Law Offices of David A. Hughes David A. Hughes was paid for a service did not provide and will not return money Fairfield, California

"Anthony" hired my office to represent him in a total of three case, all involving family law: one case in this county, and two in a neighboring county.  He retained us on 9/11/09  He terminated our representation on 10/27/09. just a little over one month after hiring us.

During the course of our representation of "Anthony" we sent forms home for him to complete to provide us with necessary in formation; he failed at any time to provide the completed forms to us; he inastructed us to cease work on anything other than prepareing an agreement--in writing--which he himself had reached with the party in one of the cases; he demanded an immediate preparation of that agreement, to the exclusion of all other work; the agreement was prepared per instructions; he then instructed us to concentrate on the two cases from the other county.  We did so, preparing the motion(s)  as required.  We asked him to provide us with  the filing fee so that the motion(s) could be filed immediately; he failed to do so; he also failed to respond to our requerst with amny explanation.  Later he complained that we "hadn't filed any paperwork in his matters."

He is correct on that point: we did not FILE any paperworkl for "Anthony":  the stipulation /agreement he negotiated without our knowledge and which he insisted we drop everything to prepare, was never executed, never returned and therefore, not ready to be filed; the mnotion in the other matters was prepared and ready to be filed but suddwenly he wouldn't respond or provide the filing fee.

Throughout the course of our relatioonship, both my staff and myself conducted ourselves as professionals, treating "Anthony" with every courtesy, despite the angry and abusive phone calls, the verbal abuse of my staff, and the sarcastic and demeaning language he used with me personally.

Finally, after several abusive phone calls from "Anthony," he informed us that he was unhappy and wanted a refund.  He demanded that we copy his file and make it avalable immediately.  We did so; we copied and made the file available, but he failed to pick up the file on  the date which he specified as being the date upon which he absolutely had to have the file.

As for the rest of "Anthony's" allegations: He asked about the package he referred to and was interested in the contents thereof; he enjoyed, as far as I could tell, the presence of my small dog, And the fact that my paralegal had her young son with her during one of "Anthony's" visits in no way impeded any business or communication between myself, or any of my staff, with "Anthony."

Finally, "Anthony" came to our office and demanded a refund; he refused to execute the appropriate forms required when an attorney either enters or exits a case.  I explained that I would refund whatever balance--if any--was due to him.  I explained that my accounting program was not necessarily absolutely current at any given moment because daily transactions and tgime data had to be entered and that typically, we did so once a month.  I also explained that I had to re-enter a great deal of data into our accounting program due to a computer crash.  We agreed that he would contact me on a specific date the following week at which time I would have the invoice(s) and statement ready as well as any refund check which might be due to him.  He failed to contact us as agreed.  I am writing this rebuttal two days after "Anthony" was to have contacted us about the refund as agreed.  I put his invoice, statement, and refund check in the mail today.

I deny "Anthony's" allegations; I am sorry that "Anthony" feels that he was not treated in a professional manner; however, I suspect that, with his hot temper and his seeming inability to comply even with agreements on which he insists,  I suspect that no attorney will ever satisfy him.  Knowing what I know, I would never accept "Anthony" as a client under any circumstances.

David Hughes is an attorney at law. Hired to represent me in to child support cases in which i received very little as far as preparing the proper documents and filing in a  timely manor. Very unprofessional as far as courtesy, cleanliness, accessibility , most important is customer satisfaction . At anytime as a paying customer i no longer want anyone's service i have every right to fire and hire anyone of my choosing. I fired Mr.Hughes and three weeks later still have not received my money. 

To understand your issue better I have a couple of quick questions:

1) Did you hire him as a plaintiff (you want to sue someone), a defendant (you are being sued by someone or have criminal charges against you), or to represent you in a transaction or other transactional-type matter (i.e. divorce, custody, bankruptcy)?

2) Was the money paid a retainer, or a flat fee?

3) Did he ever send you invoices regarding work he had performed?

If you can help fill in some of the blanks, your report might be more helpful.

Thanks!