Montaño Arentz and Associates, PLLC

Review: On October 23, my wife and I agreed to have [redacted] and Associates represent our son's case. Robert [redacted] was then assigned to be my son's attorney. We then met with [redacted], the legal assistant, because Mr. [redacted] was not available. A financial agreement was established with a $3,000 initial payment and a $500 a month to be paid until the balance was met in full. [redacted] and [redacted] expressed they would be aggressive and make sure and arrest wouldn't be pursued; instead a summons would be issued. However, on Dec 16th my son was arrested at his place of employment. When we contacted the attorney they had no idea what was going to happen and all they insisted on was a new financial agreement. Also, no plan of action or advice was given. At the initial court, [redacted] showed up because Mr. [redacted] was out of town. He had no idea how old my son was, his legal status, or if he was employed. On Dec 19th, my wife and daughter met with [redacted] to terminate services, due to not being satisfied with their services. They were then told it would ten business days to receive a statement of services and a refund. They contacted them three weeks later, and again Mr. [redacted] was out of the office and Mark stated he didn't handle refunds and [redacted] assistant would handle it. On Jan 22, my daughter made another attempt to find out the statement of services and refund. [redacted] stated he'd call back with a status. No one has contacted us back or explain the status or situation since that day. Therefore we expected a refund of $3,500 dollars for the services we never receivedDesired Settlement: I would just appreciate if this establishment would contact me regarding this issue Instead they are just giving me the run-around and not giving me a complete answer. I would also like my full refund back, due to the fact that they did not fulfill their terms to give me the services they expressed in the beginning. Also, we have spoken to the office and they initially stated it would take 10 business days. It has been 2 months and still have not received my refund or and explanation to this delay.

Business

Response:

This letter is to address the complaint made by [redacted] regarding the representation of [redacted]. On October 18, 2014, [redacted] was found to have operated a motor vehicle under the influence resulting in a fatal collision in which three persons died and several others were treated for serious physical injuries, including loss of limb.[redacted] was not initially charged pending the law enforcement investigation. On October 23,2014, [redacted] retained this office for pre-filing representation. In pre-file representation, an attorney represents a client in any issues prior to criminal charges being filed. The agreement specified that the representation was limited to pre-file assistance, investigation, and research, and did not include representation once charges were filed.The fixed flat fee for the pre-file representation was $10,000, to be paid in monthly payments. This firm diligently represented [redacted] until December 16, 2014, when he was charged with three counts of manslaughter, three counts of aggravated assault, and twenty-seven other criminal charges. On December 16, 2014, one of the firm's partners and most experienced attorneys appeared in court with [redacted] at an initial appearance hearing for three and one-half hours starting at 9:30P[redacted] family decided not to retain the firm for representation on the filed charges, so the representation was terminated. Up to this point, [redacted] had paid the firm a total of $3,500 for the pre-file representation. The final fee was adjusted to reflect a reasonable hourly rate for 4 hours of paralegal time, I.7 hours of in­ office attorney time, and 3.5 hours of attorney time in court in the late afterhours. It was concluded that the amount paid, $3,500, was a reasonable amount for the services rendered, and the fixed flat fee of$10,000 was reduced to the amount paid.I notice that the complaint regarding our services was made on January 5, 2015, during the time we were discussing the possibility of further representation of [redacted]. Since that time, we have provided a complete itemization of services provided for a total of 9.2 hours. We have not heard from the Bastidos family since the itemization was provided.Please contact me if I can provide any further information. Than k you.

Review: I paid this attorney's office $1800 for a retainer fee so that I could file bankruptcy. I had a payment schedule set up that withdrew my funds automatically until the amount was paid off. During that time I did not hear from the attorney's office with any check ups. I also did not hear from their office when the payment was complete. I called in and was told I just needed to pay the filing fee in full and then I would hear from their office. It was hard for me to come up with the filing fee but I did not hear from the attorney's office after several month's time. I did not feel I was receiving adequate attention for such a serious matter so I requested a refund. I received a check for the amount of $1000. It was explained in a letter that there was a $250.00 admin fee and $550 for a monthly maintenence fee. One of the month's included in those fees was the month it took from my request for the refund until I actually received the refund check. I feel like I have been taken advantage of in such a rough time.Desired Settlement: I feel that a full refund would be sufficient.

Business

Response:

[redacted]

We have attempted to contact the client numerous times with no response. This is the same type of issue we dealt with during the year that we represented her. We are willing to work with the client to resolve the issue.

Thank you,

Montano Arentz & Handler, PLLC

Phone:###-###-####

Fax: ###-###-####