ComplaintsforThe Gasper Law Group

• Initial Complaint

  06/26/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Gasper Law Group has had several complaints against them regarding their billing practices, and at least on occasion are not forthcoming with what they are charging clients. I had a parenting plan/custody case with Gasper Law where I experienced this. Despite my coparent paying $4,000 to a lawyer in ****************/****** for the same parenting plan, Gasper Law Group is attempting to charge me over $13,000 total for the same case. This was a case that didn't go to final orders/a judge. I was diligent about paying my initial retainer and $350/per month fee, and stayed on top of communication and asking if I owed to which I was told that I only owed my monthly fee and if that was "clear as mud". A major lack of professionalism while highly billing clients. After my case closed, I was sent a bill for over $8,000 and citing small print in their contract. I wasn't told how much I owed on over 5 occasions that I asked during my case, allowed to dispute the claim, or provided an opportunity to drop their services as this wasn't something I would ever be able to afford. Instead, they withheld how much I owed when I asked not allowing me that opportunity to drop services, and sent me a final bill 2 months after our final parenting plan for thousands of dollars, and more than the entirety of my case until that point. When I asked in writing over 4 times to dispute the matter and charges, I was ignored by both my lawyer and the billing department and sent to collections. I believe there is malpractice happening in their billing department, and an investigation needs to occur. This has also been cited in negative reviews. It would also be helpful to investigate if they are falsifying reviews, as their ratings recently dramatically changed online from negative to positive. In addition, throughout their services they requested I do my own paperwork such as financial statements and incurring charges for clients when they respond back asking for help they should be providing.

  

  Business response

  06/26/2023

  In light of the public nature of this process and attorney/client confidentiality, we must limit ourselves to a general response other than to say that our records reflect a far different version of events. 

  **************** description of GLG billing practices is incorrect.  Every GLG client signs a fee agreement stating that: (1) the client shall make a minimum monthly payment,(2) the outstanding balance may not exceed $5000, (3) how billing disputes are made and (4) the client may terminate services at any time.  There is no fine print, all paragraphs are clearly labeled, and the entire fee agreement is reviewed with clients paragraph by paragraph upon hiring.
  
  GLG does not withhold how much a client owes.  Every month, all clients receive billing statements that show what work was done, by who, and what the related charge is.  The bill has a running total balance each and every month and the minimum payment is printed in bold.
  
  We don't have enough information to comment on how much another party was charged for their legal services.  We periodically review the market in ******** and our services are generally more affordable than other firms with similarly experienced attorneys. 
  
  Finally, it is standard practice among all family law attorneys for a client to fill out the initial draft of a *************** Statement.  This is a document that asks you how much money you earn each month and how you spend that money.  In order to be respectful of our clients resources, we ask them to fill out a draft version of the Financial Statement and then a paralegal, who bills at a lower hourly rate, helps to finalize it before giving it to the attorney to review.

  If ************ would like to discuss more of the specifics that we cannot address in this forum, we are willing to speak privately.

*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. ↩