By DON DARE
6 On Your Side Reporter
LENOIR CITY (WATE) - A Lenoir city woman called 6 On Your Side after a serious problem came up in her legal settlement. Her doctor was never paid.
This lawsuit was settled a couple of years ago. Angela Miller received her medical treatment and thought her doctor was being paid as her settlement specified.
However, she received a collection letter in September informing her the doctor had not been paid, and she was liable.
To ease her chronic pain, Angela continues to take medication as the result of an accident in January 2008. She was hit from behind while she was stopped at a red light on Kingston Pike and David Road.
The person who hit her was insured, but Angela hired an attorney to work out the details of the compensation. "The lady that hit me, her insurance company sent my attorney a check for $26,500," Angela explained.
According to legal documents, the case was settled out of court in December 2009.
"Now I get a letter from a creditor that the chiropractor has never been paid, and they're going after me for $7,480," Angela said. "The lawyer was supposed to pay that bill, according to the papers that they gave me."
The settlement sheet Angela received from her attorney shows the pay out was $26,500.
West Knox Chiropractic Group was to receive close to $6,000, but the collection letter said the office was never paid.
"If they don't get the money somehow, I'm scared to death they're going to come after me," Angela said. "I don't have that kind of money to pay it back. It wasn't my responsibility to pay it back. It my attorney's."
Angela tried to contact the lawyer who settled her case. "I called the Nolan Law Firm and their number had been disconnected," she said.
Her attorney was Brent Nolan, of the Nolan Law Firm. She found where he's working through the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility. He's still licensed and serves as general counsel for a company in North Knox County.
Angela never spoke with Nolan. Instead, she talked to his paralegal, Adam St. James.
"He asked me if I had the money to pay these bills," Angela said. "I told him, no. It's not my responsibility. They were supposed to take care of that."
Then Nolan's office and paralegal Adam St. James called Angela claiming the bill had been paid.
"I show discrepancies," St. James said. "I show as everything being paid, and we have a dispute with Knox. I have turned it over to Jane, our bookkeeper."
That message was sent over two weeks ago. After several phone calls between 6 On Your Side and Brent Nolan's new office in Powell, several things have happened.
We confirmed Angela's doctor bill had not been paid by her attorney after the settlement.
6 On Your Side requested an interview with Brent Nolan, but he declined to speak on camera.
By phone, Nolan said there had been "a misunderstanding" and "the issue should have been handled better," but he corrected the problem. He paid the doctor bill.
"Now they have sent me a check," Angela said. "They have paid the West Knox Chiropractic Group that they owed the full amount." The check is for $5,754. The chiropractor group dropped its $1,726 in fees.
"I'm satisfied everything has been taken care of, but I'm still upset the whole thing happened in the first place," Angela said.
Disappointed with her attorney, several weeks ago Angela contacted the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility, which helps people with questions or problems with their attorney.
She told the board the issue has been settled. However, she was told the board will continue its investigation.
"I'm satisfied everything has been taken care of, but I'm still upset the whole thing happened in the first place," Angela Miller said.
