ComplaintsforMeriwether and Tharp

• Initial Complaint

  09/26/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  In October of 2021, I hired ************************************************ LLC to handle my family law case. I am filing a complaint against this firm for legal negligence. My hired legal team did not review the documents submitted by the opposing counsel prior to mediation. Since they failed to complete their due diligence prior to mediation, mediation wasn't successful because all the financial records and assets were not submit as required. They should have not proceeded to mediation without all the martial assets on the table for discussion and division. They also informed me they did not prepare for mediation. This action was a violation of the State Bar of Georgia: Rule 1.3 Diligence [2] A lawyer's work load should be controlled so that each matter can be handled competently. In another instance my legal counsel agreed to a consent order without informing me, of the situation and it was submitted to court with out my knowledge. This action was a violation of the State Bar of Georgia: [5] The client should have sufficient information to participate intelligently in decisions concerning the objectives of the representation and the means by which they are to be pursued, to the extent the client is willing and able to do so. Adequacy of communication depends in part on the kind of advice or assistance that is involved. On 12/01/21- the attorney was late to court and not only was she late she did not represent me in court. Once the opposing counsel stated there case and my legal team response was " she agreed to everything the opposing counsel stated" those were her actual words. I have it recorded as proof. She also tried to delay the court case after the judge had given a date, she asked for a later date. Which is intentional delay of case. Which is a violation of Georgia State Bar rule, delay of case. There were domestic violence and parenting plan issues they did not resolve and caused more violence and police reporting. They truly failed me and my children.

  Business response

  10/03/2022

  ************ is mistaken about the level of preparation for mediation, which was court ordered.  She refused to provide her counsel with her financial documents and was aware her husband had not provided the firm with all of the financial documents we requested.  Nonetheless, she insisted we attempt to settle the case - despite knowing we did not have the full financial picture.  We confirmed in an email to her on 1/24/22 that she wanted to proceed with the mediation despite not having all of the financial documents we requested.  At mediation, when ************ refused her settlement demands, ************ used the lack of financial information as a reason to terminate the mediation. Three days later, ************ threatened to make a false police report regarding her husband and also alleged he submitted a false tax return as part of the financial information he provided in discovery.  She also refused to authorize the firm to engage in good faith discovery discussions with opposing counsel, which discussions are a prerequisite to filing a motion to compel the production of outstanding discovery (such as the missing financial documents).

  Counsel was not late to court, but was in the Zoom waiting room until the Court let her in for the status conference. Once the status conference started, counsel did agree with what opposing counsel stated to the Court: the parties are married and have two children (born in 2017 and 2019); that we had not finished negotiating a temporary order; and that both sides were working on completing ****** County Mandatory Discovery and requested mediation after initial discovery.  Both of those are and were true statements.

  With respect to the consent order, ************ is again mistaken as to the process.  The firm forwarded a draft order to her on 12/8/21 at 4:10 for her review and approval.  At 9:29 pm, ************ responded with several comments and additions that exceeded the scope of the Court's scheduling order.  Opposing counsel independently submitted the draft that was consistent with the Court's instructions. **************** counsel, not having received **************** permission, neither consented to the Order nor submitted the order on her behalf.  

  On January 29, 2022, ************ voiced her concerns to firm management and stated she did not have any "ethical issues or bar grievance-type issues/concerns."  She was, however, unhappy with the level of communication with her first attorney.  To resolve her dissatisfaction over "good communication [which] was not the same as amazing communication," she said she would be fully satisfied with receiving a refund of her initial retainer and being transferred to a new team within the firm.  During that same conversation, ************ was informed in detail of her options for pursuing a Temporary Protective Order under the Family Violence Act, both through the firm and through free public resources through the court.  When ************ asked for a payment plan or for (essentially) free representation, she was told that was not an option in her case.   At no point after that conversation did ************ indicate any dissatisfaction with our services until the firm's billing department attempted to collect her past due bill.  On April 7, 2022, ************ terminated the firm's representation and emailed her identical complaints demanding a refund. When questioned also (in April) as to what outstanding issues there were, ************ failed to respond until September 26th - the same day she submitted her complaint to the BBB also demanding a refund. 

• Initial Complaint

  05/05/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This law firm placed a lien on my home for anticipated lawyer fees. On March 30, 2022, it was determined that I did not owe the lawyer fees and that my ex who has no interest in the home was solely responsible for the fees. Since that date ***** Faschinati has refused to remove the illegal lien. I have tried numerous times to contact her and her firm by phone and email. Each time I am redirected to voicemail of the email is never responded to. Her failure to do her sworn lawful duty should not be tolerated.

  Business response

  05/10/2022

  First, *********************** is not our client - his wife is.  Second, his statements directly contradict the terms of the parties settlement agreement.  His wife (our client) does have an interest in the home and the payment of the lien from her portion of the equity is contemplated in the parties settlement agreement, which **************** signed along with his attorney.  ******************** attorney is responsible for filing the final paperwork and his attorney has failed to do so.  Furthermore, it appears **************** did not forward the terms of his settlement agreement to the closing attorney and further failed to disclose to the closing attorney that the parties were going through a divorce. Finally neither **************** nor his attorney disclosed to us that he was attempting to refinance the house loan until Thursday, April 28th when we received a call from his attorney. 

• Initial Complaint

  02/15/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  The average cost for a contested divorce in ** is about 4k-10k. I paid this firm nearly 12k for about 7 months of service and have a remaining balance of nearly 30k. During the time of services I was assigned an attorney new to Family Law, only worked for the firm 3 months prior to taking my case. This was addressed with the attorney and billing department. Nothing was done about it. When Id be billed for work I knew was not done Id reach out to the billing office and waited months to still be unable to confirm the **** was adjusted. Once, I called to speak with the normal billing rep I was told she no longer worked there but a few months later received a **** with her signature block. That was also addressed yet I was told she no longer works here My attorney advised me to file a temporary protective order against my ex. Once it was filed I informed my attorney but received very little response. It wasnt until the judge called a meeting to discuss the **** I was informed that the firm couldnt represent me because I owed-it was in their policy but they wouldnt provide me a copy of it. I had to represent myself due to the inability to find an attorney within 2 days. That move resulted in the stating that I only used the *** to gain custody of my kids which on that day was ordered to be withdrawn from school and sent to another state to live with their dad. The next day I had no idea of the orders the courts issued and when contacted the attorney received out of office in court for 2 days emails. Then 3rd day she was on leave per the paralegal for 1 week but from the attorneys out office she was gone for 2 weeks. After my attorneys leave I contacted her and very quickly was told to find another attorney locally. In addition I received a call from the billing office staying that my attorney would represent me only if I paid the then almost 29K. Clearly it wasnt the location of my attorney but the money for which I was dropped. Unprofessional experience.

  Business response

  03/07/2022

  Ms. ********* statement regarding the average cost of a contested divorce comes from gaonlinedivorce.com, which says the average costs of a child custody evaluator range from $4,000-10,000.  That same article explains a contested divorce costs, on average, $22,000 - $23,500.  https://gaonlinedivorce.com/the-average-cost-of-divorce-in-georgia/#:~:text=Contested%20divorce.&text=The%20costs%20for%20this%20service,of%20children%20in%20the%20family  Ms. ********* divorce involved high conflict parties and highly contested custody.  One of the main reasons Ms. ********* case was more expensive than the "average" case was because she filed for a family violence restraining order outside of the divorce process.  The firm did not represent her on that matter and specifically advised her it would not be in her best interest for her to proceed with the TPO.  She did so anyway and it lead to complications in her case. Also adding to the unusual expenses was her tendency to call and email almost daily where the team would come up with a game-plan, then she would call or email back to change her mind.  The constant back and forth significantly increased her costs.

  With respect to Ms. ********* billing complaints, the firm gave her a courtesy credit/write off of $5,097.20.  We also gave her a 10% military discount.  She would authorize work to be performed, then complain about having to pay for the work performed.   

  While the attorney working with Ms. ******* was new to the firm, she had been practicing well over a decade and was very experienced.  She also had two senior attorneys with whom she worked closely.  With respect to the "out of office" notice Ms. ******* received, our attorneys are trial lawyers.  They go to court and some trials take multiple days and take longer than originally predicted.  Such was the case with ************ that week. When ************ returned from the other trial, she had an emergent situation that required her to take a leave from the firm to handle.  Because Ms. ******* had expressed her dissatisfaction with the firm and had been refusing to pay her bills, the firm did, in fact, inform her she would need to either pay her **** or find another firm to represent her.

  I regret Ms. ******* does not feel she received the absolute best representation.  At M&T, we strive to provide each of our clients with an amazing client experience.  We are more than willing to discuss the situation with Ms. *******. 

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩