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26 Jul, 2017 by Anonymous
Do not use this firm. Promised things did not deliver. Didn't get my medical records and lied to me for over six months. Wouldn't submit requests to social security. Degraded me, judged me, left things out. Kept my paperwork. I almost had a stroke from the treatment from this firm. I may never get my case approved now. Should not be able to practice "in my opinion".
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06 May, 2017 by Sylvia
I definitely would not suggest Charles T. Hall. If my review of him will keep someone else from the same experience I had with him, I am glad to have written the review. I only wish I had written it years sooner. I saw his advertisement on television. I wish I had done better research to find an attorney. I expected more from him since he only gets paid if he wins the case. He only presented part of my case & I believe that as a result my case was denied. He refused to carry the case any further with an appeal. At that point, I was left to find another attorney. However, they couldn't pick the case up at the appeal. Therefore, a new case had to be started. But at that point, in my situation, time had run out & there was nothing they could do for me. I was pushing the 5 year limit of being out of work. Now, I have been out of work for 10 years & my conditions are gradually worsening. Between the spinal issues & the Bipolar issues, I doubt I will ever be able to work again. This has left me unable to contribute financially. This has left my husband as the sole provider of our 4 person family. Now, there is no help for me. I recently had a spine surgery & still need 2 more spine surgeries. Most days, I can barely get out of bed due to the pain. The daily pain that I live with has a major impact on my Bipolar condition. I truly feel that my disability case could have been won had Mr Hall presented my case in its entirety rather than just a portion.
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06 Sep, 2014 by Rhr_chat
It took 10 years after a disability started for me to have courage to ask for help. Charles Hall was judgmental, insulting, refused to answer questions .... and actually rolled his eyes and snarled at me . Today I wonder whether I even belong on this Earth. Is that advocacy?
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30 Dec, 2016 by Anonymous
Used Mr. Levy to file Chapter 13. He was very unorganized but we used him since he was referred to us and we had paid the fees. Later, when a creditor violated the stay order and continued to pursue the debt he did very little to help and when trying to pursue lawsuit against the company he did not want to do the work he simply wanted to take the company's lowest settlement offer in which I refused and he told me if I didn't he would not pursue things. Luckily I have some legal experience and was able to get an okay settlement but still ended up allowing the company to violate FDCPA and Fair Credit Reporting act, and once I had to sign the 1009 at the end of the year the company got off scotch free and I had to count the settlement as income for the year. Long story short...I would not recommend using this attorney.
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25 Jan, 2015 by Anonymous
I hired attorney Levy in 2013 to file for bankruptcy . To make a long story short, my case ended up getting dismissed by the court because I could not afford to keep up with my Chaptee 13 payments . I was terribly overcharged. Mr Levy did not look after my best interest . I hired another attorney a little over a year later who found errors in my first bankruptcy case that Mr. Levy filed. I got my case reviled by an attorney who took his time on my case, reviewed the facts carefully and now I have reasonable chapter 13 payments and I was charged much less than what I paid Mr. Levy,.
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04 Oct, 2023 by Simanta
I strongly advise against engaging with this particular law firm. I encountered several significant issues during my interaction with them, including:
1) Lack of Personal Attention: Regrettably, Mr. John McNeil demonstrated a concerning lack of attentiveness to my case. It became apparent that my emails went largely unread and unanswered. Furthermore, the conduct of his staff left much to be desired, marked by rudeness and a notable lack of responsibility.
2) Exorbitant Billing: Another disconcerting aspect of my experience was the firm's tendency to overcharge for their legal services. This left me feeling unfairly burdened financially.
3) Questionable Professionalism and Ethics: I found the overall professionalism and ethical standards of this law firm to be sorely lacking. It is my belief that they prioritize their own financial interests over the well-being of their clients.
In light of these issues, I cannot, in good conscience, recommend this firm to anyone. It appears that their primary focus is on monetary gain rather than advocating for their clients' best interests. I strongly encourage individuals seeking legal assistance to explore other options and avoid this particular firm at all costs.
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21 Apr, 2009 by Anonymous
I would definitely not recommend using John McNeil as your attorney. My overall experience was not pleasing. There was a lack of communication and on many occasions he did not return phone calls and emails in a timely manner. He showed little concern, no aggression and not much sympathy for my situation. Mr. McNeil gave me the impression - if your case is not worth the money he will not dedicate the time.
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15 Mar, 2024 by Anonymous
This is the worst attorney that anyone could get as a public defender. He absolutely does nothing to help you in your case. He doesn’t even come to see you to discuss your case. He persuades you to take a plea that isn’t discussed with you nor does he give you any choice. I don’t know how he managed to pass the bar but it’s no wonder he works for the DA.
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08 Jun, 2018 by Anonymous
Saw my lawyer only twice once to tell me he was representing me the other time in court when I signed a plea. Offered no help in my case and coerced me into signing an unfair plea deal
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27 Aug, 2012 by Honest review
I do not recommend Aida Doss-Havel as an attorney. Please do not waste your time and money. We had a 1 hour consultation with Ms. Havel hoping to become more educated on the matter, but instead we left with the exact information that we already knew, except we were our $200. She spent half the asking questions about our situations (which makes sense), then she made a phone call during the consultation which infact resulted in her being on hold for about 10 min. She repeatedly kept saying how our case was such a mess, wasting a lot of time during the consultation, and never actually giving us any advice or directions. When discussed the fact that she hadn't given us any advice or consultation AT ALL, and asking for at least half the consultation fee back, she declined and said "she felt that we both did what we contracted to do." DO NOT waste your time or money speaking with this "so called" attorney.
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25 Oct, 2023 by Anonymous
My son hired this man to be his divorce attorney. My son paid his retainer as was expected. This man (Evan King) did nothing at all except draft legal documents up with wrong names on it, took all of my sons retainer for doing nothing then got fired by his company. Had he done the work he charged my son for my son would be divorced by now. He provided him with wrong advice, never gave him a statement of fees or charges and left my son high and dry having to look for another attorney and start all over again. This man is a total disgrace to his profession and should be investigated and disbarred
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25 Apr, 2023 by Wayne davis
You will fair better to throw yourself on the mercy of the court than to be represented by this law firm
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28 Oct, 2012 by Anonymous
Mr. Khot represented my family in a dispute with our HOA. Mr. Khot's representation only seemed to create more problems which cost us thousands of extra dollars and solved nothing. Before our case made it to the courtroom one of Mr. Khot's colleagues dissected and removed most of the motions Mr. Khot had filed, suggesting to me that Mr. Khot did not know what he was doing. Mr. Khot failed to notify my family of a court date in a timely manner and requested the judge remove him from the case without speaking to us about the issue first. I would never hire nor recommend Mr. Khot for legal advice or representation.
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01 Sep, 2017 by Sheree' revels
She was not worth the money paid. Was pretty good in the beginning with communication but became rude towards the end and then refused to converse with the family or even return calls or texts. She became very unprofessional and I would not recommend her to anyone.
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20 Jan, 2017 by Anonymous
My spouse and I were recommend to Margaret and so did not shopping in advance. We met with her to discuss our estate planning needs. We payed a substantial retainer, far more than what her page here indicates. Then, we waited, and waited, and waited. There were interim e-mail exchanges but the more we had the more it seemed she had forgotten what we spoke about. We eventually pressed to get drafts of our documents and they were filled with glaring errors, things we had never asked for in the disbursement of our estates. These came with a request for more funds. We severed the relationship at that point, but found ourselves pressed to pay more fees. We countered that any more requests would result in our pursuing full refund of the money we had already paid.
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14 Mar, 2022 by Anonymous
commited fraud in and out of court. mislead courts as to law currently is commiting a 3rd degree felony. took advantage of an 87 year old women
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01 May, 2012 by Ruth
After 10 YEARS of BEGGING her to finish my QDRO, I finally contacted her previous law firm and the company holding the 401K, and completed it through those channels. Ms. Ladd is so far off the scale of professional that the use of the term is an insult to next worst lawyer out there. She is MIA 98% of the time, literally. Hundreds of emails go unreturned (and according to read receipts, not even read). Any attempt to contact her by telephone (cell or office) will only inform you that all voicemail boxes are full and unable to accept any messages, and then hang up on you. I tried paging hundreds of times, and still got ignored. I flew back to Raleigh (from Tennessee) and finally succeeded in a face-to-face meeting. She was full of excuses and apologies, and assured me we would have this completed in 2 months. 10 months later, I finally handled it myself! Save yourself the anger, time, energy, money and frustration - having NO attorney is better than retaining Suzanne Ladd!
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10 Jun, 2020 by Hector
Hired this lawyer to represent us in a civil case where multiple lawyers were involved. He was more interested in ingratiating himself with the other lawyers than representing our interests. In the end we did not accomplish anything more than other defendants who were not even represented by an attorney and he did not perform his duties with due diligence to get better results. However, he knew how to bill an excessive amount for very poor service.
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25 Apr, 2023 by Wayne davis
You will fair better to throw yourself on the mercy of the court than to be represented by this law firm
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25 Apr, 2023 by Wayne davis
You will fair better to throw yourself on the mercy of the court than to be represented by this law firm
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02 Jan, 2017 by Larry
Mr. Pender was recommended by an investment firm to provide us assistance with probate and estate handling for a relative who had passed away.
The firm told George Pender that he should expect a call from me. I called George within a week and set up an appointment for the following week.
In addition to the initial phone call, I also sent him a 2-page description as to the legal help I was seeking. There were three distinct areas identified in the email. When I arrived, Mr. Pender did not remember that the financial firm had told him I would be calling him (he asked me how I found his name), did not remember our phone conversation at all and had not bothered to read my email. When I arrived, Mr. Pender appeared to be preoccupied with other matters and it seemed that I was keeping him from more important business. Not the way to make a good first impression!
I wasted a good 5-10 minutes repeating the information I had discussed with him over the phone and had sent in my email.
After not hearing from Mr. Pender for more than 10 days, I emailed him to see if he had made any progress. He asked me to call him the following day. After two unsuccessful attempts to reach him, I emailed him to say that my brother would be calling him the following day. When Mr. Pender received my brother's call, he had forgotten who my brother was - although I referenced him by name in the email and my brother was conferenced into the original meeting and had heavily participated in that meeting. As it turned out, Mr. Pender had been busy and had not made any progress on our legal matters at all. Nevertheless, he informed my brother, who is the executor of the estate, that he would only help us – (if and where he could - since he didn't know if he could help us at all in one area and had no strategy to even attack the problem and hadn't bothered checking into a second area) - if we agreed to pay him to work on all three areas. One of the areas was going through the Probate process with a very simple set of assets and a simple will. ALL OR NOTHING was his stance.
As a final insult, he promised to follow up with my brother - the executor of the estate - in another couple of days. That was over three weeks ago. No call, no email. How he has such a high AVVO rating is beyond my comprehension.
Fortunately, we found another much more professional and motivated attorney with whom to work. Our new attorney has specialized in probate law for over 25 years and has treated us with respect and values our business. No high-pressure sales tactics! Unfortunately, we wasted 2 full weeks with Mr. Pender.
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12 May, 2017 by Anonymous
It was a really disappointing experience! Always late for scheduled phone calls - late for over 30 minutes for two consecutive times. And always procrastinating - would not start doing stuff until I asked REPEATEDLY! Also, the common scenario is that I would write on Monday asking her progress/questions, she would respond to schedule a phone call on Tuesday, and from Wednesday on until the following week I couldn't reach her anymore - no heads up about traveling/conferencing and the only way of finding out is the automatic email response that "I am out of town till next week". Had little attention to detail - had my name spelled wrong in the contract. Just switched to a different law firm - rather pay a higher price for a more professional and capable lawyer! The new lawyer responds to questions so fast and always give me heads up if he will be delayed by some other cases. Comparisons really makes me see the differences.
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27 Oct, 2021 by William
If you research Wattiker vs Governors Club POA, you will get an accurate understanding of Mrs. Carmichael. She filed a fraudulent lien on our home and tried to foreclose our property. What is egregious about this "thug" (my opinion based on her behavior) is she is a deacon/elder at a Presbyterian church in Raleigh!
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11 May, 2017 by Anonymous
Spoke to the firm and attorney. Discussed the parameters of our legal needs. Was advised he would get back to us. Now, over a month later can't even get a return phone call. Do not recommend.
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04 Apr, 2017 by Anonymous
In Dec 2016, I emailed Ms. Chestek to inquire about retaining her to pursue a copyright infringement claim. Although my goal was not to litigate, I’d been advised to retain a litigator in case negotiations fall through; therefore, I made perfectly clear that I was interested in retaining her as a litigator in S.D.N.Y. Court in the first paragraph of my email: “I understand that you are a litigator. I see from your website that you are admitted in New York. In S.D.N.Y. U.S. District Court?” And closed with, “Is this something you can help me with? If so, please provide your hourly rate and availability.” She replied, “yes, I am admitted to the Federal Court for the S.D.N.Y.” and provided her hourly rate. From her reply, I understood that she (1) is admitted to S.D.N.Y. Court, (2) is a litigator, and, hence, (3) was in a position to pursue my claim in that court. In Jan 2017, Ms. Chestek requested comparisons of the infringement for her “first step.” At no time did she inform me that she intended to keep them. Based on her above assurances, I provided four confidential files with a copyright notice at the bottom and appended Confidentiality and Legal notices. The confidentiality notice stated that my email and attached files contained information that was privileged, confidential, and exempt from disclosure under the law; I did not waive any rights or privileges by sending the message; any unauthorized downloading was strictly prohibited by law. The legal notice stated that the information was protected from disclosure by N.C. Bar Rules 1.6 and 1.18. Not until the end of our phone mtg did Ms. Chestek tell me that she was not a litigator and therefore was not in a position to pursue my claim in S.D.N.Y. court. Dumbfounded, I asked what alternative she gave her clients if her negotiations were unsuccessful and I had to resort to litigating in S.D.N.Y. Court. She brushed off my concern by saying dismissively, “Oh, I could probably find someone in New York.” Her blithe, cavalier attitude was cause for concern. By then I had contacted many NY lawyers without success. Her response showed that she had intentionally deceived me by omitting the fact that she is not in fact a litigator despite my specifically asking if she was in Dec. I immediately emailed her for the names of NY lawyers to whom she could refer me and instead of complying with my request, she replied, “I suspect I am not the lawyer you are looking for, so I will be declining your case.” Her response told me that she could not in fact refer me to any such lawyers. From her failure to be forthcoming on 2 critical points on 4 separate occasions, I understood that she had repeatedly deceived me and I no longer trusted her. Her responses showed greed at the client’s expense and that if negotiations failed she intended to abandon my case. I immediately emailed her, requesting she delete the confidential files I had provided at her request. She did not reply. I repeated my request and 3 days later, she refused to do so. Her Jan email stating she would protect the confidentiality of my files failed to include the following: how she would do so, for how long before deleting them, when I could expect confirmation of same, whether or not she had abided by Rule 1.18 by not using or revealing my confidential information. Avoid her at all costs!
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15 Oct, 2013 by Landowner
We had an eminent domain issue and we thought he was representing us but he just threw us under the bus for the city to run over us. We trusted him and he let us down. Communication was very bad and he
advised us not to take the case to court which was a mistake on our part.
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25 Apr, 2023 by Wayne davis
You will fair better to throw yourself on the mercy of the court than to be represented by this law firm
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17 Oct, 2020 by Kris
I hired him for custody and divorce, he had the cheapest retaining fee. After I paid him he didn’t get anything done for me on either case. On my divorce case he made it worse when I didn’t want to pay him more for a contested divorce, so I signed the paperwork to get him off of the case and he never filed it so when I went to get to divorced the judge wouldn’t allow it because it was still in his name. He represented me in my custody hearing and charged me for it but the other party was never served to be in court. I spent almost $1800 for both cases and he did nothing. Spend the extra money and get an attorney that knows what they are doing. It took me 2 years to finalize my divorce and I am still going to court for my custody and I had to pay another attorney to represent me.
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20 Mar, 2014 by Gwen
I called the NC referral service and was given his name and telephone #. I called him and left a message. Within a day or two he called me back and had me tell him what my case was all about. He informed me that he had to go back to court. He told me that he would take a look at the information that I had given him, and when he called me back, he would tell me then, if he would or could represent me. He assured me however, that if he did not he would recommend me to someone who would represent.
He called me back and asked to meet in Raleigh NC. He also emailed me as to the documentation that he needed for our meeting. The meeting was set for Tuesday@1.
I live an hour away and am not familiar with Downtown Raleigh. I drove around in circles, mainly because of of Fayetteville St was closed off. I telephoned him twice and asked him where was he located. He would never tell me exactly what landmarks were near his office.
I did happen to stumble on another attorney by the name of Michael Byrne, who was not the one that I was scheduled to see. This attorney was not in the office, but his secretary was sooooo nice, she called and tried to get more directions for me. Evidently, he gave her the same run-around that he gave me.
It was hot that day, I was tired and frustrated, when I finally did make it to his office an hour late. He hid his frustration rather well, or so he thought. I tried to explain to him that all he had to do was tell me that his office was in front of the Sheraton, and in the
Wachovia Bank Bldg. I called him three times and asked him how to get to his building, and he would only give me the address.
I took out all of my papers, showed those to him, he listened politely and at the end of the conversation told me that he could not take my case. I asked him why and he mumbled something, saying since he did not take the case he could not advise.
My question is, why did you leave me to believe that you would? Was it because I was late. He said that I could try the other Michael Byrne. I thought to myself, anything or anybody has got to be better than you.
So I wasted his time, my time, my gas not to mention the embarrassment of having to go into detail about a case that he probably had no intention of taking. I should have thought something, when during the first telephone conversations, he asked me to give him the name of the attorneys that I had talked to. I'm not writing this review because I am angry, I've since calmed down and I believe I am more rational now. I consider myself a fairly intelligent person. He wasted my time and his time.
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08 May, 2022 by Anonymous
Very poor quality - got scheduled sanction by NC bar. Judge don’t like him. Three acts misconduct. Thanks
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26 May, 2022 by Vivica
Ms Davis has a background primarily in criminal law but also takes on cases for separation, child custody, child support, and divorce. She brings toughness to the court but she’s not as competent on the Family Law side as I expected. I did not get the outcome that I expected during my custody/support/alimony cases and I feel like she was not realistic with me about NC family law and the temperament of Wake County Family Court judges. Wake County Family judges are very progressive and there is absolutely no preference of the mother over the father if all things considered equal. We went in with a 1980/1990 strategy and it just didn’t work. Additionally, opposing counsel and judge corrected her a few times and on occasion I felt like we could have prepared better. I hired Attorney Davis for initial hearings but I ultimately decided to represent myself midway through the 2-year ordeal and I felt better about the outcomes I was able to achieve on my own … with no additional money needed. Once I, myself, understood the system and how the judges rule, I set my expectations accordingly. But biggest lesson learned is that I should have just compromised with my ex-husband from the beginning. It would have saved a lot of time, energy, and money… and kept things peaceful moving forward for now we co-parent our daughter. But you can’t expect an attorney to give you that advice.
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04 Jan, 2014 by Timothy
Attorney Deluca, once contacted was difficult to speak to, difficult to get in touch with, did not return answers to questions, hard to understand and lacked enthusiasm to deliver a satisfactory outcome to my case. .
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10 Mar, 2014 by Anonymous
Jim Black refused to investigate the State's only alleged Witness-Victim, an Impersonator, who falsely accused me of Assault, and of using “The N Word” when I donated two items to a still-unknown employee at Goodwill Industries. She was serving a community service sentence at GW for a drug conviction. She was intoxicated on hard, illegal narcotics, and didn't feel like doing any work. The Impersonator is a manager at GW. This case was all about the Black Mafia and Black politics. GW appears to traffic in drugs, and to bribe officials. GW submitted a fake, re-enacted video of the Scene to the Court, and destroyed the official surveillance video. GW stonewalled me, all the way, as did the corrupt Apex, NC cops. The Apex Police Chief retired early, soon afterward.
He repeatedly refused to resign when I fired him. It took me three 130-mile trips to Court to fire him. He argued against me each time, stating that I was a crazy conspiracy theorist because I had fired three preceding Attorneys, none of whom would investigate the Impersonator-Perjuror. Such delayed my Case by about six months. I stayed in NC only to defend myself in this Case. The Case took two years, sixteen trips to court, and 20 trips to Raleigh, total. I moved out of the State, soon afterward.
He ordered a psychological evaluation of me, even though three preceding Attorneys, fourteen Judges, and two ADAs did not see such a need. It took me nine days to write a nine-page description of facts and arguments for the shrink. Jim never stated a reason for such an evaluation. If the shrink had concluded that I was not fit to stand trial, I would never be able to get a job, apartment, gun permit, or insurance, etc. And I would have been sent to a mental hospital, and forced to take drugs.
He did a background check on me to find dirt on me that the Court couldn't find. Any dirt would escalate any sentence I would get. He talked to me about traffic tickets he found.
He accepted my Case from the Public Defender's Office, even though his specialty was DUI cases. Therefore, he had a conflict of interest, never mind the inappropriate assignment, both of which he failed to disclose to me. He used me to curry favor with the ADA in my Assault Case to get brownie points for his DUI cases, his bread and butter. He even smirked at the ADA every time he handed my thick, 250-page file (95% written by me, between Attorneys, because my Attorneys failed to defend me) to the ADA.
He failed to reply to about 75% of the questions I wrote to him. He pretended that he never received some of my e-mail. How does an Attorney receive only some of a client's e-mail? Apparently, he doesn't know the laws about archiving e-mail.
My next Attorney succeeded in having my Case Dismissed, overturning my Conviction in the lower Court.
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