I'm not taking this lightly because it was a horrible experience and if I can help to prevent anyone else from wasting their hard earned money by engaging this firm I have done my part. First, I never signed an attorney retainer stating the terms of our agreement. The reason -the paralegal working for the attorney wanted me to sign a retainer that said if they prevailed in a case they would be able to collect all attorney fees at a rate of $375 per hour.
The problem here is they would be able to demand these fees from the client [me] if they were not successful in collecting the fees from opposing party. This did not sit well with me since we agreed to a $400 monthly defense fee. When I broached the issue with Alessandra Livingston [the attorney's sister and paralegal] she asked me to trust her they will not enforce that clause.
I refused to sign the agreement with that language but she agreed to still represent me. Second, my case was for foreclosure defense related to a home equity line of credit; she told me they would likely get the case dismissed since it is not a secured loan which is false. She went on to suggest if the case is not dismissed I should file for bankruptcy to make the debt go away.
This is only part 1. Part 2 will follow. In the meantime if you have any questions regarding my horrible experience with this firm feel free to email me at [email protected]. I will also post on Yelp and The Rip Off Report.
The Andres Lopez Law Firm Reviews
I'm not taking this lightly because it was a horrible experience and if I can help to prevent anyone else from wasting their hard earned money by engaging this firm I have done my part. First, I never signed an attorney retainer stating the terms of our agreement. The reason -the paralegal working for the attorney wanted me to sign a retainer that said if they prevailed in a case they would be able to collect all attorney fees at a rate of $375 per hour.
The problem here is they would be able to demand these fees from the client [me] if they were not successful in collecting the fees from opposing party. This did not sit well with me since we agreed to a $400 monthly defense fee. When I broached the issue with Alessandra Livingston [the attorney's sister and paralegal] she asked me to trust her they will not enforce that clause.
I refused to sign the agreement with that language but she agreed to still represent me. Second, my case was for foreclosure defense related to a home equity line of credit; she told me they would likely get the case dismissed since it is not a secured loan which is false. She went on to suggest if the case is not dismissed I should file for bankruptcy to make the debt go away.
This is only part 1. Part 2 will follow. In the meantime if you have any questions regarding my horrible experience with this firm feel free to email me at [email protected]. I will also post on Yelp and The Rip Off Report.