Not even worthy of One star, but unfortunately not option here…read more
Keith Casella in my opinion, is unethical, deceitful and money hungry attorney, manipulated me into settling though I was in the right and I lost thousands upon thousands of dollars and that's not counting legal fees I've already paid him. He was continuously harassing me for payment but refused to do the work. Not only did he not advocate for me, but I felt like he was the enemy more than the opposing team throughout the whole ordeal.
He said damaging things to the opposing attorney in writing to damage my reputation, and yelled and insulted me continuously, dismissing everything I brought up to him. Whenever I had a question about the case he dismissed me and his usual statement was: "it's going to cost you more money and each time we talk or email Whether it's 5 or 10 minutes I will be charging you fees b/c nothing is free". I was at the point where I was anxious to call and ask any questions regarding my case because I was going to be charged more fees, even though information was crucial to my case he just simply did not provide it or made me feel like I'm asking for too much, including the time when I asked him to put in writing into stipulation that I should have Mother's Day with my kids for shared custody with my ex- husband! Again his statement was "things like this cost you money". This matter was only taken care of because opposing attorney agreed I should have it and was the one who drafted the stipulation to add it for me, my lawyer did not lift a finger!!
When he did review the paperwork he made crucial mistakes, providing faulty info and it was obvious he did not bother to review it or simply was incompetent. After a while I realized it was just easier for me to handle it and review it on my own in order to save money because he would charge me, but he still charged me regardless even when he didn't review it! He continuously asked me if I forwarded him information and I had to tell him 10 times to check his email reminding him that I emailed info he asked for, it was obvious he did not even look at it and open it, or simply forgot about it. Keith Casella is toxic, rude and disorganized, to say the very least.
I paid him separately outside his law firm towards his personal account on top of the money I was already being charged from retainer to review documents- not only he did not review it but he refused to continue to assist me with this ongoing issue, because it was "too far for him to travel" to Queens to accommodate me further. On most occasions he provided false information and I had no choice but to go outside to pay other lawyers to review the same information he was being paid to review and paid MORE money to them to review it for me and explain things as attorneys do with their clients.
He refused to represent me unless I settle and after I reluctantly agreed, he reminded me I owe him more money after I already paid him $10,000 in a matter of a few months (he originally told me it should not be more than $5,000 from the get go when he was trying to convince to hire him). He knowingly, consciously, maliciously continued lying to me about the laws, pushing me to settle every step of the way to be done and make a quick buck to move onto the next case and ruin someone else's life. He was threatening me to drop me in the middle of my case if I don't agree to settle the case, which would obviously mean I have to pay additional retainer of thousands of dollars to another lawyer to pick up in the middle of the case. I made life decisions based on his suggestions, which I now regret and realize that it was conflict of interest and will affect me in the future, not to mention causing me stress and discomfort making ordeal even more awful because I unfortunately took a chance on him to represent me. He was afraid to go to court and actually accused me of lying, just to avoid doing so. I deeply regret hiring a lazy crook who did not represent me properly and feel foolish trusting him in the first place.
