Richard R Johnson, Attorney at Law

I am rejecting this response because:If you look at the attached documents I provided a copy of my attorney - client fee contract and a copy of the invoice Richard Johnson presented to meIn Richard's response he indicates that I hired him for a dissolution of marriage, and clearly in my attorney - client fee contract, it states that he was retained to provide services for me in custody of my children + visitation litigation + complete dissolution of marriageOut of all of the subjects that Richard was hired for, he did not fulfill his obligations to complete nor even address any of themI must also mention that there is a previous balance of $that I received an invoice for from RichardWhen I brought it to his attention he said it was a computer glitch and the invoice would be omittedNotice, the charge is now on the final invoice since I requested to end servicesAfter not receiving and documents as promised from Richard and not being able to reach Richard, I wrote a letter requesting to be refunded and to end our contract on Thursday, 8/17/and dropped it off to his officeAfter receiving the letter, Richard delayed the time for me to come in and pick up my personal file so he could charge a invoice to his trust account and take all of my money and also bill me for other services that were not renderedI signed my contract with Richard on 7/21/and he charged me $1,for a retainer feeHe then called me into his office on 7/24/to sign a substitution of attorney agreement in which he charged me $for the visit when this form should have been signed at the time of retaining himI've only received a rough draft from Richard and nothing had ever been submitted to the courtI have been receiving emails from the opposing attorney and nothing has been responded to, so it looks as if I am ignoring everything

Complainant retained me as her attorney to represent her in a dissolution of marriage We entered a written contract wherein she retained me for the that purpose.Complainant had been representing herself in pro per prior to her retaining me After she retained me I provided services to
her pursuant to the terms of our written contract That contract provides Complainant pay me at an hourly rate for the time spent on her case.The contract requires me to send itemized statements to the client I have provided those itemized statements to the client which include a brief description of the services rendered and the amount of time it took me to do so.Complainant's complaint regards procedural matters which are within the attorney's sole purview.The contract also provides that the client may terminate my services at any time Client need not provide a reason for terminating my services Complainant has terminated my services.An attorney is obliged to keep his client's private communications confidentialEven after the Complainant terminate services I have been practicing daily law for more than twenty yearsand follow the confidentiality rule I must and shall keep her communications to me in confidence.If the Complainant waives the attorney client private, I can provide specific information including documents to the Revdex.com.In summary, I state that I have complied with the terms of my contract and that I have provided the services for which I billed Complainant and those services took the time which is reflected in my itemized statement Complainant may seek free attorney fee arbitration with the Sacramento County Bar If she does, then to some extent she waives the attorney client privilege as related to the matter before the County Bar Arbitration Committee.In an effort to resolve this matter, and to satisfy the Complainant's demands, I am willing to forego any fees not already paid to me by the Complainant or those fees that were paid on behalf of the Complainant pursuant to the terms of the written contract

I have received your correspondence dated September 11, 2017.  Although it includes an authorization by the Complainant to disclose personal information, as her former attorney, I am reluctant to disclose privileged, attorney-client communications between the Complainant and me. If the Complainant signs a document releasing from me my obligation to protect attorney-client privileged communications, then I can make a full declaration of what occurred to the Revdex.com. I respond to the limited extent that I can to the message included in the September 11, 2017 letter from the Revdex.com. With regard to the Complainant’s first statement in the September 11, 2017 message forwarded on to me.  A dissolution of marriage in California requires a passage of time of at least six months from the time the Court obtained jurisdiction of the case to issuing a judgment of dissolution of marriage.  That is required by statute.  The Complainant’s statement that I did not complete the dissolution of marriage makes no sense to me because I was not her attorney for a sufficient period of time to complete her dissolution of marriage, to set a trial nor to settle her case for procedural reasons stated in the California Family Code. With regard to her second complaint that there was a $182 charge that she questions, I keep handwritten notes of what I do on each case and how long it takes me to do them contemporaneously with doing the work.  Each month my office types those up, calculates the charges, and sends the itemized statement to the client.  In this Complainant’s case I have stated a willingness to forgive all of the amounts that she owes me which is approximately $1,400.  As can be seen by the itemized statement from me submitted to the Revdex.com by the Complainant, I spent substantial time on this.  As can be seen from the attorney fee contract apparently submitted by the Complainant to the Revdex.com you can see that I charge by the hour. That contract also provides that the attorney retains the authority to make all decisions regarding procedural matters.  Procedural matters include setting a case for trial, setting depositions, conducting other discovery, engaging in settlement negotiations, and seeking other temporary orders pending the trial. Regarding the Complainant’s statement that on August 17, 2017 she terminated my services.  So long as the attorney is the attorney of records, he must retain possession of the file that requires a Substitution of Attorneys that must be signed by both the party and the attorney and filed with the Court.  Until that time the attorney remains the attorney of record, is responsible for responding to any issues raised by the opposing party or by the Court.  Additionally, the attorney is allowed to photocopy the file before returning the original to the client. After the Complainant terminated my services, which she may due pursuant to our contract at any time for any reason, we immediately photocopied the file and made the file available to her after completing the requirements regarding a Substitution of Attorney.  The file was provided to her with all of the documents provided to me indexed and filed in manila file folders within an expandable file. Complainant also states that she came to my office to retain me on July 24, 22017.  She came in late that afternoon.  My secretary had gone home at about the same time that the Complainant walked in at about 5:00p.m.  We discussed the case and I presented her with a contract.  She retained me at that time.  Since my secretary had gone home, I did not have the ability to type a Substitution of Attorney that evening.  My secretary did type a Substitution of Attorney promptly and called the Complainant to come in to sign it.  We served and filed the Substitution of Attorney promptly thereafter. On the day that the Complainant came in to sign the Substitution of Attorney on July 24, 2017 we also discussed her case further.  It did not take her very long to sign the Substitution of Attorney which was ready for her signature on July 24, 2017.  She was charged for the time I spent interviewing her and learning additional information about of the issues of the dissolution of marriage case. I have been practicing for more than 30-years.  No one has ever complained to the Revdex.com before to my knowledge. I am an attorney in good standing for more than 30-years with the State Bar of California.  My record with the State Bar shows no complaints. In the Complainants case I represented her to the best of my ability offering my advice and preparing documents consistent with the information that the Complainant provided to me at our various interviews in my office and on the telephone.  I have stated above that I cannot disclose the specifics of those communications without stating communications that are within the attorney-client privilege.  If the client authorizes me to do so I can make a more complete response to the Revdex.com. I prepared drafts of documents and prepared to complete other documents consistent with the information provided to me in the case most of which came directly from the Complainant in my office either personally or on the telephone.  Any requests for orders or other pleadings or other legal procedures in this case are subject to our contract that provides that the attorney has the authority to decide what procedures to follows.  That provision is in my contract and has been so for the entire time that I have practiced law.  It is common in attorney fee contracts.  In fact, I believe that it is in every single attorney fee contract I have seen. The Complainant’s statements that she demanded certain procedures be followed is not consistent with our written contract.  I nor any other attorney I know would abrogate his responsibility to select appropriate procedures for a case to be in the discretion of a client.  Unless the client is himself or herself an attorney, the client does not know the appropriate procedures and has not experienced representing people in many divorces in the Courts of California.  Therefore, the Complainant’s statements that certain of her required or demanded documents be prepared is absolutely inconsistent with the attorney-client contract and absolutely inconsistent with an attorney’s obligation to use his best judgment, education, and experience in determining what procedures to utilize in a dissolution of marriage or any other litigation. To allow otherwise would frequently result in the following: a client insisting on an improper procedure which would expose the client to sanctions or attorney fees on behalf of the opposing party requiring that the client’s own attorney to carry out that client’s directions even though the attorney knows that the requested procedure is in improper and sanction able.  Of course, such activity would be a violation of the bar rules and the attorney’s general obligation to serve a client’s best interest according to the attorney’s education and experience. The Complainant stated in an earlier written statement that I had not appeared at a child support hearing in a particular department.  Complainant provided me with no pleadings whatsoever regarding any such hearing.  Attached is a confirmation of the Court’s hearing information showing no such hearing was scheduled in the Superior Court of California on the as claimed by Complainant.  Further, the Complainant states that the issue had to do with child support.  The Complainant had the services of the Department of Child Support Services, a Public Agency.  The attorneys who work for the Department of Child Support Services focus mainly on child support issues.  They appear regularly in Department of Child Support Services Courts.  Those Courts are under the jurisdiction of Court Commissioners.  Those Commissioners deal with child support calculations virtually every business day.  Both the attorneys for Department of Child Support Services and the Court Commissioners who preside over those departments are experts at computing child support.  Complainant was apparently represented by an attorney for the Department of Child Support Services at the time.  During the entire time that Complainant had retained me as her attorney she did not terminate the services by the Department of Child Support Services attorney. If Complainant alleges that her child support was set improperly, any attorney can request an order correcting the improper calculation including the attorney from the Department of Child Support Services who assisted the Complainant in those calculations. Finally, it is important to the Complainant that she be represented by a Family Law Attorney.  The opposing party is represented by an experienced Family Law Attorney.  It is difficult to be your own attorney in any case, and in my opinion it is even more difficult to be your own attorney in a Family Law case because the emotions run so high.

I am rejecting this response because:If you look at the attached documents I provided a copy of my attorney - client fee contract and a copy of the invoice Richard Johnson presented to me. In Richard's response he indicates that I hired him for a dissolution of marriage, and clearly in my attorney - client fee contract, it states that he was retained to provide services for me in custody of my children + visitation litigation + complete dissolution of marriage. Out of all of the subjects that Richard was hired for, he did not fulfill his obligations to complete nor even address any of them. I must also mention that there is a previous balance of $182 that I received an invoice for from Richard. When I brought it to his attention he said it was a computer glitch and the invoice would be omitted. Notice, the charge is now on the final invoice since I requested to end services. After not receiving and documents as promised from Richard and not being able to reach Richard, I wrote a letter requesting to be refunded and to end our contract on Thursday, 8/17/17 and dropped it off to his office. After receiving the letter, Richard delayed the time for me to come in and pick up my personal file so he could charge a invoice to his trust account and take all of my money and also bill me for other services that were not rendered. I signed my contract with Richard on 7/21/17 and he charged me $1,000 for a retainer fee. He then called me into his office on 7/24/17 to sign a substitution of attorney agreement in which he charged me $400 for the visit when this form should have been signed at the time of retaining him. I've only received a rough draft from Richard and nothing had ever been submitted to the court. I have been receiving emails from the opposing attorney and nothing has been responded to, so it looks as if I am ignoring everything.

I am rejecting this response because: I still do not have a clear understanding of what I am being charged $1,000 for. Again, no paper work has been submitted to the Sacramento County court, outside of a substitution of attorney agreement. I believe as if it is fair to pay you 2 or 3 hundred dollars max, but $1,000 for nothing is robbery. I've retained you for one month and have made no progress on my case. I am actually now behind on things, because I left the responsibility in your hands and nothing was accomplished. I couldn't have retrieved the funds that I was charged if I wanted to, because all funds were deposited in your trust account under your name. I am seeking the settle for $200/$300 and have the remaining balance of $2,249/$2,149 wiped out. I don't have that amount of money laying around to just throw away for a job that was never completed or even made progress.