Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  12/04/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I hired Tresp Law in May 2024 to draft an estate plan for my elderly parents. Because my parents are from ***** and not native English speakers, they needed me to help facilitate the process with our lawyer ******* ********. When I had first reached out to Tresp before engaging their services, I had asked if this would be an issue and if we would require a translator at any point. They said that as long as I was able to help communicate their wishes and the beneficiary distribution was straightforward, then translation would not be necessary. In the original fee agreement, there was also no mention of translation required to execute the trust documents for my parents. My parents and I went to the Tresp office on Oct 7 for the intake meeting so that they could begin the process of drafting the documents. Again, there was no mention of translation required to finalize the drafts. After being unresponsive for weeks, Makenna finally emailed on Oct. 24 to state her opinion that translation would be needed to ensure no future challenges to the estate. Makenna then offered a refund on Oct. 28 of the fee we paid so that we could seek new counsel. She replied on Nov 4. that it would be the full $3600 and confirmed that the *************** would be preparing a check. On Nov. 14. Makenna reneged on that offer. On Nov. 19 I spoke with ***** Tresp, a partner in the firm, and he reiterated that they would no longer provide us with a refund and that Makenna had given us incorrect information. This is extremely unprofessional and unethical conduct. If translation of documents was required from the beginning, they should have communicated that so that we could build it into our fee considerations when considering legal counsel. After initially offering a refund so we could seek new counsel, they later reneged on that offer. I feel that they are trying to take advantage of elderly senior citizens who are also not native English speakers, which is extremely disappointing.

  Business response

  12/12/2024

  The complainant is not the client of Tresp Law, APC. Our clients are her parents, who engaged us to draft estate planning documents, which we completed in accordance with the terms of the fee agreement. The fee agreement outlines the scope of representation, which was limited to drafting the documents. Execution (signing) was not a part of the engagement, however, we do often provide assistance with signing as a courtesy. In this case, the clients were limited English speakers. We do not provide any translation services, as we communicated from the beginning. Upon meeting with attorney ********, the clients indicated that their daughter, who was also a beneficiary, would assist in translation. After the work was complete we became aware that the complainant was not properly translating the documents. Therefore, attorney ******** advised that the clients should obtain independent translation to ensure there would be no future contest of their estate plan. Attorneys have an ethical obligation to advise their clients of the legal course of action that would be in their best interest. Complainant stood to benefit from the estate planning documents, and since the complainant would not accurately translate for the clients, the best interest of our clients would only be served through independent translation. However, they were advised that they could seek execution of the completed documents by any notary, and that obtaining translation was their choice. The complainant became agitated, which caused further concern that she may have a personal interest in avoiding independent translation. We stand by our advice to our clients, her parents. The work was completed in its entirety and provided to our clients before any refund request was made by complainant (not by our clients) and only after attorney ******** expressed her advice to seek proper translation. A refund would be inappropriate when the work was completed and proper legal advice was rendered.
  

  Customer response

  01/22/2025

  Tresp is misrepresenting the facts. I initially hired them to do two estate plans -- one for me and my husband, and one for my parents. The estate plan for me and my husband was completed before we started on my parents' plan. I was involved every step of the way with my parent's estate plan with their full consent. Tresp originally said professional translation would NOT be required at any stage of this process. If they had been upfront about the need for professional translation, our family would have obviously chosen a different law firm or requested a more accurate quote that would include translation services from a third party. Instead, Tresp took our money upfront and DID NOT complete the execution of the estate plan as we agreed upon. They never even gave us a chance to make a fully informed decision regarding translation costs before they started the work, and our family had no idea it would be thousands of dollars on top of what we had already paid for the estate plan. I have consulted with other law firms to see if they would be able to finish execution of the estate plan that Tresp falsely claims is "done" and unsurprisingly, no other law firm would agree to execute the paperwork drafted by a competing firm. This means that my parents would have to pay a significant amount of money for another law firm to completely redo Tresp's work. As stated in my original complaint, I have an email from Oct. 28, 2024 from lawyer ******* ******** offering us a full refund that they later reneged on providing. I'm attaching a screenshot of that email. Tresp is simply being unethical and unfair, taking financial advantage of senior citizens who are not fully fluent in English. It's outrageous that they insinuate I am taking advantage of my parents, when I am simply advocating on their behalf -- something Tresp would not understand as they are not ethical advocates for their clients. If they were ethical, they would've given our family a fair chance to consider translation costs before taking our money and claiming the paperwork is done. In reality, they reneged on providing a refund when they realized they couldn't provide effective counsel/services and wanted to show us the door. On behalf of my parents, we are requesting a full refund of the fee we paid for an incomplete execution of the estate plan. 
  
  
  Thanks, 

  Business response

  01/22/2025

  Our original response stands and is factually accurate, as confirmed by the fee agreement attached by the complainant. The fee agreement shows:
  1. The complainant was not a client in this matter.
  2. *********** services were not included in the agreed scope.
  3. Exectution of the drafted documents were not included in the agreed scope.
  
  Complainant alleges that professional translation was required by the law firm, but that is inaccurate. As we agreed at the beginning of the engagement, complainant would translate, which also proves that we did not require professional translation. Once the documents were complete, in accordance with the fee agreement, the complainant refused or was unable to provide the agreed-upon translation. At that point, the attorney had the ethical obligation to advocate for her clients to receive accurate translation before executing the documents. 
  
  The clients were advised that any notary could execute the documents for them. Apparently, the complainant was unsuccessful in convincing others to execute the documents without translation either. This report and public reviews posted by the complainant are defamatory. We stand by the quality of our work and the completeness of the estate planning documents for which we were contracted to draft.
  
  

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