Law Office of Dianne Drew Butler

This review is for the work of Lisa T [redacted] I've had to hire another lawyer to finish what she startedIt was for a divorceThe communication and customer service is anything but professionalTo this day, and after several requests, I don't have an itemized bill for what my initial retainer got meAdditionally, my new counsel is missing documents that I *know [redacted] I provided because I still have the copiesIt is unfortunate but there will be some resolutionKnow your rights [redacted]

This review is for the work of Lisa T***I've had to hire another lawyer to finish what she startedIt was for a divorceThe communication and customer service is anything but professionalTo this day, and after several requests, I don't have an itemized bill for what my initial retainer got meAdditionally, my new counsel is missing documents that I *know* I provided because I still have the copiesIt is unfortunate but there will be some resolutionKnow your rights* ***

Review: Complete non-response, except willingness to bill and collect.

The Law Office of [redacted] is handling the Qualified Domestic Relations Order for me and my ex-wife. This process has taken over 6 months, even though they turned the majority of the work over to a CPA. Throughout that time their office has not provided updates unless prompted to do so, lost information that I provided and then sent an accusatory letter to my ex-wife, not responded to repeated messages for updates (currently 3 messages in the last 2 weeks and no response), and pointed fingers at others in their office and at the CPA firm that they hired to handle the calculations. I've been passed back and forth between their two attorneys and told multiple times that I need to talk to the other. I am repeatedly told that [redacted] is in court today and will get back to me as soon as possible. To date they have billed and collected nearly $3,000 from me and my ex-wife, including a $2,000 retainer, and have yet to produce anything tangible in the form of a QDRO that can be filed with the court. I am in the service business myself and any client I have would have justifiably fired me for this poor service, and I would have rightly refunded (or not billed) their fees.Desired Settlement: I am seeking a refund of all fees paid to date and final resolution to this issue. [redacted]'s office is clearly not qualified to handle this type of QDRO, yet they gladly accepted our meney and refuse to respond to my calls and deliver the QDRO. As a professional in the services industry, my hours are just as valuable as theirs. I have wasted massive amounts of time trying to get them to respond to my calls, inquiring about billing issues (they can't even figure out how to split the bill and send separate bills to me and my ex-wife), providing data that they clearly are not qualified to understand (just so that they can forward it to a 3rd party, and then bill me for doing so), and explaining the delays and issues to my ex-wife.

Business

Response:

Initial Business Response

The Law Office of Dianne Drew Butler has been serving clients successfully since 1994. The clients had paid the Law Office a total of $2,660. The initial retainer was approximately $2,000 of which $1,300 was paid to an outside firm to assist in the completion of a Qualified Domestic Relations Order that required some mathematical computations. The clients were in direct contact with the outside firm and participated in the completion of their analysis. A QDRO was completed and the clients did receive a copy of the QDRO at the end of July 2013. On October 3, 2013 the client spoke with Ms. [redacted]. The client expressed some concerns and in an effort to resolve, Ms. [redacted] sent an email immediately after said telephone call and offered to refund the monies paid to the Law Office of Dianne Drew Butler minus the $1,300 paid to the outside firm and complete the filing of the QDRO with the court, paid the court filing fee and notarized the parties' signatures, gratis. The filing of this complaint was unbeknownst to Ms. [redacted] and received after Ms. [redacted]'s email to the clients to resolve amicable. Mr. [redacted] responded to the October 3rd email on October 4, 2013 that the check was to be made payable to him and that the parties would be in to execute the QDRO on that date. The check was prepared payable to Mr. [redacted] in the amount of $1,360.

Review: After my trial ended I was confused about the many pages of stuff that was written on it. I called the office to speak with my lawyer [redacted] and I never got a call back also I tried to work with office in regards of my bill stating I couldn't afford what I was being charged and they weren't willing to work with me, they stated I had to pay more than what I could afford and I could I if barely I had enough money make it by? Also I felt my lawyer didn't represent me well enough due to lack of organization and knowledge to prepare me for the trial.Until today [redacted] hasn't called me and my trial was around May 2013. My concerns I had with [redacted] have never been discussed because I got ignored. So therefore I as a consumer feel that to this office I was just another number and not an individual that needed help and clarifications on some things about my trial.Desired Settlement: Eventually so much time has passed and I had to get my questions answered by someone else, now I am requesting that due that I also helped work into this case by helping organizing the paperwork needed for the trial. I am requesting for my bill to be decreased for the help I put in and as well I want them to put in consideration that I am going through a hardship right now, I lost my job and I can't afford much.

Business

Response:

The legal services provided by my office to Ms. [redacted] concluded in May 2013. Thereafter, my office sent Ms. [redacted] to arbitration per our fee agreement in order to collect delinquent fees for services that had already been performed. Ms. [redacted] paid an initial retainer of $2,000. Ms. [redacted] currently owes my office $6,748.75. My office continued to provide legal services to Ms. [redacted] based on her repeated promises to pay her outstanding balance. I am not aware of any other office that would be willing to continue to provide services and not be paid based solely on a client’s promise to pay. My office went above and beyond the scope of the fee agreement to represent and ensure that Ms. [redacted] had her day in court. Once the services were concluded, my office continued to request that Ms. [redacted] make payments towards the outstanding balance. Ms. [redacted] became extremely rude to my office staff and refused to make payments. Thereafter, my office per our fee agreement sent Ms. [redacted] to arbitration and this is the response that we have now received,

Ms. [redacted] provided outstanding legal services to Ms. [redacted] throughout the duration of our representation. Ms. [redacted] always puts in a tremendous amount of work and preparation into her cases whether billed or not. Ms. [redacted] never complained about the legal services during the course of her legal matter. Ms. [redacted] was free to obtain other counsel if she believed she was not being represented the way that she wanted. Ms. [redacted] promptly returned all messages left by Ms. [redacted]. To Ms. [redacted]’s knowledge, Ms. [redacted] has not contacted her regarding any further questions. My office offered to compromise the bill and offered various payment options and we still received rio payment.

This is not about legal services performed; this is about an individual who does not want to pay for legal services that she has already received pursuant to the fee agreement that she freely entered into at the time my office was retained. I would like to reiterate that my office is still willing to work with Ms. [redacted] regarding her outstanding balance however she has failed to contact us.

Consumer

Response:

I am rejecting this response because:

[redacted] did not return my calls when I needed clarification after my trial ended. Also she knew I couldn't afford much and I offered my help on the case. I was given my ex file to categorize it for [redacted] to have it ready for the trial. After the trial I was never able to get a hold of her and I felt I was being ignored. I don't know what happened to my messages to her. The office lost them or she was too busy like all lawyers are and that's understandable. I really wanted to discuss my concerns to how I felt the way she represented me on the trial and also in regards of my bill because I was told I would get a break on the bill since I helped her getting my ex"s file ready. The office feels that I neglected the bill and I have to say I was being neglected as a consumer.. I know I am at fault for not making payments but unfortunately it wasn't because of what they are thinking, I have been going through some very serious personal and financial problems. I did let go of this matter but so did the office for not returning my calls. The comment to what the office said I was rude, what happened was at that time when I called the office to discuss the bill, the person was very cold and didn't care on what my concerns were to the point I started crying and I hung up the phone, you call that being rude? I think someone is not being honest.

Consumer

Response:

I don't have a cell phone at this moment nor a house phone. I notified the office to please contact me by email or regular mail until I get my financial situation straighten out. I will send them another email, telling them to correspond with me through email which is faster.

Business

Response:

In response to Ms. [redacted]'s message, Ms. [redacted] never notified our office of her telephone situation or that she could only be reached via email. On May 9, 2013 our office left a message on her home phone and cell phone. Ms. [redacted] contacted our office back and stated she would like to reduce her bill and make monthly payments. On October 21, 2013 after receiving no payments from Ms. [redacted], our office contacted her again and left a message. On February 11, 2014 after receiving no payments from Ms. [redacted], our office attempted to contact her. Ms. [redacted]'s home and cell phone no longer were working so our office left a message at her employment. Shortly thereafter Ms. [redacted] contacted our office and complained about Attorney [redacted]'s representation, the case and her bill. Ms. [redacted] got angry with our billing person, [redacted] and stated she did not want to pay anything and hung up the telephone. On August 20, 2014 our office proceeded with the process of sending Ms. [redacted] to Arbitration in which the client has (30) days to contact a neutral party from the State Bar to hear her complaint. Our office is still willing to work with Ms. [redacted] on a payment arrangement to take care of this matter.