Hahn Loeser & Parks LLP – San Diego, CA

I was referred to Brent who was terrible to start work with.

On Mar 14, he emails me to discuss my case. He is quick to book me for a Mar 16 call.

On Mar 16, I tell him what I'm looking for (a demand letter to get payment on a contract where the invoice is net 90 overdue, with heavy documentation of successful deliverables and no verbal/written issues to deny payment). He says he can quickly get on my case but I need to send him the timeline/document summary and pay the $2500 retainer.

I tell Brent my concerns about the high retainer for a little amount of work. For context, I paid $7500 for a huge employment law case of over $1M+ funds missing and never received any retainer back (after they sent 1 demand letter, then resigned when I didn't want to go to court. I ended up negotiating the settlement on my own and received almost all the funds). I've worked with many lawyers, and never gotten a retainer back as they find ways to make up ridiculous billable hours (16 hr to review 2 documents of 10 pages total).

However, I agreed to $2500 since I had someone else covering the fees and I wasn't concerned about recovering the contract funds -- what I did care about was that this Managing Director kept withholding payment for 4+ contractors we had documentation on (including myself), and that he was likely to keep exploiting contractors who were vulnerable.

On Mar 18, I send him the documents within 2 business days on Mar 18. He doesn't follow up confirming he got them or sends the contract/payment link to start work. After emailing and texting Brent about the contract and start of litigation, I finally hear back.

On April 1, he finally sends over the agreement with.... a $3500 retainer. That's 1k over when we agreed with on the phone. I finally tell my friend who referred me that his friend is trying to screw me over (he probably heard that I was wealthy already) and then Brent responds he will refer me elsewhere with a lower retainer for a small deliverable. I turn down his offer as I don't trust him, and can't imagine the quality of his referrals if he was this terrible to work for, esp. he trying to deceive me into paying a higher retainer.

I highly DO NOT recommend working with Brent or this firm of professionals who can't communicate, price fairly or do good ethical work. Brent is a scummy, deceptive, unethical, disorganized and highly uncommunicative lawyer to work with. He should have said he was busy with this case on pause for several weeks, and should have offered a $1000 retainer (as I only wanted a demand letter and nothing else, as I'd drop it after that).

Watch out for this guy if you are seeking help any legal matters!

I cannot say enough about this firm, and their attorneys. Over the past couple years, I have had the opportunity to work with Samuel Sneed on a number of matters. The heart and dedication that he commits to his clients is an inspiration and an example to the rest of us. Sam's tireless work ethic is surpassed only by his legal acumen and knowledge of the law. I trust him implicitly, and would recommend him to anyone in need of his services.