Complaint Review: John Glenn Meazell

It is now Friday, March 6th, 2009. I just received a phone call from John Meazell saying that he wasn't really sure if I had a case or not. I'm not really sure why he called, since I haven't heard anything from him since Tuesday, November 27th, 2007. Yes, that's right...over 15 months ago.

I was referred to John Meazell by Everett Newton on Friday, June 22nd, 2007. I contacted John Meazell about an invasion of privacy case, and received this:

-----I performed a preliminary investigation into the law which I determined that there exists a cause of action that may be worthwhile pursuing. However, unless and until I enter into an engagement agreement with you I do not intend on pursuing it further.-----

So I asked him to send me an Engagement Agreement to look over. After a few failed attempts at attaching a pdf document, he finally sent me a document which said that he would represent myself and - get a load of this - MY SON in our case. It went on to describe how the contigency fees would be settled - John Meazell would get up to 45% of any settlement, and I would pay all doctor bills, hospital bills, investigation costs, legal fees (because his 45% shouldn't be considered a legal fee?), and more. Here, is a portion that you can read for yourself:

-----In consideration of the services to be rendered for me by my Attorney hereunder, I hereby sell, transfer, assign and convey to my above-named Attorney an undivided interest of THIRTY-THREE PERCENT (33%) interest in and to said claims and the gross amounts received in settlement in the event that the same is or are settled without suit, and FORTY PERCENT (40%) interest of any judgments obtained or amounts received on or for such suits if the same is or are collected by suit or by settlement after suit is filed but before one week before initial trial setting and FORTY-FIVE PERCENT (45%) interest of any judgments obtained or amounts received on or for such suits if the same is or are collected by suit or by settlement on or after one week before the initial trial setting. Said settlement amount will include any and all monies recovered, including but not limited to, proceeds from any liability carrier, proceeds from any uninsured or underinsured carrier, and proceeds from any Personal Injury Protection or Med Pay. Client agrees to pay all costs of investigation, preparation and trial of the case, including, but not limited to court costs, depositions, subpoenas, travel, witnesses, experts, photography, video, medical records, and reports, and such costs shall be deducted after the attorney's fee is deducted. Client further agrees and authorizes Attorney to deduct his legal fee and such costs from the proceeds.-----

I was surprised that anyone with a degree in anything would send such a haphazardly edited PERSONAL INJURY agreement to a potential client regarding an invasion of privacy case. I explained this to John, and he shrugged it off, saying that all attorneys use a master document and just edit it to include the specifics of the current case. (Not true)

After going to his (shared) office space and meeting with John in person, I was convinced to sign the engagement agreement. We went over the document and he took out the parts that referred to personal injuries and medical bills, as well as the wording about my son. I faxed it to John on November 15th, 2007. I received 2 emails from John after signing his contract, the first on November 19th, 2007 and the second on November 27th, 2007. After that, I never heard from John again...until today, March 6th, 2009 to tell me that he's not sure if I have a case or not. He did not reply to my emails and he didn't return any of my calls.

I understand why he did what he did. By having me sign the engagement agreement, he was legally my attorney for the case. If I then went out and hired a competent attorney and received a judgement of $100,000 (or any other amount) he would legally have claim to 45% of that amount PLUS any "legal fees" he wanted. All without lifting a legal finger.

John Glenn Meazell is very charismatic, but when it came to legal representation, I believe that his actions constitute professional misconduct.

So now the question remains...why did he call me almost 2 years from when I first contacted him to tell me that he wasn't sure if I had a case or not? Is he under investigation by the Texas Bar Association or something?

Wes
Wylie, Texas
U.S.A.