While I'm certain that other clients are quite satisfied with the Hunt Law Firm, my experience became far from positive. I chose the Hunt Law Firm after doing just a few minutes of research, but trusted my gut that they had a skilled and competent team and would represent me well in what should have been an amicable divorce. I was initially impressed by the systems they use, the "MyCase" online system to hold documents and correspondence and interact with me, and their promise to bring a speedy and satisfactory resolution to the divorce that we both wanted. I chose Ms. Hayley Hollands as my principle attorney, without fully vetting her cases, longevity, or success rate.
Within the first month, my worst unrealized fears were confirmed, as all the contentious items were now being scrutinized at full billing rate, and the call came to replenish my required retainer/deposit, as they could not continue with any less than my full retainer being available to them. Then, the scheduled "final court date" was pushed back without my knowledge or approval, as they needed to take more time to evaluate and respond to the opposing council. And all of the files and reports of my assets and shared assets were being questioned and billed. There was no way to evaluate and approve this billing from the client standpoint, they simply bill and require replenishment to continue. So a lengthy period of "Discovery" and responses took several weeks, during which time I was able to speak to Hollands about "do's and don'ts" but every call, text or inquiry became additional billing on me.
It was four months on, when their paralegal screwed up the stored files, demanding I immediately respond to something from the opposing council, but his taking over a week to place the files into their system in a way in which I could view, evaluate and respond caused great frustration and futile efforts, simply because appropriate permissions were not in place on my case documents. The direct result of this was missing some critical deadline, and Hayley Hollands pushed the scheduled court date back by an additional two months (without my knowledge, approval, or agreement.)
Then within a few weeks, Ms Hollands started to attack my behavior, where any communication with my wife was seen as unacceptable and directly hurting my/our case, but these interactions were instituted because Hollands did not or would not engage the opposing party as directed. I told her at that time that something needed to be done, with or without her representation, So I was quite surprised when out of the blue, I receive a Notice to Withdraw that Hayley Hollands is finding it impossible to effectively represent me because of communication difficulties, as if there was an unwillingness or language barrier. I refused to let her withdraw at that time. After all, I had spent over $13,000 in lawyer fees with her, and did not want to start over.
So at the second round of mediation with an absolutely ineffective Mediator, young Hayley drops a conversational point that "wife would never accept that unless there was a "buy-out" agreement, and I will have to get a CPA-developed and produced report on the individual finances in dispute, and have this stored in her system by Monday close of business." Keep in mind that Friday at noon until Monday at 5 isn't enough time to do anything significant, especially concerning a CPA's best effort and hundreds of thousands of dollars. And the document that I was asking Hollands to present for the primary home valuation split was not presented at the second mediation, she wanted a further continuance to properly develop our case in that regard.
In the next few days, I let Hayley Holands know that the right time for requesting the CPA thing would have been back in February when they had full access to all those records, and the right time to propose a "buy-out and stop fighting" offer should have been January, before her first unauthorized continuance. Or perhaps after the second unauthorized and unacceptable continuance, back in March.
A few hours later, I receive her second Notice of Withdrawl from the case, and by now I was convinced; she does not have the skills, experience or track record to represent husbands in what should have been relatively quick and easy divorce. She is only in the game to maximize the billable hours and take every dollar possible. Maybe after Hayley Hollands has more than a handful of successfully resolved divorce cases this will change, but if anyone is considering following my initial choice of divorce lawyers, please do yourself a favor and do additional research and choose representation that is much more skilled and experienced. Pick a lawyer that follows your direct instruction, Someone that will keep you informed and in agreement with what you pay them to do. Someone that will continue to fight for you, rather than collapse and run away when you express dissatisfaction. read more
