The Law Offices of James L. Arrasmith

I was denied a disability accommodation by my school. I contracted with this firm to help in obtaining my disability accommodation. There were multiple delays in work on my case. There were so many purposeful reassignments on my case, so many different legal secretaries, paralegals, and lawyers, and I was charged billable hours for these new staff members to get up to date on my case. These personnel changes resulted in delayed work and delayed contact with my school's counsel. In reviewing itemized invoices, I was charged billable hours for these staff members to get up to date on my case, then they did not continue work on my case. The lack of communication was alarming. I would wait for weeks for an answer. When I finally reached someone, they told me they were no longer working on my case. Once I was given contact information for my updated team, but two additional times I wasn't, yet was told these new team members would reach out to me. They didn't. They only reached out after I left phone messages and emails with team members who were no longer on my case. I was supposed to be informed when my retainer fell below 35%, so I could determine if and how I wanted to proceed. Instead, I received 6 bills at once; not only was the entire retainer depleted, but I was charged $7,000 for work I had not authorized. Had I been informed when and how my retainer had been depleted, I would have immediately terminated before these additional, inflated $7,000 charges. There were 25 instances of double billing in these invoices.
This firm is predatory. I don't want anyone else to experience what I did. This has been one of the biggest violations of trust I have ever experienced--and I have been raped and sexually assaulted. I don't wish my experience on my worst enemy. I terminated with this attorney and hired another attorney, who is shocked that it has taken more than 6 months without obtaining my reasonable disability accommodation.

We are dealing with Indian tribal law, and hopefully we'll win our case.

Paid over $20K for representation. No demand letter was successfully delivered and no complaint was filed. Communication was extremely limited almost non-existent. I had to pursue fee arbitration to recover a portion of the fees and they were only ordered to refund 4k out of 20k wasted. Thought I was hiring someone to advocate for my daughter with disabilities and ended up with my daughter exploited yet again. Would not recommend.