Hillsboro Law Group PC

Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because:
*** Tclaims that I was in arrears one year when I stopped paying *** (get your facts right) in May of because she didn't send her transcripts last one I received Feband so stopped paying her in May She even dropped out of her case when she discovered that the consent for me to check on her grades ended on Feb2016. in Aprshe tried to submit schooling cost that were paid by a PELL GRANT(fraud) for $-and I finally got her transcript on November almost a year since getting the last one and yet I still paid her for several months before stopping in May 2016.in March I was talking with *** and was questioning him why he didn't used any of the evidence to prove the case and he then got all huffy when I question him why, and that's when he said that he was withdrawing as counsel, dropping out off my caseHe stated that I had FIRED which was incorrect I said NO such thing and what was said to him saying that he was withdrawing as counsel was that I wasn't going to pay him anymore (I had already paid them $when he quit and didn't even offer to turn me over to an associate that works at his law firm, because of his abrupt quitting I was stuck with paying attorneys fees over $6000 to the ex wife and children attorney I feel that we had a contract (in November when I hired him) which he broke it by quitting abruptly and that cost me over $Since he failed to get another attorney with the law firm to represent me with any future court upcoming hearingsI feel that *** fail to represent me and thus the law firm he works also fail to represent me also, they should have assigned another attorney to complete the case .I am physically handicap from strokes I suffer in 2010, am on dialysis since Dec 2016 and I feel he took advantage of me because of those disabilities and didn't do the job that he was hired for (to defend me) and since I live in another state over miles away I feel that he thought I wouldn't say any thing and you can verify his actions with my son Sgt. *** K *** Who accompany me for court in 4Jan and sat in on the meeting on Jan I feel that *** acted unprofessional when he abruptly quit and not turn it over to another associate in the law firmit feels that his ability to represent his clients when questioned was compromised was questioned why he didn't present the evidence to the court and so he quit before having another attorney replace him to defend me from his law firm I guess that this case was too much for himI feel that there was a contract between me and this law firm and that *** *** had breach this contract by not representing me to the best of his abilities and quitting when "things got tuff " and he was questioned on why he didn't do what he was being paid to doboy I am sorry that I called the Oregon State Bar for this referral, I feel that since they breached the contract that the law firm is responsible for his actions and had I been represented properly I would not been paying the other attorneys fees
*** ***

Hello, I have communicated with [redacted], the attorney who handled Mr. [redacted]'s case.  Mr. [redacted]'s detailed response to Mr. [redacted]'s complaint is attached.  Please let me know if I can provide any additional information on this unfortunate matter.[redacted] contacted me in late November 2017...

to discuss his contempt case filed by his adult children [redacted] and [redacted], and his ex-wife Mrs. [redacted] in August 2015. The allegations were that he failed to follow conditions of the Divorce Judgment of June 2015: (1) to create a college education account for each child to pay for school related costs and transfer $37,430.40 into each child’s account within 30 days; (2) notify Mrs. [redacted] and the children and provide the account numbers and financial institution information within 30 days; (3) pay $500 per month until each child was 21 years old as long as the child was attending school; (4) pay uninsured medical costs for each adult child; and (5) to transfer life insurance policy to Mrs. [redacted]. The children’s contempt cases against Mr. [redacted] had a court date of December 12, 2016, while Mrs. [redacted] contempt case against Mr. [redacted] was set for a hearing on January 4, 2017. After reviewing the documents along with the divorce decree, I let Mr. [redacted] know that he was in contempt of court, as he had not followed the terms of the court order. Additionally, it was a stipulated agreement that had gone through mediation with attorneys on both sides. Mr. [redacted] said that it was not fair because he is old and handicap, his wife and kids trying to take everything, didn’t have anything when left Oregon to return to Hawaii because arrested and couldn’t return back to house, previous attorney screwed him over. He was also upset that he still had to pay for the adult children attending school because they received the pell grant. Mr. [redacted] requested that I obtain a continuance for the hearings until February 2017, so hewould not have to make separate trips to Oregon from Hawaii, and to allow time to gather evidence from his accountant in his case. I told him that I could do that and that we could try to mitigate the contempt allegations, although the court would most likely find him in contempt. We filed a notice of appearance and filed additional documents to request that Mr. [redacted] be allowed to appear by telephone for the hearing on December 12, 2017. Mr. [redacted]’ ex-wife (Mrs. [redacted]) and their two adult children, [redacted] and [redacted] were present. During the hearing, the judge was disappointed with Mr. [redacted]. Mr. [redacted] interrupted the judge a few times and was very upset. The judge told Mr. [redacted] that he was not required to be present at the next hearing on January 4, 2017. I requested that the court consolidate the twocases and set the next hearing for February 2017. On December 21, 2016, I received notice that Mr. [redacted]’ children had hired an attorney. I informed the children’s attorney that we were requesting a reset of the January hearing and obtained available dates from February to April. As the judge was out for Christmas and New Years, after filing the request with the court, we were told to follow up with the request. OnDecember 23, 2016 the court granted our request to reset the January 4, 2017 court hearing. After informing Mr. [redacted] of the reset, he advised that he had already purchased tickets to flyup to Oregon to appear in person for the January hearing. I then had to contact the children’s attorney and the court staff to change the hearing back to January 4th. The court allowed us tochange the hearing date again, but only gave us a 30 minute time slot. On January 3, 2017 I met with Mr. [redacted] and his son to review the case and prepare for the court hearing. We also contacted [redacted] benefits representative to obtain information about his life insurance policy. [redacted] provided us with a case number, but stated that the transfer of the policy would take a while. Mr. [redacted] also provided documentation, mostly email communication between himself, his accountant, his estate attorney, and Mrs. [redacted] regarding disagreements and payments of support and reimbursement for school expenses and uninsured medical costs. I asked Mr. [redacted] if I needed to make copies of the documents. He said that I could keep the documents because they were copies of what he already had. None of the documents showed that he was in compliance with the divorce decree, however, there were documents related to a college education account for each child with the account numbers and financial institution information, documents showing that Mr. [redacted] had made payments for the children’s schooling for the past semester, and documents showing that he had paid for some uninsured medical costs. Mr. [redacted] understood that (1) it was very likely that the court would find him in contempt because he did not follow the Order from the court in the divorce judgment; (2) that he would be on the hook for the children’s attorney fees. That evening I reviewed the documents as well. Prior to the court hearing on January 4, 2017, I discussed the case with the children’s attorney to see if we could resolve any issues. We agreed that [redacted] would drop her motion for contempt because she was not in compliance with notice requirements for an adult child attending school for a period of time. I suggested that [redacted] send email to Mr. [redacted]’ estate attorney in Hawaii for proof of attending school (University, semester, credits, grades, etc), allow Mr.[redacted] to contact school directly, that they forward receipts on a letterhead from medical facility for proof of uninsured medical expenses. One receipt was provided that morning, whereupon Mr. [redacted] agreed that he would promptly pay. At the hearing, the only issues were whether or not Mr. [redacted] complied with the divorce decree, and whether or not [redacted] provided sufficient notice that he would be attending college, as to make Mr. [redacted] responsible for $500 monthly payments for June and July of 2016. The judge was not pleased with Mr. [redacted] and found him in contempt for failure to comply with the conditions of the divorce decree. Although he was in compliance at the time of the court hearing with regards to the children’s claims, he had not been in compliance for over a year. The judge stated that if we wanted to litigate [redacted]’s notice issue, we would have to come back another day to do that, and that the attorney fees and costs would be substantially much more than amount at issue. I suggested that we forgo the issue and agree to split the baby. [redacted] attorney and Mr. [redacted] agreed with the proposal. With regards to Mrs. [redacted] claim, the judge also found Mr. [redacted] in contempt. The judge asked children’s attorney to file a statement for attorney fees. Mrs. [redacted] said that she would also seek fees because needed to speak with attorneys, hire an investigator in Hawaii to have Mr. [redacted] served and reserved because she could not contact him. I agreed to assist with transferring Mr. [redacted]’ life insurance policy to Mrs. [redacted]. After the hearing, Mr. [redacted] and his other son were very upset. I tried to explain what had just happened, and remind them what I had previously told them about the court finding him in contempt, but it seemed like they were expecting a full-blown trial. Mr. [redacted] was upset about the judge telling the parties to request attorney fees. I told him that this is standard practice and explained to him that we could contest it. Mr. [redacted] did not speak to his other children or his ex-wife. Many times it was difficult to receive any response from Mr. [redacted] after leaving multiple voicemail and email messages. Previously, I would speak to him by telephone while he was at a doctor’s appointment. Mr. [redacted] was also in and out of hospital. Eventually Mrs. [redacted] hired an attorney because she did not trust that Mr. [redacted] would follow through with transferring the life insurance policy. At one point, Mr. [redacted] filled out paperwork incorrectly, and did not get it witnessed. I had to send him the documents again. I also contacted [redacted] insurance numerous times about the expedited request for the policy transfer, but was told that this was a complex case, since Mr. [redacted] was not technically retired, but on disability when he left his employment. The children’s attorney filed her Statement for Attorney fees on March 16, 2017. I filed the Objection to Attorney fees on March 24, 2017. That same day, Mr. [redacted] contacted me via telephone and was very upset, demanding to know what I had done for him on his case. While I explained to him what I had done during the course of my representation, he stated that I was just like his last attorney and was screwing him over. He said that I was fired, and that (1) he was not going to pay anyone’s attorney’s fees; (2) he was going to file a bar complaint against me; (3) he was not going to pay any outstanding fees for my services. I sent Mr. [redacted] an email confirming the telephone call and his request for me to withdraw from the case. That afternoon, we received Mrs. [redacted]’ attorney’s Statement for Attorney fees as well. I forwarded a copy to Mr. [redacted] in the email and asked him to let me know if he would like me to withdraw from the case or if he would like me to draft a response (objection) to both [redacted]’s/[redacted]’s and Carol’s requests for attorney’s fees first. As he had a balance owing to our office, I explained that he would need to come current if he would like me to continue working on the case. Mr. [redacted] responded by stating, among other things “I feel that you didn't represent at ALL. I could have done a better job myself. I'm glad that you no longer represent me”. At that point, I notified the parties and filed a Motion to Withdraw from the case.