[Stephen Maturin]

The ICPC is state law, which only serves to make the lawyers' conduct all the more egregious. I've got a vitriolic rant floating around in my head about how incompetent lawyers do at least as much (and probably more) damage every year than incompetent doctors, but now's not the time.

This whole mess sucks, LadyShea. Based on the limited information available in this thread, it's probably too soon to pull the lawsuit trigger. Legal malpractice claims, like all other professional negligence claims, are very expensive to prosecute. From a practical standpoint, litigation expenses would likely exceed your potential recovery at this point.

For now, the wisest course is to play ball with the NC ICPC authorities. When they're happy, everyone's happy.

Once everything is concluded and all three of you are home for keeps, you can consider asking your lawyer to reimburse you for the out-of-pocket expenses you incurred on account of the fuck-up. If the lawyer has any scruples at all, s/he'll offer to pay those expenses without being asked.

If, heaven forbid, a legal malpractice suit becomes necessary, I'll make it my personal mission to find y'all an experienced, competent attorney to handle the case. Also, it seems to me that the state attorney disciplinary authorities might be interested in hearing that certain lawyers are handling cases they're not competent to handle without bringing in co-counsel. That's a big fat no-no under the attorney ethics rules of all states.