Elkins & Muir

Initial Business Response /(1000, 8, 2019/03/13) */
To Whom It May Concern:

I was retained by Ms. on January 31, 2017 as evidenced by the signed retainer agreement (attached). She had previously filed for divorce in 2011 (case #DXXXXXXXX) and after it was dismissed and reinstated by the court it was then put indefinitely on the inactive calendar by the court (a mistake on the part of the Clerk of the Court). Ms., who was representing herself then filed a second divorce action (case # DXXXXXXXX). One of the issues in the original case was the division of Ms. retirement. When she hired me, I researched the case and found that the court had erred by not dismissing the previous case, therefore filed a pleading to have the two cases consolidated. The result of the consolidation was that Ms. saved thousands of dollars on the division of her retirement because the court used the original date of service (July 20, 2012) as the date the community ended. Therefore, all of the contributions she made into her retirement account after the date of service were not community and her ex-husband was not entitled to any of it. Yes, from the time that Ms. hired me there were a few continuances of hearings, but the continuances she refers to have to do with the hearing scheduled on April 2, 2018. This hearing had to be continued because I was ill and was then rescheduled to April 18, 2018, then rescheduled again to May 10, 2018 because the judge was sick. ( I do not remember which hearing she is referring to that "all the parties were on their way or at the courthouse.") Regardless, people get sick and it is unavoidable. The bottom line is that she got the end result that she wanted in the divorce, which was to pay her ex-husband a minimal amount of the retirement. I accomplished this by exploiting the court's error and successfully moving the court to consolidate the original case with the new one she filed on her own.

As to her complaining about the cancellations, she is correct, the retainer agreement states that she would be charged for a cancellation that was less than 24 hours. This is a clause was never used against Ms. during the course of her case. The retainer agreement also states that we can charge for each and every email and phone call as well as every copy that is made during the course of the case. Ms. was not charged for all of the emails that she sent that were read and answered nor was she charged for every piece of paper that was used during the course of her case, so if you want to be a stickler, she owes me far more than $927.

The Retainer Agreement signed by Ms. states that after the initial retainer is spent (her retainer was $3500), the client is responsible for making monthly payments of $350 per month. If her balance exceeded $1500, she would be responsible for paying immediately the amount over $1500 if they want me to remain on the case. She was aware of these terms because she signed the agreement and initialed each paragraph. Ms. balance did exceed the $1500 and when asked to bring her account current, she balked and refused to make her monthly payments. My Business Manager had to send her several emails as well as call her on multiple occasions to ask her to bring her account current. Although she was behind on her payments, I attended the last hearing where we won the decision regarding the Rule 69 agreement. Further, I was ordered to draft the divorce decree by a date certain. At this time, Ms. was several thousand dollars behind on her bill, but made her demands clear that she wanted her decree drafted immediately. She was advised by my business manager that her decree would be completed by the deadline, but we would not put her case above other cases that are on my docket and had their own priority deadlines. She also needed to bring account current prior to the due date. She did not want to do this; therefore, her complaint to you.

This complaint should be seen for what it is, an agressive attempt to get out of paying a bill that she rightfully owes so that she does not get sent to collections. I did an exemplary job for Ms.. She was not the most pleasant of client to work with. My staff was calm and courteous with her and it was not until she starting making unreasonable demands of my time above my other paying clients that our relationship soured. If I were to act as a bank for all my clients, I would not be able to cover my overhead or pay my staff. Ms. had a most favorable outcome to her case and is not entitled to any type of a reduction in her fees nor should her complaint to the Revdex.com be considered valid. It should be dismissed immediately.

Initial Consumer Rebuttal /(3000, 10, 2019/03/22) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Ms. demeaner and response to my complaint is illustrative of reasons as to why I filed the complaint.
1. Ms. caused unnecessary delays in the case by being unable to attend a couple court hearings and didn't report her inability to attend until right before the hearings began.

Ms. did not respond to my complaint. She simply stated, and confirmed, that her retainer agreement states that I would be charged for a cancellation that was less than 24 hours and acknowledges that I did not cancel any of our meetings. She did not respond to her cancelling two hearings last minute. See attached where the other attorney addressed on incident with the court - page 1.

2. Ms. did not address the appointment that she missed April 14. She had a hearing scheduled at the same time and did not notify ahead of time. See attached email of me rescheduling the missed meeting with her staff - page 2.

3. Ms. did not address my complaint that on the many occasions she ignored my calls and emails causing me to reach out to her a few times to get a response increasing my time on the case. Instead she claims that she didn't charge me for all the emails and paper used in my case and says I owe her far more that she charged me. Ms. bills were very detailed and there is no evidence that she left of billable time and materials. Her billing is her responsibility and her claim after the fact now is unreasonable.

4. Ms. did not address my complaint about her unprofessional behavior. She reverts to boasting the successes of the case, which she has a professional responsibility to achieve. Attached is a couple emails showing similar boasting when I brought my concerns to her attention - pages 3 and 4.
Regardless of some of the successes that Ms. achieved in my case, her being a legal advocate does not allow her to be unprofessional and disrespectful of my time and for my concerns. I am asking for reasonable concessions for the time Ms. wasted my time, the vacation pay I lost and her unprofessional behavior.

Initial Business Response /(1000, 8, 2019/03/13) */
To Whom It May Concern:

I was retained by Ms. on January 31, 2017 as evidenced by the signed retainer agreement (attached). She had previously filed for divorce in 2011 (case #DXXXXXXXX) and after it was dismissed and reinstated by the court it was then put indefinitely on the inactive calendar by the court (a mistake on the part of the Clerk of the Court). Ms., who was representing herself then filed a second divorce action (case # DXXXXXXXX). One of the issues in the original case was the division of Ms. retirement. When she hired me, I researched the case and found that the court had erred by not dismissing the previous case, therefore filed a pleading to have the two cases consolidated. The result of the consolidation was that Ms. saved thousands of dollars on the division of her retirement because the court used the original date of service (July 20, 2012) as the date the community ended. Therefore, all of the contributions she made into her retirement account after the date of service were not community and her ex-husband was not entitled to any of it. Yes, from the time that Ms. hired me there were a few continuances of hearings, but the continuances she refers to have to do with the hearing scheduled on April 2, 2018. This hearing had to be continued because I was ill and was then rescheduled to April 18, 2018, then rescheduled again to May 10, 2018 because the judge was sick. ( I do not remember which hearing she is referring to that "all the parties were on their way or at the courthouse.") Regardless, people get sick and it is unavoidable. The bottom line is that she got the end result that she wanted in the divorce, which was to pay her ex-husband a minimal amount of the retirement. I accomplished this by exploiting the court's error and successfully moving the court to consolidate the original case with the new one she filed on her own.

As to her complaining about the cancellations, she is correct, the retainer agreement states that she would be charged for a cancellation that was less than 24 hours. This is a clause was never used against Ms. during the course of her case. The retainer agreement also states that we can charge for each and every email and phone call as well as every copy that is made during the course of the case. Ms. was not charged for all of the emails that she sent that were read and answered nor was she charged for every piece of paper that was used during the course of her case, so if you want to be a stickler, she owes me far more than $927.

The Retainer Agreement signed by Ms. states that after the initial retainer is spent (her retainer was $3500), the client is responsible for making monthly payments of $350 per month. If her balance exceeded $1500, she would be responsible for paying immediately the amount over $1500 if they want me to remain on the case. She was aware of these terms because she signed the agreement and initialed each paragraph. Ms. balance did exceed the $1500 and when asked to bring her account current, she balked and refused to make her monthly payments. My Business Manager had to send her several emails as well as call her on multiple occasions to ask her to bring her account current. Although she was behind on her payments, I attended the last hearing where we won the decision regarding the Rule 69 agreement. Further, I was ordered to draft the divorce decree by a date certain. At this time, Ms. was several thousand dollars behind on her bill, but made her demands clear that she wanted her decree drafted immediately. She was advised by my business manager that her decree would be completed by the deadline, but we would not put her case above other cases that are on my docket and had their own priority deadlines. She also needed to bring account current prior to the due date. She did not want to do this; therefore, her complaint to you.

This complaint should be seen for what it is, an agressive attempt to get out of paying a bill that she rightfully owes so that she does not get sent to collections. I did an exemplary job for Ms.. She was not the most pleasant of client to work with. My staff was calm and courteous with her and it was not until she starting making unreasonable demands of my time above my other paying clients that our relationship soured. If I were to act as a bank for all my clients, I would not be able to cover my overhead or pay my staff. Ms. had a most favorable outcome to her case and is not entitled to any type of a reduction in her fees nor should her complaint to the Revdex.com be considered valid. It should be dismissed immediately.

Initial Consumer Rebuttal /(3000, 10, 2019/03/22) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Ms. demeaner and response to my complaint is illustrative of reasons as to why I filed the complaint.
1. Ms. caused unnecessary delays in the case by being unable to attend a couple court hearings and didn't report her inability to attend until right before the hearings began.

Ms. did not respond to my complaint. She simply stated, and confirmed, that her retainer agreement states that I would be charged for a cancellation that was less than 24 hours and acknowledges that I did not cancel any of our meetings. She did not respond to her cancelling two hearings last minute. See attached where the other attorney addressed on incident with the court - page 1.

2. Ms. did not address the appointment that she missed April 14. She had a hearing scheduled at the same time and did not notify ahead of time. See attached email of me rescheduling the missed meeting with her staff - page 2.

3. Ms. did not address my complaint that on the many occasions she ignored my calls and emails causing me to reach out to her a few times to get a response increasing my time on the case. Instead she claims that she didn't charge me for all the emails and paper used in my case and says I owe her far more that she charged me. Ms. bills were very detailed and there is no evidence that she left of billable time and materials. Her billing is her responsibility and her claim after the fact now is unreasonable.

4. Ms. did not address my complaint about her unprofessional behavior. She reverts to boasting the successes of the case, which she has a professional responsibility to achieve. Attached is a couple emails showing similar boasting when I brought my concerns to her attention - pages 3 and 4.
Regardless of some of the successes that Ms. achieved in my case, her being a legal advocate does not allow her to be unprofessional and disrespectful of my time and for my concerns. I am asking for reasonable concessions for the time Ms. wasted my time, the vacation pay I lost and her unprofessional behavior.