Harry Gross: Initially, it sounds devious

Dear Harry: Last winter, I slipped and fell on a wet floor in a retail store. I had to have major surgery on one of my legs. That required 11 days in the hospital and more than two months in rehab. Since it was a large chain store, I retained a lawyer to handle the case. It turns out that he had been disbarred so he had another lawyer do the work that could be seen while he "helped" as a paralegal. The case was settled for less than I thought I should get, but my lawyer pressured me and embarrassed me publicly to accept the offer. However, I signed the agreement without my middle initial. In every other place in the agreement my name had the initial, including the typed name under my signature. It appears that way on my driver's license, checks, credit cards, etc. Can I have that agreement voided and sue my lawyer for bullying me into not going to court?

What Harry says: That agreement stands! You may have thought that your missing initial would let you decide later to try this maneuver (and I fully suspect that this is the case), but you did sign. There was no forgery. Moreover, you had witnesses. Bullying and embarrassing are not the same as having a gun put to your head, either.

Write Harry Gross c/o the Daily News, 400 N. Broad St., Philadelphia, PA 19130. Harry urges all his readers to give blood - contact the American Red Cross at 800-Red Cross.