Jennifer Lynn Thompson, Attorney at Law

I am very sorry that you feel that way. These allegations are FALSE. Tennessee Rules of Professional Responsibilities and National Ethics Opinions will not allow me to say more than that. While I cannot comment on your case specifically, I can comment generally about the law and how courts work. In general, an attorney, once on a case, cannot "quit" or withdraw from that case without filing a motion, notifying the client about the proceeding with date, time and place of the hearing, and then, after a hearing on the motion, getting the judge's approval. And, usually there must be "good cause" for the judge to let the attorney withdraw from a case. "Good cause" means that the judge has decided that there is a good reason the attorney should not continue to work on the case. It would be almost impossible to make a backroom deal that the client does not know about in the two areas of law where I practice, family law and criminal law. Per the Tennessee and United States Constitutions a criminal defendant must appear in person to plead guilty or stand trial. An attorney cannot plead guilty for a client and an attorney cannot present paperwork alone for defendant in a criminal case to plead guilty. The judge must see the person, question the person and observe his/her answers. So, the defendant must be in front of the judge. This is especially if the defendant is in jail.In family court, under almost all circumstances, when dealing with cases involving individuals, and not insurance companies, businesses, or corporations, the judge will not accept any agreement or settlement between the parties unless the paperwork has the client's signature and that signature is notarized or the client in the lawsuit appears in person and on the record states that the documents, orders, final decree, parenting plan, etc., reflect the his/her/their agreement. Juvenile court and family court judges do this for the reason that they do not want a party to come back to court later and claim he/she did not know about or agree to the settlement and ask to redo the case. There would be almost no way for me to do a backroom deal, keeping it from the client, in my areas of practice: Family Law and Criminal Law. Attorneys do not negotiate illegal deals because it would be pointless. The judge reviews and approves all court settlements and would not let an "illegal" deal go through. That would make a fool out of the judge. The illegal agreement would eventually be discovered, perhaps by someone in the clerk's office. I would not bother to negotiate an "illegal deal," because it would never get by the judge. There would be no reason.I do always give my clients my professional opinion, based on the state/federal statutes that apply, the current case law, and my 27 years of experience as an attorney. I give opinions about all aspects of the case, including the likelihood of possible outcomes. This is a private opinion that comes as part of my representation and I do not share it with others. Regardless of my legal opinions, I respect that my client is the litigant and it is his/her goals that we are trying to accomplish. Sometimes, but not always, I will give a percentage estimate to different outcomes based on my past experienced. This, however, is a supposition and the actual result will depend on many factors. I never guarantee an outcome.Again, this is how the law operates in general. This does not address any one case specifically.

Thank you so much for the kind review. I have compassion in my heart for people who find themselves in need of a lawyer.