Please do not work with this lawyer Mr David Schachter in Jackson Heights, NY whose current…read moreworkspace resembles a temporary, makeshift setup with an open floor plan that does not support privacy. Furthermore, operations from other businesses occurring within the vicinity contribute to noise, interruptions, and an overall lack of confidentiality He can't even unable to find documents or deny any prior work which I previously hired but this time its different cases,
I initially retained the attorney for a single, specific matter: the tenant eviction case only. During our first meeting, he required a $1,500 non-refundable deposit, which I paid in cash. He subsequently issued a 90-day notice to the tenant; however, despite my requests, he did not provide me with a copy of the notice.There were also significant administrative lapses. when I requested copies of my documents, the attorney mistakenly sent me another client's court documents. This error was neither acknowledged nor promptly corrected, raising serious concerns about the firm's record-keeping and confidentiality practices.
Later, The attorney allegedly drafted four proposed contracts of my house sale; however, all four failed to proceed, and no transaction was ever completed and he withdrew in the middle and print out the bill charged every phone call, forwarding email exchange as messenger without legal advice.
Regarding the real estate sale, At no time did the attorney disclose that he would be billing at a rate of $450 per hour, nor did he provide any written retainer agreement or fee explanation for real-estate-related services. Unknowingly to me, the attorney billed at this hourly rate for virtually any contact with the office--including calls made by me, calls received from the attorney, calls made by my broker, and even when the paralegal or secretary merely forwarded email messages from prospective buyers' attorneys or from me. Much of the communication from the attorney's office consisted solely of forwarding messages without analysis or legal guidance, effectively functioning as a messenger service rather than providing substantive legal advice.
Communication with the attorney himself was minimal. The majority of interactions were with office staff who were not able to offer legal assistance. The attorney was frequently unavailable, often due to religious holidays or appears to be out of the country, resulting in extended periods where he could not be reached. Throughout the entire time, we had only one in-person meeting after the initial eviction retainer. Even my two brokers agreed that the attorney was largely unreachable, responded with significant delays, and did not maintain productive or professional interactions with them.
There were also significant administrative lapses. On one occasion, when I requested copies of my documents, the attorney mistakenly sent me another client's court documents. This error was neither acknowledged nor promptly corrected, raising serious concerns about the firm's record-keeping and confidentiality practices.
I will definitely dispute the invoice bill, which is an unreasonable amount that grossly greedy exceeds the standard fees typically associated with real estate contract work. This attorney should have known, and was required to inform me, of my right to utilize the New York State Fee Dispute Resolution Program (FDRP) for any fee dispute.
In short he is greedy, expensive and did not explain agreement, very authoritative his way or highway and not friendly out of reach due to his frequent religious holidays. Not much legal advice to the client. My two broker who also had bad experience with this lawyer.