As a Sr. Director in a publicly held, worldwide software firm, I regard myself as a good judge of human character and effectiveness. As a rule, I regard as an appropriate attorney for matters adversarial as not someone you'd not necessarily like to have to dinner, but someone who can be effective in matters you'd rather not manage yourself. And as someone with personal baggage of my own, I need someone who can take up my divorce matters in trust and confidence.
Enter Paul Eagle, Esq. Extremely boastful, Paul assures you of his rich experience and efficacy from the moment you meet. I'm now $10K into this thing, and simply have a temporary settlement. We've fully lost every motion while my wife argues her case herself alone with no formal legal representation whatsoever. Her (patently false) allegations of domestic violence were allowed to stand in her restraining order. I'm paying fully sixty + percent of my non-trivial salary in support to her, and the court sees no reason to compell her to work in any manner whatsoever in support of herself, even though we have only one minor child, age 17. Not only could the outcome not have been worse if I had represented myself, but if I had simply been wholly nonresponsive to the entire matter. Not a single concession in our favor has been won. This experiment with Paul Eagle has a wash.
In matters of business, beware. Paul's is a two-lawyer shop, staffed to outfit a much larger firm. With extremly high overhead, the fees charged are extraordinary, top of the range. His legal assistant, for example, is a very nice and helpful fellow, but his sole qualification is that he's an old friend of Paul's (I asked him), and his work bills out at $150 per hour. He couldn't be paid more than $15. That multiple is extraordinary in any line of work. While my services agreement (contractually binding) stipulates that the firm shall inform me when my "trust" account (retainer) falls to a balance of +$1000, they allowed it to dwindle to a deficit of -$2500 (surprise!), and Paul turned hard-nosed collector in a flash; on a Tuesday demanding settlement by the immediate Friday. None the less, he turned his book keeper onto me on the Thursday preceding with a very uncomfortable phone call asking about the money, all the while blind to their own oversight in precipitating the situation. Additionally, Eagle continued to aggregate charges to my account dispite a written moritorium I placed on such activity during a lull in my case to avoid surprises, stating "we don't let our clients tell us what to do."
Ineffective representation, and a needed ally turned foe if you unwittingly fall into arrears. A very expensive and unhappy relationship and experience overall. read more