This guy is a joke. Not only that, he's a scammer, a liar, a thief, and a complete jerk.
He has avoided me for months and would not return my e-mails or even pick up the phone.
When my mother and myself first met Michael J. Shim, it was at a Panera Bread in Aurora / Naperville Illinois off of Route 59 on April 25th of it is February 26th as I write this today. We discussed our case, fees, something called Radical Time Out, and Christianity.
The way we found this attorney was through a newspaper called the "Chicago Kyocharo" My mother had found his ad and we needed a lawyer so we called and arranged the meeting at the Panera Bread listed above.
When we met him, he seemed like a stand up guy but most lawyers do. We told him that we needed to go to trial for this case and he agreed that we'd go to trial but there is also a chance that we would lose and that I may face prison time.
We agreed on a payment plan where we would pay him in increments in $5,000, three times. We also agreed verbally, in court, that if we couldn't come up with the full $15,000 before the trial, that we would pay him after the trial.
At first, he was active on the case. Always sending me e-mails when I send an e-mail and picking up the phone when I called him or myself picking up the phone when he calls me. He would tell me when my next court date is and what needs to be taken care of. He would invite me to an outing called "Radical Time Out" and even offered to pick me up. He has also stated that we can call him anytime if I have any questions or if I just wanted to talk.
The first time he asked for a payment was in August 19th. We were trying to subpoena things and try to suppress statements. We have already given him $5,000 but he hasn't really done anything so we wanted to wait until something was done in order to give him money.
At the hearing for the motion, not only was he not prepared, he just didn't seem like he cared at all what the outcome was. There was about a one to three minute silence where he sat there, not saying a word to the witness and looking at papers on the desk. Then he asked if the partner of the witness was fat.
November 4th is when things started to get really weird.
I tried to explain to him how e-mail headers work and to obtain them by subpoenas but he stated that he didn't know how to subpoena stuff.
He then stated to me that he did subpoena the e-mails and that he should have them soon. He also then stated that if I don't come up with $5,000, he would withdraw from the case. Naturally, any sane person would get mad or a bit disappointed.
"You need to work quickly on this or I will be forced to withdraw from the case."
I had told him that I will have the money for him and that we're having a bit of trouble because my mother got fired or laid off (not sure) and that I was in the process of looking for a job as well.
Instead of answering questions like, When is my next court date? Are we going to file a motion to substitute the judge? (We agreed, in court, that it was in our best interest that we should.) When was this Police Report filed? He just replied with something about, "Why don't you answer the phone?" I didn't have a cell phone active at the time and we don't have a home phone because we all use cell phones in the house.
He stated he was available Thursday and Friday of that week and to let him know when we can meet. I told him that I did not know if I was available on those days and that I needed him to subpoena some medical records and to find out certain aspects of the case.
Instead, he replies with the following:
"If you don't want to talk to me to discuss this that is fine. I'll request to withdraw from the case on the next court date. If you change your mind about meeting me, let me know."
We agreed to meet at the same Panera Bread in the morning on a Monday and I asked him what we were going to discuss. He stated the following:
"We are going to talk about whether it is in our our best interest to continue our attorney client relationship."
We met at the Panera Bread, all he did was talk about money. Money this and money that. I told him that I would pay him, he told me if I can't tell him a specific date on when I could pay him, he's going to withdraw. I told him I don't know when and he left Panera Bread. We both got into a pretty heated argument that day.
In January, I approached him in the halls of the courthouse one day. I apologized to him about what had happened at Panera and that I hope that we could work something out and to not withdraw from the case. I couldn't afford another attorney and that he was my last chance. It seemed like everything was alright and that he'll represent me. I asked him for forgiveness and he forgave me as did he. We talked on the way out about how I will bring him some money the next court date and how we'll keep in touch.
Last time I talked to him was Wednesday night at around 8:30pm to 9pm, February 25th. I had to drive to his office which is actually his house and demand answers.
Before I talked to him on this Wednesday night, I talked to him on January 29th.
I sent him a total of four e-mails, one for each week of February and he never replied to any of them, except for the last one. I had even called him and it shot me straight to voice mail every time.
First e-mail stated that the trial is coming up soon and I'm nervous and don't know what to do.
Second e-mail was about the January e-mail that he sent, stating that he was trying to get a better plea deal and me explaining what I was going through. I just wanted to know what was going on with that whole getting a better deal thing.
Third e-mail I asked if he was getting my e-mails and talked about how we should go about our defense and how we should meet up and talk about how this trial is going to work. I stated that my mother was asking questions on whether I had heard from him and I told her, "No, I haven't."
The fourth e-mail I asked him if he was going to write back. I stated that the last time I heard from him was on January 29th. Court was in eight days and I needed to know what's going on.
He replied a day later, telling me to meet him at Panera Bread at 10am. I told him I had work until 5pm, six days a week and that it was not possible to take a day off.
He then replied about meeting on Sunday at 3pm. I told him I have personal family matters and church on Sundays.
Then he told me Monday night at 6:30pm. I told him, "I'm not sure if I'm going to be home by then, any other time?" I also then stated that family members, friends, relatives, and myself were concerned on why he hasn't contacted me in over a month.
He then replied that I had to be there, trial was on Tuesday, and that Monday is the last time we could meet.
I told him that I sent numerous e-mails this month and that we could have met earlier but I didn't know what his circumstances were. I asked him if it was possible to meet him at like 7pm Friday - Sunday. I again asked why he didn't contact me for about a month.
He replied back with Friday at 7pm at Panera Bread.
I said it was fine and that I tried calling him and that he's not picking up his phone. I tried calling and calling as I was sending out these messages. I called his cell phone and his office phone number numerous times. No one answered or it shot directly to voice mail.
I wrote back saying that I needed to know that night why he hasn't contacted me because people kept asking me. Family members, friends, and relatives. I told him that I felt that a lot of questions were left unanswered and actions were left undone, such as, filing motions and subpoenas. I told him that I would try calling a few more times and that if he didn't reply to me about why he didn't contact me, I would have to resort to other measures that I didn't feel like doing because I needed to sleep for work and I was tired.
He never replied back so I drove to his office which was about a mile or two away from my house.
His office turned out to be his house. I found the address on the newspaper advertisement. One address was 50 miles away, another was a few miles away. I rang his doorbell and knocked on the door persistently because I saw a light was on upstairs.
He peered outside of his window and I looked at him and said, "What's up?!" He opened the door quickly and I asked him, "How come you haven't talked to me in a month?" He replied with, "Because I didn't feel like it." I stated, "You didn't feel like it? Come on man."
I told him that the last time I was at court, January 28th we gave him money and that I would have more money for him. He started saying, "When?!" "You better get the h*ll out of here before I call the Police." I stated that I already called the Police and he looked left and right outside of his door and said, "Oh yea? Should we wait for them?" I stated, "No, because they aren't going to do anything." I couldn't have him ignoring me for months and months, not replying to e-mails, not answering my questions, not even filing for motions and subpoenas, basically, not giving a hoot and just taking the money.
He closed the door, I got off his property and onto the street and called the Non Emergency line for the local Police Department to see what I can do. I believe I talked with the guy at the desk, on the phone, for about 15 to 30 minutes. As I was on the phone with the Police, I guess he was too.
As I was going back to my car, two squad cars show up and the police asked me if I was the one who called and I stated, "No, it was this guy here but let me explain to you what's going on please." I talked with the officers for about 15 to 45 minutes to get a better understanding of what to do, how to do, and some other non-related information. Also to let them know of the situation that I was in and what this attorney is doing to me.
That was the end of that and the next day, today, he sent an e-mail stating the following:
"I will not meet with you this Friday in light of your conduct last night which required me to call the police. I will go to court on the trial date and explain to the Judge what you did last night."
I don't see what I did wrong. This attorney wasn't answering my questions and my family and I needed to know why he didn't keep in contact with me until the very last minute. So, I drove to his office which turned out to be his house and it went from there.
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