Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  09/16/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  A Land Trust was prepaid ******* and not delivered via email.

  

  Business response

  10/03/2024

  We sincerely apologize for the delay in responding to this matter. The timeframe for response included a period when our offices were closed due to severe weather conditions caused by Hurricane ******, which temporarily disrupted our operations.

  Regarding the clients complaint, while we are unable to provide specific details of her legal matter due to privacy obligations, we want to emphasize that her allegations are inaccurate. The client retained our services on April 26, 2024, a Friday, and expressed an urgent need for document preparation. Understanding the urgency, we made her case a top priority, reallocating resources and temporarily pausing work on existing matters for other clients.
  
  Our team worked expeditiously to finalize the draft documents and securely emailed them to the clients verified email address for her review on the very same dayApril 26, 2024. It is important to note that April 26th was a Friday, and our offices are closed on weekends. The client then contacted us the following Monday, April 29, 2024, stating that she had not received the documents. Furthermore, the clients call came in less than an hour before our close of business for the day on Monday.
  
  When she called our office, she was transferred by our receptionist to our executive assistants voicemail, as the assistant was unavailable at that moment. The executive assistant promptly returned the clients call but received no response. To ensure thorough communication, the assistant then sent a follow-up text message to the clients cell phone, notifying her that the documents had been sent and advising her to check her spam or junk folder. Again, the client did not respond to these communication attempts.
  
  It is also important to note that the client signed a retainer agreement that clearly stated our firms non-refundable fee policy, with this clause prominently displayed immediately below the fee amount section.
  
  On May 16, 2024, we received notification from our credit card processor, LawPay, that the client had initiated a chargeback. We promptly submitted comprehensive documentation showing that the services were delivered as agreed and that the matter was handled with the urgency requested. On June 10, 2024, ****** notified us that the chargeback was reversed in our favor, as the evidence we provided substantiated our position. However, on June 20, 2024, we were informed by ****** that the client did not accept the outcome, and the matter was escalated to pre-arbitration.
  
  Despite the potential cost to our firm$500 in additional fees if the case is ruled against **** have stood firm in our position, maintaining that we acted in good faith and fulfilled our professional obligations to the client. Just prior to us responding to this BBB complaint, we followed up with our credit card processing company and were informed that the clients bank had not submitted their required documentation to proceed into arbitration. As a result, the case has been resolved in our favor by default.
  
  We hope this clarifies our position and outlines the thoroughness and responsiveness with which we approached this matter. If additional information is required, please contact us.
  

• Initial Complaint

  01/13/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I paid $5,545 for the firm to prepare a Revocable Living Trust Package. After they prepared the draft documents, they informed me that I would need a guardian to implement many of these documents and gave me the name of one person. They hadn't mentioned a "guardian" previously and I had no knowledge of this. I called this person, ***************************** ****, and she informed me she had gone out of the guardianship business immediately. In addition, since she lived in ******************* and I in s. ***********, the distance was too great for her to provide such services to me in any event. She referred me to someone else. I called the Mortellaro law firm and they gave me another name,,***** something. She is not a guardian. She gave me another name to call and this round ***** went on for some time. Finally I called Mortellaro back and was connected with an attorney *********. He spoke to me in an extremely hostile manner and hung up.

  

  Business response

  01/18/2023

  To Whom It May ********************* you for bringing the complaint to our attention. As a legal practice, we are subject to the guidelines set forth by the ******* Bar, which prohibits us from confirming or providing any comment on whether the complainant is a client of our law firm, or on the matter being reported.
  
  We assure you that we take all complaints with utmost seriousness and will address it in a manner that is compliant with our professional obligations, and as a result, we will not be commenting further on this matter.
  
  
  Respectfully,

  *******************
  Communications Director
  Mortellaro Law 
  *******************************
  *************

  on behalf of:
  
  Michelangelo Mortellaro, Esq
  Founding Attorney & Counselor at Law
  Mortellaro Law

*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. ↩