engaged a lawyer to help with a Court document staying the unlawful eviction of my family. He was David Keta who lived down the road and always presented himself as a friend. I knew he did not have many clients but soon understood why. I have to check that he is a registered lawyer or just an LLB street operator.

He has an office at the back of a Chinese shop with no phone, secretary or computer. He wrote out the draft writ for me and I had to type it out. He gave me a model Court paper and told me that the stay order would be ready within two days. I paid him K500 over two weeks and he wanted more. I gave him more.

I waited a week after he claimed that he had filed the writ at the District Court offices in town. But after a week, he told me it was not acceptable. I had to prepare another Writ. The next day, he said the papers had been filed. I waited but no response. Was his Commissioner for Affidavits stamp accepted?

I checked with the District Court to be told that no papers had been filed. That day, I went to his office to find he had been talking to the lawyer of the defendants. He said that the man was not employed with National Housing Corporation but awaiting acceptance !!

I texted him and revealed that the papers were not filed and told him he was telling lies. He then stopped contact and later told me he had lost his phone. A friend rang him later and presto !! he still had the phone. I have a rogue lawyer and told him so.

Next day, I went to his office to get the Court papers to file myself. He refused to deal with me but punched me in the face, witnessed by people in the Chinese shop, including my step daughter who ran to the fried chicken place to bring her husband back.

Keta told me that he would take me to Court for defamation. Creep. There was no mention of the Court papers except his admission that the papers were at his house. He would report me to the police for all kinds of offences. He is a rogue lawyer. No mention of refund of K 600 lawyer's fees. Only a few days before, he told my step daughter that he had given the papers to a friend.

This is PNG, the land of the unexpected. One problem is that so many lawyers are liars. But this one tells lies to his client. He gives the strong impression of having an undisclosed conflict of interest with the defendant. This is probably the reason why the National Housing Corporation lawyer visited him. But he still wanted more money for no service rendered.

I will get a new lawyer. He has sent a text to advise that legal interpretation of my report here means that I will stand in Court with a range of civil and criminal charges. He told me that freedom of expression is limited in this country.

As a lawyer, he is in more trouble than me. He has breached basic legal ethics in telling lies to a client and cheating him of legal fees but not giving any service. This bush lawyer thinks his baby tricks are so clever that a white man can not see through his little cheating game. 

Last night he told me to expect to be arrested on criminal charges. He did not mention punching me and telling me my daughters were prostitutes. He is the kind of lawyer you need when you don't need a lawyer. What about the Writ we paid K600 for to be filed in National Court? He has stolen legal fees which has to be a criminal offence.

Now that he has been sacked for lying, cheating, violence and no service, he has decided on a new tack. This morning I was told by text that I was not to seek a Court Order as I am a racist and have no place in the community. He will have the neighbours drive me out.

He is quite primitive in his sense of legal ethics. He was supposed to be my lawyer but he seems to be working for both complainant and defendants. He is a once only lawyer if he is a lawyer. Never again. I am too busy to check his registration with the PNG Law Society