Reviews
Avvo
Anonymous
11 Jul, 2014
I hired her after a $35.oo fee consultation. She was late for the consultation. Discussing the Temporary Peace Order where I was the Respondent, I told her I had surveillance cameras that videotaped the exact interaction between my neighbor, the Petitioner, and myself where he claimed I was harassing him and that proved the very opposite. She told me to be sure to bring the taping of the encounter to the hearing.She also told me to prepare all my materials.
She never made copies of the peace order during the consultation nor did she give me any literature or cards. She held my copy of the order the entire time. She told me she would represent me for a fee of $700 and I agreed.I was to meet her by 9AM prior to the hearing. I didn't notice that she kept my one copy of the order and that I was left without anything including the location, court house, judge, etc.
The next day I discovered that she did not return the copy of the order to me after the consultation. When I desperately tried to contact her and she was totally unavailable. I called her partner, (no answer), the court houses,(closed for the day) . All I knew was that I absolutely had to be at the hearing by 9AM! And that was all I remembered. I was unbelievably upset.
That night I did my best to tape the surveillance video with a USBPort but could not play it on my computer. I am not computer knowledgeable and was up for hours. I got very little sleep. My spouse is ill but does not get picked up until after 9AM So I had to prepare both of us. after an almost sleepless night with No breakfast, no medicine. The taxi dropped us off at one court house but it was the wrong one. There they were finally able to find my name and direct me to another courthouse blocks away. We had to walk in the heat and humidity for blocks and arrived at the proper one just before 9AM. I was so upset and scared.
She was there and did not apologize. She told me she had sent an email at 8AM when we were already outside waiting for the taxi. I was completely frazzled and distraught.
During the hearing my neighbor and his neighbor witnesses made me out to be a harasser who yells and curses. The facts are just the opposite. She never really challenged them, asked them any particular questions, etc.
When I was at the stand in my lethargy I could barely remember what happened and she never prodded my memory to help me out. I did make a comment that showed my frustration with my neighbor and my lawyer said "You gave as good as you got, didn't you?" I responded positively when i it was not true. It was and always has been my neighbor who is the harasser. I have had to call the police on him for all kinds of crimes and misdemeanors. He is a bully and the other two neighbors have had the police called on them, as well. He is mad because we put no trespassing signs on our fence. She came to enjoy her day and was not prepared. Although it softened the effect her comment made me agree that this confrontation was as much my fault as my neighbor's. She made me come across as the terrible person. Had she been the lawyer I deserved this was when she should have brought out the video that would have exonerated me. This was the very video she told me to bring that I had spent hours preparing for the hearing. The judge found no harassment and closed the case in my favor, no thanks to Ms Wallace.
By the way ,she never sent that email she claimed to have sent on the morning of the hearing. She lied to me. I do not trust her and would never recommend her to anybody.
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