Complaint Review: (((NAME(S) REDACTED DUE TO PERCEIVED HARASSMENT / CYBERSTALKING / CYBERBULLYING / REVENGE POST))) - Red Bank New Jersey

 

EDITOR’S COMMENT:  Ripoff Report strongly believes in the First Amendment, especially when consumers are truthfully warning other consumers about potential frauds, scams, rip-offs or the like by shady individuals or businesses.  Ripoff Report is by consumers, for consumers…and we want to keep it that way!  Unfortunately this Report was posted and, upon additional information, appears to have been primarily for the purpose of bullying or harassment.  In many instances Ripoff Report will reach out to the author of the Report to obtain further information.  In other instances, enough information is provided to Ripoff Report to warrant redactions without reaching out to the author.  Ripoff Report is working to combat tactics that are perceived to be cyberharassment, cyberstalking, cyberbullying and/or what is generally considered a “revenge post” as we do not condone such behavior. 

 

The Report was brought to our attention and, upon review of compiled information (which will be done on a case by case basis without any obligation as resources allow), and at Ripoff Report’s sole discretion, information that did not conform to current policies and/or the identifying information relating to the individual(s) and/or business(es) named in this “Report” and any subsequent comments thereto have been editorially redacted as indicated by the following “(((REDACTED)))” or (((REDACTED DUE TO PERCEIVED HARASSMENT / REVENGE POST)))”.

 

CONSUMERS:  Be kind.  Keep it honest.  Keep it fair.  Stick to the facts.  Do your research.  Keep the dirty laundry in the laundry hamper…not on Ripoff Report.

 

PLEASED TO SEE SUCH EFFORTS?  YOU CAN HELP RIPOFF REPORT COMBAT THESE TYPES OF ISSUES:  Ripoff Report, as resources allow, is working towards combatting Cyberharassment, Cyberstalking, Cyberbullying and/or other problems such as what is generically called “revenge posts” that can be riddled with personal commentary and/or allegations that can be serious.   Ripoff Report would love to be able to timely address each and every review request we receive, however, this takes resources.  If you think this is a worth-while endeavor, we encourage you to make a donation so that we can expand the resources that we can devote to this project.  You can make a non-tax deductible donation by clicking HERE NOW or learn a little more by visiting our “Donate to our Efforts” page.  The more resources we have, the more resources we can devote to this project and other forward thinking and positive initiatives like it.

 

Thank you!

 

~ Ripoff Report Team

 

NOW TO THE EDITORIALLY REDACTED POSTING(S):

Anthony R

(((REDACTED)))

 

Would you want this firm to represent you? I invite anyone to contact me for additional information.

 

 

                             BEWARE  OF  (((REDACTED))).

 

Anybody considering retaining (((REDACTED))) should first read the following:

 

I was looking for an honest attorney to represent me regarding consumer fraud. I was a victim of consumer fraud. The company/person refused to return my property to me, and they sued me for $7,500. I initially hired two attorneys, both of whom took my retainer and did nothing. Both times I found out from the court I was represented pro se. The second attorney did not even show up for a hearing, and a judgment was entered against me for the $7,500. I hired Keefe Bartels  to vacate the judgment, and to counterclaim for the value of my property. I had a witness who was deposed for 9 hours. The firm switched lawyers on me 3 times, and in the transition lost important evidence, both from my witness, and also important prices realized related to the valuation of my property. I contacted Patrick Bartels when I was told(((REDACTED))) no longer was employed by him. He said he would call me the following day.  I never heard from him again. 

 

(((REDACTED))) was the third lawyer assigned to represent me by(((REDACTED)))s. Both he and (((REDACTED)))told me (((REDACTED))) abandoned both me and the firm without any notice. I was not given my legal right to have Lori continue her representation should I have chosen. I only recently learned that (((REDACTED)))was literally locked out of the firm.. They then tried to get me to simply drop my case.

 

(((REDACTED)))s switched lawyers on me 3 times. He lost important evidence from my witness, and also regarding my valuations. The day of trial I was refused a jury trial as promised. The day of trial I was told they would not use my witness "because you know your witness and the judge will look unfavorable on it." I could not win my case without any witness. The judge said I should have had a witness. He said the Court could not award damages since my claim did not include bailment. His counterclaim was worthless. I lost $126,000 in property and I was charged $19,000 to get a $7,500 judgment vacated, in addition to thousands of dollars in other expenses.

 

I feel (((REDACTED)))either never cared about winning my case, or intentionally lost it rather than returning my fees to me, and subjecting themselves to immediate malpractice claims.

 

I believe (((REDACTED)))is guilty of unjust enrichment, as well as breach of contract. His counterclaim was worthless. They were supposed to counterclaim at treble damages. According to the Judge, the Court could not award any damages since my counterclaim neglected to include bailment, and I should have presented a witness.

 

I note the following areas of ethics violations and malpractice by (((REDACTED)))and his firm:

 

1.       Failure to allege bailment which totally eliminated any chance of obtaining damages in my counterclaim.

          1.1 The judge commented that he could not even consider

               damages since he and his firm had not addressed bailment.

2.       Failure to use my expert and fact witness who saw the condition of my cards before they were sent to Lifson.

2.1 The judge commented that this witness was necessary.

          2.2 Both (((REDACTED)))and (((REDACTED)))strongly indicated the necessity

                of using my witness. (((REDACTED)))was particularly pleased at my

                witnesses eight hour deposition. (((REDACTED)))and (((REDACTED)))later

                reaffirmed this by calls and emails, all of which were

                duplication of effort.

3.       Losing evidence.

3.1     I gave his firm several irreplaceable catalogs with prices realized, and other documents that were crucial to my case. They lost them.

3.2     His firm lost my witnesses notes taken during his deposition.

4.       I went through at least three lawyers with this firm, each of whom had to be brought up to speed on my case. This leads me to conclude that you placed my case at the bottom of the barrel.

4.1     Abandonment of a client’s matter and lack of due diligence.

4.2     Payment for duplication of effort by various attorneys

5.       Improper direct examination by (((REDACTED))).

5.1     He failed to ask me about how I determined the condition and value of my cards at the trial.

5.2     There was no proper addressing at trial of the dozens of other cards which were trimmed and substituted. These were not indicated in his appraisal report(s) of my cards, the second of which was presented to the court.

5.3     No redirect or cross examination at trial where he promised to address the crucial issue of trimmed/replaced cards.

5.4     (((REDACTED)))refused to use me as expert witness for my own property.

6.       Improper Cross examination of Lifson.

6.1     Failure to refer to evidence that would have contradicted his testimony, including but not limited to his solicitation of my high quality, high-grade cards, and the inconsistency of his communications to me.

6.2     Lifson’s letters to the Office of the Attorney General were never addressed. Lifson clearly lied, and clearly misrepresented the value of my high-grade cards.

6.3     Sullivan never addressed grading standards, and the importance of trimmed cards.

7.       Lack of communications on a consistent basis as indicated by my

letters and emails of 9/18/06, 12/18/06, 1/15/06, 7/23/07, 8/27/07, etc.

8.      Up until the very day of trial I was promised a jury trial. This

          was also indicated in my counterclaim. Instead, I was told on the

         at trial that we were having a bench trial because that’s what

          the Court and the other attorney wanted.

9.       My last bill was paid in September, 2006. This bill continues to

indicate my sports memorabilia/collectibles as postcards.

        

I am very dissatisfied with the services provided by (((REDACTED)))and his lawyers in my case.  This firm negligently handled my case, and I believe intentionally sabotaged my case rather than returning my monies paid. (((REDACTED))) was the third lawyer assigned to represent me by (((REDACTED))). Both he and (((REDACTED))). told me (((REDACTED))) abandoned both me and the firm without any notice. I was not given my legal right to have (((REDACTED))) continue her representation should I have chosen. I only recently learned that (((REDACTED)))was literally locked out of the firm. I asked for my money to be returned. (((REDACTED)))refused.  They then tried to get me to simply drop my case. Again, I asked for my money returned and reminded him that his firm lost evidence. They declined. In addition, I paid at least $2,400 in 2006 which was cashed by (((REDACTED))), and I was never credited.

 

Almost immediately after (((REDACTED)))was assigned to me, I stopped receiving replies to emails and calls. More importantly, Both (((REDACTED)))and (((REDACTED)))indicated that communication and evidence was lost. After 4 emails and many calls (((REDACTED)))finally admitted that they lost my witnesses notes taken during his 8 hour deposition. He had taken 2 hours of important hand-written notes of all of my cards which were supposed to be used at trial. In 2007, I met with (((REDACTED)))for what was supposed to be a trial. I noticed that all of my Prices Realized from my auction catalogs were missing. The catalogs by themselves were worthless without these at trial. He just said he was sure they were around. These were to be used in support of my valuations of property. My many emails to him reminded him of their importance. He ignored them. Apparently, he did not care, since he never intended to use any catalogs or anything else as evidence at trial.

 

On the day of trial, (((REDACTED)))told me that “we have decided to have a bench trial. I asked him who “we” was. He said the other attorney, the judge, and himself. I reminded him I had been promised a jury trail as indicated in my attachments to you. He refused my request. I then asked him which day my witness was coming. (((REDACTED)))said he decided to not use my witness. I asked why, and reminded him all the letters and emails indicating his importance to my case. He said, “You know your witness, and the judge won’t look favorably on it.” My witness took off from work two days, and (((REDACTED))) never even had the professionalism nor the courtesy to contact him.

 

Neither my witness, nor any of his statements were used at trial, despite the firm’s insistence that his appearance was crucial to my success. During my trial, (((REDACTED)))said I could not refer to my witness, nor to the value of my cards. I was badgered by the opposing attorney about the lack of my witness. Sullivan also never mentioned the value of my property. He said he would do so at cross examination. At cross examination he said “no questions.” I was literally hung out to dry!

 

At the conclusion of the trial, the judge specifically stated that I should have had a witness, even if he saw the cards a year or so before. I provided this witness. (((REDACTED)))would not use him. The judge also said that bailment was not indicated on my claim, so he could not even consider damages. Clearly, this was an instrumental part of my claim. My counterclaim was not valid. Isn’t my attorney responsible for this neglect?

 

Immediately after the trial, I asked (((REDACTED)))how he could possibly not include bailment. He smiled and said “Oh well, we would have probably lost anyway.” I asked him for my catalogs, books and cards returned. He refused, and said he would return some of my property, but not all of it. I never did get everything returned, including some cards.

 

The judge was presented with very little information to give me a positive verdict. I had witness who (((REDACTED)))wouldn’t use because he lost the evidence. The judge also said he could not award me any damages since my counterclaim did not include bailment.

 

In all, (((REDACTED)))’s tactics at trial cannot be attributed to trial decisions, but instead to negligence, and lack of due diligence. Without my witness, without my evidence, and without bailment included in my counterclaim my trail was just a waste of my time and money. All of the important issues were just ignored at my trial. Essentially, I was just set up to lose my case.

 

I am very disappointed and very angry about (((REDACTED)))’s representation. I believe he negligently abandoned my case, and he has violated professional ethics, as well as professional malpractice standards. My efforts to seek justice were totally compromised. More importantly, I have suffered the loss of all of my property valued at $126,000. The end result was I was forced to accept at trial a box of worthless trimmed cards which were not mine. Instead of being valued at $126,815, the trimmed and damaged cards I was forced to accept after trial are worth $3-5,000 market value.

 

(((REDACTED))) admitted that they lost evidence. Rather than return my $18K paid, and refer me to another attorney, and risk legal actions for malpractice, they chose to try my case without evidence. They knew they could not win my case. He is guilty of unjust enrichment, as well as breach of contract.

 

His actions have cost me over $150,000 in loss of property, legal fees, and travel and other expenses.

 

The following is a letter sent to (((REDACTED))) by an attorney in my behalf. (((REDACTED)))once again ignored all attempts in settlement.

 

 

BY REGULAR US MAIL

 

(((REDACTED)))

 

Re: Anthony R

 

Dear  (((REDACTED))).,

 

Please be advised that this office has been retained to represent Anthony R. As you will recall, Mr. R was a client of your law firm from December 2005 through September of 2008. The purpose of this letter is to begin discussions with you about your past representation of Mr. Raymond and the monetary damage that representation has caused my client.

 

To begin, I will start with a brief timeline of events for your reference to refresh your memory on the events that led us to this point. In 2005, Anthony R sent a number of baseball cards valued at approximately $126,000.00 to Robert Edwards Auctions (REA). After REA had possession of the cards for approximately four months, Mr. R asked for the cards back with no success. Subsequently, REA sued him for storage fees, insurance fees and consignment fees. On or around December of 2005, Mr. R came to your firm after already having a default judgment entered against him for $7,500.00. After speaking with(((REDACTED))) Mr. R was very confident with your firm and hired you in order to assist him in having the default judgment vacated, as well as to file a counterclaim against REA for the value of his lost/stolen property.

 

For the first few months with the firm, (((REDACTED))) worked on Mr. R’s case before (((REDACTED))) took over and became the primary attorney on the case. Finally Mr. R worked with (((REDACTED)))n. Shuffling between so many attorneys was extremely frustrating for Mr. R as he had to continually update new attorneys about his case. Even more frustrating was that the attorneys on the case failed to keep Mr. R up to date on his case and how it was being handled throughout the entire process. Mr. R’s phone calls and e-mails would often go weeks or more without being answered by any one of these attorneys working on the case. To illustrate this further, on December 14, 2006, Mr. R called your office because (((REDACTED))), who had been dealing with the case, had been out of contact for over two months. Much to Mr. R’s surprise, (((REDACTED))) hadn’t been at the firm since October of 2006. (((REDACTED))) informed Mr. R that he would be contacted by another attorney within 5 days. However, after waiting until January, Mr. R reached out to the firm only to be told someone would be in touch by within a few days, which again did not happen. On July 3, 2007 and July 6, 2007 Mr. R called the office and left messages. After receiving absolutely no response, on July 23, 2007 Mr. R e-mailed (((REDACTED))) requesting an update on his case and was told (((REDACTED))) would be in touch. Mr. R was unable to speak to him until August. During that conversation (((REDACTED))) promised to send Mr. R a number of documents, which did not happen. These are just a few of many instances where your firm neglected Mr. R’s requests and neglected to keep him up to date on his case status.

 

After numerous communication issues and an $18,000.00 bill, Mr. R let you know about his concerns and was informed that there would be no further charges. Fastforward twenty-two months (two months before trial), and Mr. R was given another bill for $22,356.00 while also being told that simply dropping the case might be his best option. Only after incurring over $40,000.00 in legal fees did any attorney at your firm suggest that Mr. R simply drop the case. When Mr. R decided that he still wanted to go to trial, both (((REDACTED)))e and (((REDACTED))) indicated that evidence Mr. R had given the firm had been lost, including witness notes taken during a deposition and all of the Catalogs of Prices Realized. These catalogs were vital pieces of evidence that would have been used to put a value on the property that Mr. R had lost.

 

Throughout the course of his representation, Mr. R was told that he would have a jury trial. He was never given any reason to believe otherwise, and his bills even indicated that he was being charged for jury trial preparation. It was not until the day of trial that (((REDACTED))) informed Mr. R that he would be having a bench trial. This decision was made with no discussion or consultation with Mr. R. At trial, (((REDACTED))) never once indicated bailment as part of Mr. R’s claim against REA. (((REDACTED))) simply chose not to call the only witness besides Mr. R who could testify to the value and condition of the baseball cards, which were vital elements of Mr. R’s claim. Tom Coleman was someone who had personally viewed and evaluated each of Mr. R’s cards. Mr. Coleman was deposed and was available to testify at trial. Mr. Coleman would have and should have played an essential role in Mr. R’s trial because his testimony would have been extremely helpful in explaining the condition and value of Mr. R’s cards before they were ever sent to REA, yet for some inexplicable reason, Mr. Sullivan did not use this witness.

 

Your representation of Mr. R during the course of the attorney-client relationship, and specifically at trial, was handled in a negligent matter. It is our belief that your firm’s representation of Mr. R was inadequate for a number of reasons including but not limited to: 1) a lack of communication with the client, 2) inadequate legal work, and 3) improper billing, all of which were outlined above. Had all of the evidence been properly addressed at the trial stage and had proper witnesses actually been used, there is a high probability that Mr. R would have been successful on his underlying claim. Put simply, the legal work that was done at Mr. R’s trial amounts to professional negligence.

 

Furthermore, the billing in this case borders on ridiculous. Mr. R received a $59,000.00 bill, and the only benefit he saw was having a default judgment against him opened. He was charged over and over for new lawyers having to spend time familiarizing themselves with his case. Mr. R was charged for jury trial preparation despite not having a jury trial. After Mr. R was charged and paid an $18,000.00 bill, he was assured that he would incur no further charges and 22 months later he received a bill for $22,356.00.

 

Mr. R has suffered financially because of the lack of competent representation at trial. Due to your law firm’s negligent representation of Mr. R, Mr. R has suffered great financial loss both because of the outrageous bills from your firm, and because his claim for the value of lost property was dismissed with prejudice. This type of reprehensible legal representation is inexcusable and cannot be ignored.

           

We hereby demand that your firm fully refund Mr. R the $18,000.00 he paid to your firm, withdraw the judgment for $23,000.00 in NJ against him, reimburse him for at least part of the loss of the value of his property, and return any and all property of Mr. R that you have in your possession. In exchange for this, Mr. R is willing to sign a release of all legal malpractice claims against your firm. If you are not willing to do so, we will be filing a legal malpractice claim against Keefe Bartels in excess of $150,000.00. Furthermore, Mr. Raymond has insisted that if this claim is not settled, he will file complaints with the Disciplinary Board against your firm and all of the specific lawyers involved in his representation.

 

Please contact me at the above number upon receipt of this letter so that we can begin discussions. I very much look forward to speaking with you. Thank you.