1. Paid him money up front
2. Lost faith in him due to his failures on another case I had hired him for (which I didn't bother trying to get my money back on, as I figured he'd come up with all kinds of justifications).
3. Asked for my money back on this case since he had not even commenced the work on this case.
4. He refused to return money. This is a violation of various codes of conduct attorneys are required to follow.
5. Took him to attorney-client fee arbitration.
6. He did not show up to arbitration hearing, despite speaking with the arbitrator and being advised verbally and in writing of the hearing time and location.
7. He has not paid the arbitration award.
8.5 years after hiring him, I still have not seen a nickel from him.
9. Now trying to get a court judgment to enforcement this arbitration award but have not been able to serve process on him for the small claims action.
His old address at 41 Schermerhorn St in Brooklyn NY was a commercial mailbox service.in 2008 he changed his official work address to a Manhattan address which may also be a commercial mailbox service, so there is no way to serve process on him personally at that address. The grievance committee was forced to use an alternate process service method and publish their complaint in the New York Law Journal.
Really sad to see a bright, educated attorney be so unprofessional. Maybe the recent suspension of his license is the wakeup call he needs to clean up his act. Even if 60% of your business is professional, if you neglect clients (intentionally or unintentionally) to the point they are going to arbitration or court against you and writing Internet reports about you, something about your business approach needs to be fixed.
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