ComplaintsforThe Harris Law Firm, PLLP

• Initial Complaint

  02/01/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I engaged Harris Law Firm to help me with my divorce because I have complicated financials. I was assigned **************************************** as my attorney. After providing them with every document they requested, they gave me a *************** Statement (***) that in many sections contained TBD (To Be Determined). This was one day prior to when the *** was due. When I questioned the paralegals working on it, they did not have correct or sufficient answers, so arranged for me to meet with *****************************. The meeting was set up for a date that is one day past the due date for me to provide the ***. When I met with ***************************** and expressed concern regarding the answers she was providing me, she told me she was done with me as a client. This is dereliction of her duty as an attorney and is unethical and unprofessional. Divorce is stressful enough, you do not need an attorney who will not work with you and then refuses to provided the services that have been contracted because you are asking for more clarification on why a document has not been filled out completely. When I informed the Harris Law firm of what happened, I was told that an attorney would contact me that same day. This did not happened. My *** is past due and I do not know if this will harm my case and I do not know how to proceed and I am not receiving support from them.

  

  Business response

  03/02/2023

  We regret that this client is unhappy with the legal services provided. The Harris Law Firm PLLP has specialized in the practice of family law for over 25 years, and we take pride in the quality of our work and in our client satisfaction. Our legal team had been working on the draft *************** Statement with this client since December 2022.  When she expressed concerns about the status of her draft, a partner from the firm reached out to her and explained why the draft had been prepared the way it was and attempted to assure her that some of the items she did not understand were drafted in a manner that is common practice at the beginning of a case and that *************** Statements may be supplemented, amended and updated throughout the course of a domestic matter. Our attorney did not terminate the client, and the clients interpretation of what occurred during her call with the attorney was a miscommunication. All work done on this case was explained in detail and provided to the client in her bi-weekly statements, as required by her Engagement Agreement with our Firm. Immediately after the client complained to the Firm and to the Better Business Bureau about her representation, a Partner from the Firm reached out to her directly and spoke with her by phone to address her concerns and provide options moving forward.  Unfortunately, there was no resolution reached and the Firm filed a Motion to Withdraw from her case on 02/03/23. The client retained new counsel on 2/09/23. 

• Initial Complaint

  07/29/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I wrote this as a review, but I believe it will give a prime outline*** also there are way to many things to offer via upload of documents*MOST IMPORTANT**** they will do anything possible to add unnecessary time to your bill, by making you repeat things 3-4-5 times then continue to plead ignorance and make you repeat it even more via email. These things all add up to billable hours and they have no problem billing you!. The attorneys at this firm lack knowledge of the law (even when asked to investigate and confirm the validity of something); given one attorney will direct you one way and the next will disagree, and even have the audacity to tell you that your issues are of "MINISCULE VALUE". They will fight you tooth and nail and threaten to no longer help with your case if you disagree with their direction. They lack the moral compassion to help a male father figure while struggling through a divorce, leave him to do almost all the work and leave you questioning if they too are being vindictive and manipulative in their tactics (given their attorneys are single divorced mothers) too. They have no tact when trying to navigate how best to deal with a NON-COMPLIANT and VINDICTIVE CO-PARENT. They cannot seem to do the basics of serving papers when needed (even after being asked if everything is in place for court), and have no problem making you look a fool in front of the judge/magistrate. If you ask for help from the partners at the firm and even provide them the EVIDENCE that corroborates your complaints you will be directed to deal with their helpers so as not to waste their time. Even their legal assistants/paralegals/Aids do not listen any better than they do. YOU WILL SPEND A FORTUNE AND GET BASIC MINIMUM WITH NO RESPECT!!! I would offer a negative 3 stars if I was able. They also have an in house advocate that will listen (she is actually really great and nice), but all she will do is direct you to the partners where you will find a round robin of ZERO help.

  

  Business response

  08/08/2022

  We have addressed the former client’s concerns in detailed correspondences.  We explicitly deny the complaint’s allegations, but due to our obligation to protect client confidences, we are unable to substantively respond to the same.  The disclosure of any additional details would require a written authorization from the former client to our firm to provide them.  The fees incurred were reasonable and necessary for a highly conflicted legal matter.   The Harris Law Firm has a very good reputation in the community for our legal services.  We stand by the work done for this former client.

  Customer response

  08/08/2022

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because: I have repeatedly complained to the partner of the firm (Jennie) about the misuse of time. The firm did respond with an unacceptable answer. I want to actually pay for the services rendered that were legitimate, unfortunately those services were very intertwined with a lot of failure and unknowledgeable legal representation (proven via email and the fact they already issued me a credit for failure to serve paperwork and being misbilled). I have communicated on several occasions that one attorney would lead me down a path to nowhere, while the next would refuse to help and argue me. I have even provided proof of these matters to said partner. I am only asking for a portion of my funds to be returned due to so much time spent making me state and repeat my issues 3, 4, 5 times, then making me restate them all via email; just to be told falsities that their attorney failed to research then argue me about it, claiming she had no knowledge of the matter (proven wrong and supplied with email evidence).  I do not wish to take this any further then need be. Again, I will restate: I want to pay for the legitimate legal services rendered, and am only asking for a portion of my funds to be returned for the wasted time and headache they have caused. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** ****

  

  Business response

  08/31/2022

  We are very sorry this client is unhappy with services provided.  We have addressed the client’s concerns in detailed correspondences.  It is unfortunate the client has misinterpreted communications with his legal team.  We provided client with a substantial credit to address his concerns with serving papers.  We further offered an additional credit to resolve the issues raised which client refused.  The credits offered and accepted were a show of goodwill and in no way an admission that our legal team was “unknowledgeable”, or that the services provided were unnecessary, or the charges therefor unreasonable.
  
  We regret we could not resolve client’s issues to his satisfaction.  We explicitly deny the allegations in client’s complaint.  The fees incurred were reasonable and necessary for a highly conflicted legal matter.  The Harris Law Firm has a very good reputation in the community for our legal services.  We reiterate that we stand by the work done and services provided for this client.

  Customer response

  09/02/2022

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because: The initial return of funds were mutual, agreed to and found suitable. Those initial return of funds were due to their not properly preparing for court despite my asking. The Harris law firm has stated they have detailed correspondence. The correspondence they have is the same as what I have. the correspondence is detailed and riddled with proof they repeatedly wasted my time despite my complaints to their client "we care representative" and to one of the partners of the firm. I use the term wasted because I literally had to repeat my stance 3, 4 & 5 times; then had to restate it via email; sometime on more then one occasion. I also had to explain to my attorney that she should be knowledgeable of my stance and be able to respond the the opposing council with such. All of which was time they billed me for. On a similar note i had several emails back and froth from the attorney in regards to my stance in my case and the fact the attorney would rather tell me they would walk away and have a "professional disagreement" over standing as my defense in an undecided court of law. Again, all time that was billed to me.

  I wish this to be done and over. Yes the Harris law firm did offer me a credit  while claiming it was not an admission of guilt. The problem I have with the non-admittance of guilt credit they offered is that it doesn't even come close to what they billed. I wish to pay for appropriate services rendered. I am only asking for a credit due in the amount of all correspondence time they billed for that ended in going nowhere and for the blatant lie the attorney advised me on at the end of my case where I was assured of a specific direction to take; when the truth was a much different story. The truth came out and even from a third party; also which I was billed time for. The third party then stood to correct the Harris law firm and their attorney; which is also recorded via email.

   

  I close by saying I can not get my wasted time back so all I am asking for is the return of the funds for said wasted time. 

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** ****

*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. ↩