I'm sharing my experience so other families don't go through what ours did. All concerns were properly brought to their attention, but we only got the run around and defensive. They will stand by their wrong doings and I don’t think they ever had any intention in making things right.
During the initial consultation, they emphasized their reputation, connections with judges, police departments, the District Attorney's office, and the strength of their legal team. We were told our case would typically cost $25,000-$35,000. We quickly learned it was all a dog and pony show.
About 2½ weeks later, we had been billed nearly $19,000. During that time, the case had not even been filed, and the attorneys had little information beyond what we provided. Our experience with this firm is that fees quickly escalated far more quickly than the work performed.
We found several concerning billing practices that was brought to their attention, including:
* Charges that predate our signed contract, which the firm later acknowledged but did not correct.
* Charges disproportionate to the stage of the case.
* Multiple people billing for the same redundant work in 12-minute minimum increment (leaving a voicemails, forwarding a zoom link/email, brief emails, etc.) despite this not being stated in the contract or communicated.
* Billing for counseling we repeatedly stated we did not want.
* More than 10 attorneys, paralegals, and staff billing on our case without that staffing model/number of people ever being disclosed.
* Nearly daily layered staffing/billing for "internal strategy sessions" and "internal conferences" after substantial preparation with no meaningful developments.
At nearly $19,000 in just 2½ weeks, we had no choice but to leave the firm. At the time, we were dealing with an overwhelming family crisis and didn't have the emotional capacity to dispute every billing entry immediately—we simply knew the billing was financially unsustainable.
A few weeks later, I requested a billing review. The firm responded that they take our concerns seriously, would like to talk to us directly, and asked me to prepare a detailed list of concerns, which I sent well before our scheduled meeting. Based on the discussion at our meeting, those concerns were never reviewed. Again, we were told our concerns will be taken seriously, feedback is appreciated, they did a lot behind the scenes, fees are industry standards, business is conducted differently at their firm, they charge a 12 minute minimum because it takes a lot of energy to switch from one task to another, and the invoices would be reviewed with a fine tooth comb. The firm acknowledged that we had been billed before retaining them and that they had provided services we had explicitly declined, yet it was never corrected nothing was credited.
About eight weeks later, we received an email stating they stood behind all of the billing and saw no need for credits. They waived the $1,500 pending balance “as a courtesy considering the circumstances” and “they can close out your case.” In reality, we had already replaced our credit card to prevent any additional charges until we had resolution.
n my opinion, this firm's billing practices were deeply concerning, lack transparency, unwilling to meaningfully address legitimate questions/concerns after the fact, and left us feeling taken advantage. I feel they’re more concerned with filling their pockets rather than taking care of their clients.
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