Ballstaedt Law Firm Seth Ballstaedt BALLSTAEDT LAW FIRM CONDUCTING UNETHICAL PRACTICES IN ARIZONA Phoenix, AZ and Las Vegas, NV Nevada

You'll have to forgive me as I will, undoubtedly, reveal my irritation at having to respond to these nonsensical claims in various different forums. This complainant spammed various outlets on the internet with a copy and paste of this same non-sense. You will understand, in the course of reading my response, that her claims are entirely either false or inocuous. Further, you will see by reading my response that she has an ulterior motive; she's not a consumer advocating on behalf of other consumers; rather she is a competing attorney with a failing practice who was intimidated and panicked when she saw that we began advertising. We have always said "our competitors hate us" because they can't compete. But it has never been more true than with this poor woman who feels that the only way she can compete with us is to spam the internet with this nonsense (including an "anonymous" complaint to the State Bar of Arizona). I will address her points one by one as she makes them.

Claim #1: "Seth Ballstaedt is NOT licensed to practice law in the State of Arizona."

Yeah, so what? This is true, and completely a non-issue because I've never practiced law in Arizona; I have always practiced in the state of Nevada where I run two very busy offices. I've never indicated that I was licensed in Arizona. I never advertised that I am licensed in Arizona. I've never represented a client in Arizona; I've never practiced law in Arizona. I've never even lived in Arizona. I don't know exactly what point she is trying to make here.

On the other hand, I admit that I was a majority owner of the law firm in Arizona called Ballstaedt Law Firm which was run by my partner, Brad Sims (who has handled thousands of bankruptcy cases and is licensed in Arizona) and our associate attorney Victoria Quach, who is also licensed in Arizona. (Ms. Quach has since acquired the law firm from me and she now owns and operates independently). Also, Bankruptcy law is federal law and I am admitted in Federal Bankruptcy Court.

Further, I did take and pass the bar exam in Arizona 5 years ago, but I never applied for a formal license because I have never had plans to move to Arizona and practice law there.

Claim #2: "Each and every attorney with Ballstaedt Law Firm are licensed to practice law ONLY in the State of Nevada, and NOT ONE attorney is licensed for more than two years."

Not true. My partner, Brad Sims, our associate Aaron Hegji (who she mentions later), and I have all been licensed attorneys since 2009. At the time of this writing this is nearly 6 years. In 2010 Brad and I both traveled to Arizona to sit for the Arizona bar exam which we both passed. Brad submitted his application for admission to the AZ bar (because Brad actually lived and worked out of our AZ office for some time) while I did not, because I never lived or worked out of our AZ office. At the time of this writing, I have been a licensed attorney since 2009, and I have worked exclusively in bankruptcy since 2007 (the first two years as a law clerk for another law firm). During that time, I have handled thousands of cases.

But even if it were true, what is her point? Even if we were all super-green fresh attorneys with no actual experience at all, why does this matter? She titles her article "...conducting unethical practices in Phoenix ... and Las Vegas." Speaking hypothetically, even if I was a brand new attorney practicing law, what is unethical about this? Even a new attorney, having obtained a license to practice law, can ethically open a practice and take cases.

Claim #3:"Aaron Heigi, an attorney with the firm, is NOT licensed to practice in California or Nevada as claimed on the firm’s website."

If she'd spelled his name correctly (correctly spelled "Hegji") she'd see that he is licensed in both Nevada and California.

Claim #4: "The only attorney licensed to practice law in the State of Arizona, Victoria Quach, has been licensed for less than one year, rendering her with little, if any, experience or success in her field."

False. My partner Brad Sims is licensed in AZ. Listen, I'm an understanding and forgiving guy, but I must admit I know I sound a little irritated while writing this. Mr. Sims has handled many more cases than the writer of this review, and he is licensed in Arizona. Victoria was not the only attorney licensed in AZ handling AZ cases. Mr. Sims has handled thousands of cases and is very experienced in federal bankruptcy court.

But more to the point, even if her claim were true, who cares? She claims that we practice unethical practices; she claims she has found astonishing information about our office. So even if you hypothetically accept her false claims as true, what is unethical about them?

Claim #5: Claiming that Seth Ballstaedt is one of the top three filing attorneys in the State of Nevada ... is a "bold-faced" (sic) lie

You caught me. During the year 2014, I am actually the #1 filing attorney in the state of Nevada.  See 722redemption.com/pdf/2ndQuarter2014Chapter7CaseFilingList.html

Claim #6: Offering payment plans for bankruptcy is "ILLEGAL"

Our payment plans follow the methodology recommended by the ABI (American Bankruptcy Institute) and is certainly not illegal. see abiworld.org/committees/newsletters/profcomp/vol7num1/chap7.pdf

All of our fees are openly disclosed over the phone, on our website (bkvegas.com/chapter-7/) and are provided to each client before consultation in the form of a pamphlet.

In summary, this is just poorly thought out meaningless venom from an internet troll who is a fellow attorney but cannot compete with our service and as a result she uses these types of methods to libel us.