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Complaint Details
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Initial Complaint
03/20/2024
- Complaint Type:
- Service or Repair Issues
- Status:
- Answered
The law firm created phantom charges for copies, fax, telephone, and postage costs in addition to chase card services, policy search costs and demand package services costs that cannot be justified. Additionally, the firm used intimidation, fraud, and deceit in order to secure retainment with respect to my second accident case. In particular, I was given an offer of $10,000 prior to their retainment which I was to accept, but was told that if I did, the firm would not represent me on the first case, and further stated that I was entitled to much more than 10k, and that they could get me more. After one year, not only did the firm not get me more, they ultimately settled for the same 10k I was offered prior to their retainer. In light of this, the firm should not be entitled to any percentage of the second settlement and I demand a refund. Finally, the firm was so negligent and unzealous in connection with their representation that I experienced extreme hardship that otherwise would not have been endured but for their snailpaced representation. Specifically, it took the firm several months to prepare a demand letter and represent this matter. I kept getting bounced around from attorney to attorney (total of 4-5) which stalled my case out for nearly 12 months and during this period I basically did all the leg work myself. On top of that, injury evidence was mixed up by the firm and inappropriately submitted into the wrong cases and it was a gigantic mess. Overall I endured a ton of hardship directly related to the firms failure to handle my cases in a timely manner. I lost my home, my car, and it was literally the worst experience of my life. The firm did not zealously advocate my claims, they did not handle my cases in a timely manner, nor did the firm fight for me as advertised. I demand a full refund. Lastly, the bulk of communications with respect to my claims were via email, and theres no way the firm can justify $1,977.52 in additional charges.Business response
04/03/2024
Richard Harris Law Firm represented ****************** on two different cases. The first accident occurred on 02/12/2023, and the second accident occurred on 02/22/2023. ****************** was also in a third accident on 06/16/2023,but the firm did not represent him in that case. Each allegation that ***************** has made is addressed below.
Richard Harris Law Firm did not create phantom charges for copies, fax, telephone, and postage costs in addition to chase card services, policy search costs, and demand package services. The retainer that ****************** signed for each case states the following:
CASE COSTS: advanced by the Firm are expenses to third parties necessary to investigate, prepare and prosecute the Claim and are separate and distinct from Attorneys Fees and will be deducted from the Recovery after Attorneys Fees. Client understands the Firm maintains commercial financing for the advancement of Case Costs and bills Client with the same interest rate the Firm is charged by the financial institution for Case Costs. Client authorizes the firm to incur all reasonable Case Costs the Firm deems necessary to further the Claim. Client also agrees to, in lieu of separate itemized expense billing of certain in-office expenses which client accepts as a reasonable amount, a flat fee of $50.00 per month, with a maximum of $1,200.00 per case, for Claim-related administrative expenses, client portal access, case file materials, file staff local transportation and mileage, parking, asset searches and other data retrieval, and Client loan applications. Client acknowledges the monthly charge for in-office expenses is not an exact calculation but approximates actual expenses and consents thereto.
The firm claimed a total of $650 in copies, fax, telephone, and postage expenses, which is actually less than what it was legally entitled to recoup.
The chase card services expenses were costs expended to obtain the medical records and bills from the providersa necessary cost for any personal injury case.
The policy search costs were costs associated with hiring an investigator to find necessary policy information.
As for the demand package services expenses, the firm will often utilize a third-party business to review medical records and to aid in composing a compressive medical summary.
****************** chose to settle his second claim for $10,000 because he needed the money immediately, and he did not want to spend time litigating the case. In his second case, the adverse driver backed into Mr. ******** vehicle while the adverse driver was trying to leave a drive-thru line. The adverse drivers insurance was Farmers, and Farmers did not accept the firms policy limit demand for a few reasons. First, the injuries were essentially the same in each accidentalthough Mr. ******** pain management doctor did apportion damagesso the adjuster blamed the tortfeasor from the first accident for Mr. ******** injuries. Second, the adjuster for ******* did not believe that his damages were caused by the second accident because it was a low-speed collision with little to no property damage. The adjuster for Farmers held firm at $10,000, so the firm and ****************** began planning the next steps. ****************** instructed the firm to accept the $10,000 offer if he receives a $25,000 offer on the first case, otherwise the firm would litigate all of the cases together. Eventually, the third-party insurance company in the first case tendered its limit of $25,000 to ******************. ****************** was satisfied with that outcome, and he instructed the firm to settle both cases. The firm never guaranteed an outcome to ******************, and it was ultimately his decision to settle and to not litigate the case.
The firm zealously advocated for ****************** in a timely manner. Mr. ******** final day of treatment was on 08/29/2023. The firm sent his demands for both cases on 11/02/2023, as it takes a bit of time to gather all of the medical records and bills and to prepare and review the demand. Furthermore, the negotiations between the firm and the insurance carriers in the first case lasted a few months because ******************************** that ultimately paid out the $25,000 to Mr. ********** not originally involved in the case. The firm sent a policy limit demand to Dairyland (the adverse drivers insurance), and they notified the owner of the cars insurance (Progressive). Progressive asked the firm for time to investigate the claim, and the firm conveyed that request to ******************. The firm informed ****************** that his choices were to ***** the request or to **** ****************** chose to ***** ************ request, as that would save him time and money if the case was resolved before filing a lawsuit. After investigating the claim, Progressive chose to tender its limit of $25,000. ****************** was happy with this result. The firm was also able to obtain 65% reductions from most medical providers and a 50% reduction from one provider, and ****************** pocketed more than 33% of the gross settlements.We trust this clears up the matter.
Initial Complaint
07/10/2023
- Complaint Type:
- Service or Repair Issues
- Status:
- Answered
I was lied to their **** office revived the checks and instead of the lawyer saying that after making me wait 2 weeks I fired him. He sent an informal lien over to the company but when asked to submit an official one he stated that it takes time and he will get around to it. very unprofessional and after i gave a written notice that i do not wanna he represented he still called the insurance company to have them resend the checks that his other office had already received.Business response
07/24/2023
Nakem is incorrect in his description and timeline of what transpired.
His case is settled for insurance policy limits. He has our handling lawyer's personal cell phone and they had constant communication throughout this entire process.
We were waiting for the settlement check from the liability insurance carrier, State Farm. The signed release was sent back to State Farm on June 20. Everything else was ready to go on his case, we just needed the check.
The settlement check was delayed in the mail for a couple of weeks and we told the client that if the check still was not here by Friday, July 7, we would have State Farm issue a new check.
Nakem then showed up to the office demanding a meeting. The handling lawyer met with him, explained that we still did not have the check from State Farm and that it must have been lost in the mail and that we would call State Farm immediately to have a new one issued after the mail came that day. We reminded him that we have a desire to close his case as quickly as possible and that we have no incentive to keep his case open. ***** then stormed out of the meeting room.
Immediately after he walked out, as promised, we called State Farm, told them they needed to issue a new check, asked them to overnight it, or direct deposit it; they declined both and said it was impossible and that a new check would be cut in the regular course, but that a new check would be issued.
About 40 minutes after that phone call with State Farm regarding the new check, we received a handwritten drop letter from the client. We immediately sent an attorney lien to State Farm, as is standard procedure immediately after a drop from a client.We received our attorneys fees and costs directly from State Farm who presumably paid our former client, as we were discharged by the client and never received his settlement funds.
Initial Complaint
02/27/2023
- Complaint Type:
- Service or Repair Issues
- Status:
- Answered
YES ************************ IS MY RETAINED ATTORNEY WITH THE *** FIRM RICHARD HARRIS AND THEY HAVE PREVIOUSLY REPRESENTED ME IN A PREVIOUS PERSONAL INJURY **** WITH A FEW ISSUES PRIOR TO SETTLING OF THE **** ********************** PARTNER AT THE FIRM ATTEMPTED UNPROFESSIONAL AND UNETHICAL BEHAVIORS AND WAS ISSUED COMPLAINT ALONG WITH HIS ASSISTANT AND **** MANAGER. RECTIFYED AND PROBLEM CORRECTED THEN. THEY WERE RETAINED AGAIN ON MY CURRENT PERSONAL INJURY **** WITH ALLSTATE WHERE IM THE CLAIMANT. AT ABOUT 8MOS INTO MY **** THEY SAY CONFLICT OF INTEREST PER PARTNERS, CLOSE THE **** ON THEYRE END AND GIVE ME A REFERAL TO ZT ***YERS TO FACILITATE THE DEMAND LETTER PHASE OF **** BASED ON THE ***** AND CIRCUMSTANCES ON THIS LIABILITY **** INVOLVING CARELESS AND WRECKLESS ALLSTATE DRIVER ******************************* WHO T=BONED MY CAMARO CAUSING MY VEHICLE TO BECOME AIRBORNE AND LAND ONTO ROCK AND HAVE TO BE EXTRACTED FROM THE ****** I SUFFERED TRAUMATIC HEAD INJURIES IN ADDITION TO ALL OTHER SIDE AFFECTS, AND INJURIES RENDERED FROM THE INCIDENT AND COLLISION. MY CAR WAS TOTALED AND ALLSTATE HAS THUS FORTH HANDLED AND PAID OUT ALL VEHICULAR AND AUTO RELATED EXPENSES WITH NO ISSUES AND AWAIT THE MEDICAL BILLS AND RECORDS REQUIRED TO FACILITATE THE PAYMENT OF THE INJURY SIDE OF THE CLAIM, I'VE BEEN BULLIED AND ALLSTATE ALONG WITH LENDER ASSISTANCE CONFISCATED MY VEHICLE ILLEGALLY WITH ITS CONTENTS AND I HAVE NOT RECIEVED ANYTHING. RICHARD HARRIS AND THE REFERRAL IDEA WAS NOT SUCCESSFUL OR LOGICAL CAUSING MY **** TO LAG AND BUILDING A RIFF IN COMMUNICATION WITH INSURANCE COMPANY, AND SEEK REPRESENTATION FOR MAT AND CLAIM NUMBER ********** LIABILITY CLAIM ON THE INSURED *************************** FATHER OF ******. so i took my case and currrent documents and progress to dimopoulus law who reviewed my case and position if they were to continue from scarborough and his case managers last position and that was not recieved well. They stated your lawyers case cannot be pass this case due to various privacy policiesBusiness response
03/01/2023
This correspondence is in response to the Better Business Bureaus inquiry of February 27, 2023 regarding our firms representation of ********************
*********** was involved in a motor vehicle collision on April 5, 2022 in which he received personal injuries. ************ retained our firm to represent him for his personal injury claim shortly thereafter.
*********** did not undergo any medical treatment with the providers we set him up with from the date of his accident up to June 10, 2022, the date we withdrew from his case. Further, it came to our attention that ************ communicated with the third-party insurance carrier in an aggressive manner, which undermined his case and credibility. Due to these failures, and his previous dealings during our previous representation of ************, on June 10, 2022, we decided to withdraw from his case during pre-litigation. Per our Retainer Agreement, we may withdraw if the recovery does not economically warrant further expenditures of time or money or if the client refuses to cooperate or follow the firms advice. ************ has claimed that we must represent him and that we must submit a demand to the third-party insurance carrier. However, due to Mr. ***** actions and inactions, we rightfully terminated our representation of ************* ************ was not prejudiced by our decision. We were not in litigation and he had plenty of time to either retain new counsel or file a lawsuit on his own as the Statute of Limitations does not run until April 5, ****. We provided him with a copy of his file several times.
Please be advised that ************ filed a Complaint to the State Bar of ****** regarding the same on or around June 28, 2022 and the State Bar of ****** found no wrongdoing. Moreover, ************ filed a Complaint to the State Bar against a different attorney at the firm on December 15, 2021 on a different case. The State Bar found no wrongdoing on that case, either.
It is our hope this satisfies all the issues presented.Business response
03/28/2023
Our law firm withdrew from representing client last June because he did not seek medical treatment after this accident and was abusive to our staff. Client was informed several times to seek another lawyer if he wished to pursue the case.Initial Complaint
09/01/2022
- Complaint Type:
- Billing Issues
- Status:
- Answered
I'm a former client and have been trying to speak with someone about my case. Have called more than 10 times over the past 3 months and have been told the same thing over and over again. "Your case manager doesn't work here anymore so someone will look into your case and call you.". No call whatsoever!! I just had some questions about my closed case from 2019! Which apparently, wasn't expunged coz i spoke to another lawyer who was able to pull up all the details! Expungement was part of the deal i had and paid for when i hired this law firm. Finish the job and someone call me coz i need some information about it that will affect something i'm working on now!,Business response
09/21/2022
Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/09/07) */ Contact Name and Title: Patricia client relations Contact Phone: ****************** Contact Email: ********@richardharrislaw.com Hello ****, I reached out to you via google to give me a call. I looked into your file and you are eligible to petition, however there is a process you would need to call us and start the process(finger prints and other document). I can also have somebody call you. Please let me know how you would like to proceed. Thank youInitial Complaint
03/18/2022
- Complaint Type:
- Billing Issues
- Status:
- Resolved
Our case manager Cynthia M******* disbursed our medical payments but one for ********************* value 101,000 was mailed to a wrong address they called us stressing if they do not get the money we would be responsible for the debt. They tried got no response so we have been trying for 2 weeks same thing no response. Hope you can help thanksBusiness response
07/27/2022
Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/03/22) */ Our office sent payment twice to *********************** who holds a lien for the ******************** bill. The first check was returned undeliverable, but the second check to another address was cashed on March 14, 2022.The entire issue is resolved. Consumer Response /* (2000, 7, 2022/03/23) */ Quick update Cynthia Me****** responded to your request thank you, they are having issues disposing the funds to this business she said not to worry will keep you updated when we hear this mess is settled Thank You so much for the boost. **************************
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Customer Complaints Summary
6 total complaints in the last 3 years.
1 complaints closed in the last 12 months.