Treat Jeffrey S

We hired Attorney Treat to represent us in a civil matter where a neighbor filed a drainage complaint against us in the local PA District Magistrate's Court. The neighbor's complaint claimed the drainage pipe in our yard, that carried water from the community road drainage crossover pipe into the drainage/utility easement along our common property line, was causing flooding in his side yard. Mr. Treat's legal advice was the neighbor did not have a standing due to the deeded drainage/utility easement in the community property deeds and subdivision maps. The District Magistrate decided the case in our favor due to the water going into the deeded drainage easement. We were pleased with this decision and Attorney Treat's representation of our case to that point.

To our dismay, the neighbor filed an appeal with the PA Court of Common Pleas and retained a lawyer to represent them in the appeal. Mr. Treat was again hired to represent us on the appeal and his legal opinion was the neighbor still had no standing and he couldn't believe an attorney would take the case based on the property details. The case proceeded and went on for two years. Since we sold our property in the interim, the new owners were also named in the appeal. We continued to follow Mr. Treat's advice right down a legal rabbit hole. We wound up going to trial, which failed to reach a conclusion during the first appearance. A new date to continue the trial took place a few months later. It was at this point that Mr. Treat emphatically stated that the judge on the case wanted a settlement and reversed course on us while at the court during this second appearance. He had suggested just prior to the court date, if a settlement could be reached that everyone in the case would contribute to, would we consider settling? We said if it’s a fair settlement. Then at the court appearance, he put us on the spot with settlement demands that placed the burden entirely on us. He knew the pressure of the trial was adversely affecting my wife and I and used it to his advantage. After all of the statements that the neighbor had no standing and it was a frivolous law suit, to now we may lose this and cost us a lot more due to the demands of the neighbor's attorney! Being between a proverbial rock and a hard place, we settled the case. The settlement wound up costing us our legal fees, the new property owner's legal fees, paying a contractor to re-route the drainage pipe and a payment to the neighbor who sued us. All toll, it wound up costing us $46,000.00. Attorney Treat collected his fees and went on his merry way. I would have had much more respect for this attorney if at the outset of this case, he would have just advised us to hire a contractor from and change the drainage. We would have saved $36,000.00, two years of our life and avoided court. So be warned how things can turn out!

I am an accomplished Realtor/ Private Investor
with over 20 years experience in Real Estate and private investing.

I was recently faced with a tough very costly personal subdivision situation.
Should I pursue or not?

If I we’re working with a client I would have suggested they seek financial and legal advice before purchasing.

I followed my own advice.

I had to decide if I was going to go through the red tape with the township or move on and look for other opportunities.

Attorney Treat guided me in a favorable direction.

He saved me money and gave me his professional opinion.

I’d use his services again.

Thank you!
Brenda Isakson