Levine & Blit, PLLC

Please allow this correspondence to serve as Levine & Blit' s response to the complaint filed by Mr. Lincoln S[redacted] with the New York State Revdex.com ("Revdex.com"). Levine & Blit wholeheartedly and vehemently disagrees with the position stated by Mr. [redacted]. Mr. [redacted] retained this firm to...

enter pre-litigation settlement negotiations with his former employer, [redacted]. As set forth below, not only did Levine & Blit do exactly what it was retained to do, Levine & Blit actually did MORE work than it was retained to do. Mr. [redacted] retained Levine & Blit on what is referred to in the industry as a blended contingency fee retainer. A blended contingency fee agreement is designed to help alleviate exorbitant legal fees for clients, as we recognize that employment matters are very complicated and defendants try and make it difficult for people to afford lawyers. A case is typically broken up into 2 separate retainers. The first one is for negotiation and the second one is for litigation. They are [redacted]ly exclusive of one another. Just because a client retains us for negotiation does not mean they have to retain us for litigation. Our standard negotiation retainer fee is comprised of an up-front capped fee of $2,500. It is billed against with an hourly rate of $375 per hour. Once exhausted we work strictly on a 35% contingency fee with respect to any settlement that is achieved. Once it is determined that the defendant has either a no-pay position or made a formal offer that the client will not accept, the client has the option to retainer us for litigation, chose another lawyer, chose to representthemselves pro se or decide not to file a lawsuit. If they want to proceed, our litigation retainer starts at $5,000.00 and can go as high as $25,000.00 with a 35% contingency fee. This negotiation retainer was fully discussed with Mr. [redacted]. As a courtesy, our firm reduced the retainer amount to $2,000.00 and 35% contingency fee. Mr. [redacted] executed our negotiation retainer in April 2015. Although Mr. [redacted] is claiming that he paid $2500.00, Mr. [redacted] went through his records with Mr. Blit, the partner that works out of the New York City office, and they both agreed that $2,000.00 was paid. The initial negotiation retainer only covers negotiations with the employer. It specifically states that no administrative actions or lawsuits will be commenced pursuant to this retainer. We estimate that 90 percent of our cases are settled at this stage. The work that occurs during this  process is an initial letter of representation, emails and/or phone calls with the employer and or their legal representative or claim representative. Settlements in these matters, especially in upstate New York, can take approximately 4-5 months to achieve. Sometimes, it can takelonger. Mr. [redacted] seems to have a few different complaints. First, he asserts that I did not promptly return his phone calls. Secondly, he is upset that his former employer had no interest in resolving this matter prior to litigation. Obviously, so am I, but it is not from a lack of effort. In response to these allegations, it must be noted that Levine & Blit's policy is to promptly return all phone calls, emails, etc., to clients. Mr. [redacted] was no different. Often times, Iendeavored to return all phone calls to Mr. [redacted] within 48 hours. Further, Mr. [redacted] would often send text messages to my cell phone, which I also responded to as soon as possible, usually that same day. In short, Mr. [redacted] was immediately apprised of all relevant developments in his case. Unfortunately, I was not able to work out a pre-litigation settlement with Mr. [redacted]'s employer. This was not without significant effort, as I performed all necessary services in order to try to achieve a settlement. This included sending an initial letter of representation, phone  calls to the employer's counsel and several in-depth emails with the employer's counsel. The emails were very detailed in their explanation to employer's counsel of our position and sent in an effort to settle this case for Mr. [redacted].  Moreover, because it appeared that Mr. [redacted]'s employer would not agree to settle the matter, and even though it was not part of his retainer, I also began drafting a federal district court complaint. Before I could finish, Mr. [redacted] filed the instant complaint with the Revdex.com.  Quite frankly, I worked very hard to try to resolve this matter for Mr. [redacted] prior tocommencing litigation. A copy of the billable hours of the firm are attached hereto and will detail the work I performed, well in excess of the amount paid by Mr. [redacted]. Due to attorney-client privilege, I cannot provide the letters and emails I sent to the other attorney, however, they have been provided to Mr. [redacted] and he has the option of sharing those. I spent approximately 10.3 hours on Mr. [redacted]'s file, which, given the firm's hourly rate of $375.00, equates to $3,862.50. I am legitimately disappointed that Mr. [redacted] has chosen to take this route. We feel strongly that Mr. [redacted]'s dispute with his former employer is meritorious. And, I truly sympathized with his fight. At Levine & Blit, we often deal with clients who are emotional and prone to unpredictable behavior. Whether it's due to TV dramas or the media, clients often expect matters to be resolved overnight. We understand this because, quite frankly, employmentissues are almost by definition emotional disputes that people want closure from. It seems that Mr. [redacted] had this same viewpoint but has chosen to compound his problem by filing the instant matter. Additionally, he has made matters worse by falsely claiming that he paid a $2,500  retainer fee to Levine & Blit and claiming that our firm has done no work for him. Moreover, another indication that his complaint is frivolous is the fact that, even after filing a complaint with the Revdex.com, Mr. [redacted] STILL wants our firm to represent him in litigation. He just wants us to represent him on a straight contingency fee basis, which we will not do. If someone is so enraged by our supposed lack of work or poor work, wouldn't they find a new lawyer regardless of the money? I appreciate your attention to this matter. Based on the foregoing, I respectfully request that the Revdex.com find that Mr. [redacted]'s complaint is simply without merit and is summarily dismissed. If I can be of further help, or if the Revdex.com requires further information, please do not hesitate to contact the undersigned. Respectfully submitted,  Levine & Blit, PLLC Graeme Spicer