I felt GOUGED!!! I'd strongly recommend shopping around before hiring Sanvenero & Cittadino…read more
To be fair, William Jefferey seemed competent enough as an attorney. My issue was not necessarily with the legal work itself. My issue was the billing experience, which felt less like legal representation and more like being slowly mugged by a spreadsheet.
Sanvenero & Cittadino collected roughly $28,000 from this case. By the end, I honestly felt less like a client and more like the final boss in their accounts receivable department.
For context, this was not a capital murder trial. Nobody flew in forensic experts from overseas. There were no depositions, no jury selection, no fingerprint dusting, no dramatic "enhance the surveillance footage" moments, and shockingly, no blood-spatter analysts in lab coats pacing around a courtroom.
This was a relatively straightforward dispute with a former employer, handled mostly through emails. My former employer claimed I owed them money. In reality, they actually owed me more money. We wrestled over it -- mostly by email, because apparently even legal combat has gone remote -- and we won. After that, my former employer offered to settle.
On March 17, I asked my attorney, William Jefferey, what my legal fees totaled at that point. I was informed the total was $23,844.31. My former employer agreed to pay $12,500 toward legal fees to resolve the matter. Based on that, I figured that after paying the outstanding balance of $7,315.50 to Sanvenero & Cittadino(according to a 3.30 invoice) I'd have around $5,200 left to apply to the credit cards I had run up paying these legal bills.
Reasonable assumption, right?
Adorable.
By the time the settlement check finally arrived on June 2, the legal bill had somehow ballooned Pokémon-style into $27,916.21.
What the heck?
I politely asked whether there could be at least some reduction in the bill. Their generous response -- and yes, the sarcasm is doing cardio here -- was to offer me a discount on future legal work in New Jersey.
I live roughly 2,317 miles from New Jersey. So... thank you? I guess? Very useful if I ever decide to relocate, start a new dispute, and emotionally recover from this one.
Technically, I "won." But after spending more than $15,000 out of pocket, it became pretty clear who really came out ahead here.
Spoiler alert: it was not me.
One final touch I especially enjoyed: the firm's invoices are apparently due within seven days. Because after receiving a bill large enough to buy a brand-new Honda Accord, what you really want is the warm comfort of a countdown timer.
Meanwhile, it took about a month for them to distribute the remaining $2,647.38 left after the law firm's surprise supersized bill was paid.
In the end, I felt gouged. I would strongly encourage anyone considering this firm to ask very detailed billing questions upfront, get expectations in writing, and shop around before signing anything.
