Business ProfileforRalston Buchanan, PLLC

I am sorry that this former client feels that way, but what she describes here is not accurate. First, there is no "document fee." More importantly, our three-step payment arrangement was clearly explained, both verbally and in the written contract that she signed. The agreement was that she was to pay $500 for in initial investigation, including document review, legal research and analysis, and brief investigation into the companies about whom she was complaining. After that if we determined that she had a valid cause of action, then she was to pay another $1,000 to file a lawsuit, and finally another $1,000 if actual litigation en***d. (These businesses often settle quickly after being served with lawsuit papers, in which case that last $1,000 is not necessary. Also, if we can prove that the offending business violated certain laws or guidelines, then we can make them pay all or part of our legal fees.) Our office notes indicate that a draft copy of the attorney fee agreement was sent to her to review, that she called the office with several questions about the details of the agreement, and that she then signed and submitted it, along with the $500 retainer.

This case involved complaints against both an automobile warranty provider and a local dealership. The client had taken her car to the dealership with what appeared to be a relatively minor is***. Not only was the warranty not honored, but it seemed likely that the dealership gave her bad information as to the condition of the car, which in turn led to further damage, greatly increasing the estimated cost of repair. Our preliminary investigation determined that she was right to complain, and that a lawsuit should be filed against both the dealership and the warranty company. We sent a warning letters to both the car dealership and the warranty company, advising of these complaints, and stating plainly that we intended to file suit. Both responded, and both responses were unsatisfactory, so we decided to push forward to Step 2, the filing of the lawsuit.

The client then asked several questions about the potential costs involved in such a lawsuit, all of which were answered; some verbally, some by email. Some specific costs are predictable, but beyond a point it becomes speculative, especially when suing multiple defendants. In short, you have to take things as they come and deal with them accordingly. Following that conversation the client stated that she needed time to think it over. In subsequent conversations she repeated the same questions, and when she got the same answers she made personal accusations as to our motivations and veracity. It was then that we decided to part ways. We sent a disengagement letter to her, and as far as I know that was the last that we heard from her before discovering this negative review.

Litigation of this sort is necessarily speculative, and it can get expensive. We told this client the same thing that we tell every client; that there is no guarantee of winning, that it is entirely possible that we could lose outright, in which case you won't get that money back. In this case we were paid $500 for roughly $1,500 worth of our time, only to end up being berated and maligned. We would have very much like to *** those bad actors, because that is the core of our law practice, but it was the client's decision not to pay the $1,000 to move forward to Step 2, and we did nothing to deserve her abuse. We continue to wish her well, and we hope that she gets some measure of justice regarding that botched car repair, but we cannot represent someone who does and says things like this.