Business ProfileforRidley Defense

I selected D*** ******/Ridley Defense to represent me. D***'s law firm consisted of himself, an attorney named M*******, and a gentleman named B****, who handle my complimentary consultation. I selected D*** based on the Avvo reviews. Every review I read about Ridley Defense was stellar, and B**** helped explain the legal process. M******* took my case. My initial flat fee was $4,000, and the hourly fee rate was $875. Below is my experience working with Ridley, issues with reported billable hours, and rationalization of their excessive fee rate. My Experience Working with Gridley I found M******* to be pleasant but distracted. M******* repeatedly lacked follow-through on commitments and deadlines she voluntarily made for herself. One day I texted M******* inquiring about setting up a time to review my case report. D*** shortly phoned me to advise that Michelle left the law firm. She gave me zero notice and, according to D***, zero notice to him. This abrupt departure explained M*******'s performance. I was pretty concerned. But, Doug assured me that he would personally step in to get my case back on track. He also offered to refund my fees, given my experience working with M******* and her leaving the firm in the manner she did. However, I did not feel D*** was digging into my case, and I remained concerned. I sent a D*** message to express my concern and request the refund that he offered. While on the phone with D***, I said, "I would like to discuss the refund." D*** hung up on me and immediately sent me an email terminating our agreement. Then, the following morning D*** called me to apologize for his behavior and win back my business. After that interaction with D***, I had no trust in his ability to represent me and found him to be combative and volatile. I asked for a refund, and D*** provided an invoice for billable hours. Issues with Billable Hours D*** sent me an invoice for the billable hours. Surprisingly, D*** charged me for the consultation, which his website advertises as complimentary. Still, even more disturbing was that D*** billed me for the phone call he placed on his own accord to apologize for hanging up the phone on me the prior afternoon! Further, D*** billed me for admin time preparing the invoice and sending it to me. Moreso, these hours occurred after he sent me the termination of services letter. D*** actually tried to bill me for the time after he terminated our fee agreement. Rationalization of Hourly Rate I have spoken to four other law firms and the local state bar. I gathered the hourly fee rate of $875 seems to be highly unreasonable. And the next highest hourly fee rate I found was $400. I tried to keep my review as objective as possible. I have all of my notes, SMS, emails, and call detail records are timestamped as evidence. My experience seems to be a complete outlier. But, I feel reporting my experience is necessary to ensure other consumers have a complete perspective to make an informed choice on legal representation.