This applies to all the lawyers in the state. When I first started practicing, I used to take pro bono cases from the local legal services clinic, but gave that up because I quickly learned that the people who pay the least, expect the most. Now I give my time to not-for-profit organizations rather than to individuals.
True story: I was once assigned a landlord/tenant case regarding the return of an $800 security deposit. I sent several letters to the landlord, and to then to the landlord's attorney, but she was not going to return the deposit, leaving me no choice, but to bring on a lawsuit in landlord/tenant court. By this time, I had already given about $400 worth of free time and told the client that the case would probably cost another $2000 in my time, and that we should try to settle because the landlord has some legitimate defenses to the claim. He refused because he wasn't paying for my time. I then offered to give him the entire $800 out of my pocket because that was less than half the cost of litigating and why should I have to give away $2000 or more in free legal services when I can write the client a check for $800 and be done with it. The client refused my offer because in his words, he wanted "justice." So we went to trial, and the entire dispute from begining to end cost nearly $3000 in my time, and when we lost the case, the client filed a claim against me with the grievance committee claiming that I was incompetent.
Well Good Grief! It is true -- no good deed goes unpunished.
Sounds like your client had a bad case of the gimmees. What can we do to stop this abuse of the legal system? It seems that, if the attorney deems the case unwinnable, and the client insists on going forward with the case, the client should bear some financial responsibility.
For the client, this was a "no lose" situation -- if he won, he got the money, if he lost, it cost him nothing, and he could try to sue again (if someone were to take the case against you). This certainly isn't fair to either the attorney or the paying customers who have to wait their turn while cases like this are heard.