Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  12/09/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  i hired this individual to help me with my divorce/criminal charges that were pending. i had a family lawyer but since i might be getting charges this ***** ****** guy was referred to me by his friend because he does both criminal and family. i spoke to him and he explained that he had done other jobs with the opposing lawyer and that he would help me and charge me a one time fee of 7500 to defend me in case i get charges filed. after 2 yrs i kept on asking if chargers were filed he said that they got dropped 3 times. a week later charges showed up and i asked him what was next and he said that i only paid him to represent me on family matter. he showed me the contract i signed and that i had to hired a criminal lawyer to help me. i lost my house, 315000 dollars that was sitting on my ex-wife's account, he got intimidated by the other lawyer and did nothing for me. i did not even get a change to recover any of my belongings. I haven't seen my daughter for 3 years, after i caught him lying he said that it was unethical to continue to help me and just quit and did not finish anything and let me hanging homeless and jobless with pending chargers. he asked me to hire and investigator to assist, which i did and he never used any of evidence i gave him or the investigator.

  Business response

  12/19/2022

  Dear Ms. *******,

  I can only find two things that are true in Mr. *******'s complaint. Number one, he hired me to represent him in his divorce, and number two, when he incorrectly stated to me that he hired me to represent him in his criminal case, I showed him our contract for services that showed he only hired me for the divorce. 

  Now I will address each of the mistruths in order:

    1. Mr. ******** did not hire me for his criminal case.

    2. I never told Mr. ******** that his criminal charges were dropped.

    3. Mr. ********'s divorce was settled by an agreement he entered in court under oath with me, his attorney, by his side. The judge asked him specific questions under oath such as, "Have you hear and understood the terms of your agreement, and is this still your agreement?" "Are you entering into this agreement freely and voluntarily?" "Are you under the influence of any drugs or medication that would make it difficult for you to understand what's going on here today?" After being satisfied that both parties heard and understood the terms of the divorce settlement, the judge accepted the party's divorce settlement. 

    4. I did not "just quit" Mr. ********'s case. For months, Mr. ******** refused to communicate with me and my staff when we tried to finalize his divorce. When Mr. ******** did finally communicate with me and my staff, he refused to address our instructions and issues that needed to be resolved to finalize his divorce. His communication was so harassing and derogatory in nature that I filed a motion with the court to be relieved as his counsel. At the hearing, Mr. ******** continued his disparaging remarks against me on the record. Before ruling on my request to be relieved, the judge asked him if he was ok with me being relieved as his counsel and Mr. ******** said yes. The judge then made it official that I was off the case and no longer represented Mr. ********.

    5. Mr. ******** claims I did not "finish anything" and "left him hanging". This is false. Me, the opposing attorney, and the opposing party, all did our part to finalize his divorce. Mr. ******** would not cooperate. Prior to filing the motion to be relieved as counsel, I and my staff went to great lengths to get Mr. ******** to sign the necessary judgement paperwork to finalize his divorce under the terms he agreed to on the record, under oath, in court. Mr. ******** refused to even communicate with us about this. 

    6. Mr. ********'s letter implies that I am the reason he is homeless, jobless, and has pending criminal charges. Nothing can be further from the truth. I worked diligently for nearly two years representing Mr. ******** in his family law case only to have Mr. ******** refuse to communicate with me and my office. And when he did communicate with us, his communication was harassing and disparaging. 

    7. Mr. ******** claims he "caught me in a lie". This is false. I have never lied to Mr. ********.

    8. After I was relieved as his counsel at our last hearing, Mr. ******** confronted me at the courthouse. I ignored his threat and kept walking. If Mr. ******** continues to confront or harasses me or my staff, I will be filing a civil harassment restraining order against him. 

  I read in Mr. ********'s complaint that the desired settlement is "Other", "Refund", and "Finish the Job".

  1. Regarding a refund. Mr. ******** paid me a flat fee of $7,500 to represent him in his divorce. My hourly rate is $350, and my paralegal’s hourly rate is $150. If we breakdown the work we did for Mr. ******** over the two-year period with my office’s hourly rates, the legal fees far exceed the $7,500 he paid as flat fee.

  2. Regarding “finish the job”. I did everything possible to finish the job including preparing the final judgement paperwork for the divorce. The only reason the judgement has not been submitted to the court for the judge’s signature is because Mr. ******** refuses to sign the judgement. At our last hearing where I was relieved as counsel, prior to being relieved by the court, I held up the final divorce judgment paperwork and told the judge that if Mr. ******** signs this paperwork right now, I’ll stay on the case, and the case will be finished. Mr. ******** refused and began to disparage me on the record. The only thing holding up his divorce from being finalized is his refusal to cooperate with “finishing the job”. In addition, at our last hearing, prior to the judge relieving me as his attorney, Mr. ******** said “yes” when the judge asked him if he is ok with me being relieved as his attorney.

  3. When I left the courtroom after being relieved as counsel, I was informed by an officer of the court that the opposing counsel in the case attempted to get Mr. ******** to sign the final divorce judgement paperwork on the record so the case would be finished. At first, he agreed, then he refused without explanation.

  
  Sincerely,

   

  
  ***** D. ******

  Customer response

  12/20/2022

   I am rejecting this response because:
  This individual is a fraudulent liar, first able, on the first email to BBB, he said that he was my 3rd lawyer, making it seen as if I'm a very bad client. I did have other lawyer and a very honest one. The reason I hired you was because your college friend which happened to be my second lawyer advised me that you advertise on practicing both laws, criminal and family, therefore, I contacted you, and I explained all my situation, how I had just gotten assaulted at work by eight prisoners and I was dealing with psychological issues, lost my Mom, caught my ex-wife cheating on me in my house with a coworker, also that her lawyer was a former judge in this particular court. You agreed to help me on a flat fee of 7,500 dollars because according to you, you have had other cases with this  lawyer so you know how to talk to him. However, I made a mistake by not checking up the reviews that talk about you getting intimidated by the judge and other lawyers along with not returning calls because you only have one person working for you and she is never there, I believe she has a part time with you. Second able, how dare you say that you never told me that the chargers were dropped 3 times. I do happen to have witnesses to proof all your lies, you allowed my friend ****** ******* to listen to our conversations.  Also, when it comes to the divorce settlement, I always told you that I wanted half of everything, which your response was that no judge in California was going to allow that, then I said well then let the judge ruled on it. You always had me sitting outside the court room, I  don't understand the reason but after you going back and forward with her lawyer that day, you came out and said that the judge had ruled on it, that my ex-wife would get the house which is paid for, 315,000 thousand dollars  in the bank and  apparently all my belongings. When the judge asked you if we had an agreement, right away you stated on record that we came into an agreement, that is incorrect, I never agreed to leaving her 100% of everything including my belongings which I always asked you to get for me. I have emails directed to you asking for my belongings along with all that she had gotten rid off which belong to me. Third able, I have emails that were send to you requesting updates which were not responded until 4 days later with the same excuse blaming on the other side. On the issue with my daughter, I did caught you in several lies, when I had just spoke to the chat house regarding my visitations been cancel by my ex-wife without explanation, you said that you called them and told me a bogus story. I said ***** I just spoke to them and they said the Mom has covid -19, you lied. On another lie, you said to hired an investigator to help with the case, not only I hired an investigator, I gave you plenty of documents to present in court along with recordings of my daughters' maltreatment which you never bother to bring them in court even though I kept on asking you. now, you are saying that you ignored my threat, wow,  ***** you need to be review by Federal courts this is insane, I don't leave in the area and the day your college friend, (the judge) dismiss you even though I asked her not to let you walk away,  you picked up your bag and left as if someone was chasing you, after that I haven't talk to you nor do I want to. And yes, I lost my daughter thanks to you, lost my job thanks to you, I have a restraining order thanks to you although I don't leave in the area and never touch my daughter or my ex-wife. You never brought this up in court to clear me from this accusations because the other lawyer intimidated you.  
  
  

  Business response

  12/21/2022

  Dear Ms. *******,

  I have been asked to respond to the above consumer's rejection that I received on December 20, 2022. Mr. ********'s assertions and rendition of events are completely inaccurate. At no time did I ever lie to him about any manner involving his case. Several of our interactions that he discusses occurred in court and were on the record and are completely contrary to his assertions. Mr. ******** sadly even blames me for the loss of his daughter, his job, and the existence of a restraining order against him. These loses were instead caused by his alleged criminal behavior for which he is presently facing felony charges.

  Sincerely, 

   

  ***** D. ******

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩