Diana Newton

Review of Alexander Holburn Beaudin + La...

I had a very bad experience with this law firm. A ...

I had a very bad experience with this law firm. A couple of things I wish I had known:

1. They were very quick to get back to me, this is the only good thing about my experience with them. If you are in a place were you need a lawyer take your time to do your due diligence. I was very quick to retain their services since I felt desperate. I was charged a $1,500 retainer. Later, when other law firms got back to me, two of them charged $450 retainer for the kind of help I needed. I wasn't too concerned since they explained in the end they would return what was left of the money but perhaps a red flag that they charge 3 times what other law firms do for a retainer.

2. I retained their services before Covid19. This is probably even more important now. At the time, I asked to have a phone consultation since I have a toddler and it is hard to go to downtown to their offices. I emailed the lawyer's assistant and told her I wanted to share my dropbox folder with pertinent files so I could make reference to the documents during my initial consultation. Later, when I was told I was $1,000 over my retainer and I asked them to give me a detailed breakdown of the charges (which took them around 2 weeks to get back to me) I realized that they had charged me .9 hours to prepare for the initial consultation. I never authorized the charges and had requested their first available appointment. It appears to me that the lawyer handling my case had a cancellation and decided to charge me for her time without my knowledge. When we talked on the phone for the initial consultation, it was evident she had no understanding of what was going on, which is fine since that is what an initial consultation is for so the client can explain the situation and what they need. So pretty much I was charged for wasted time.

3. I ended up being charged in excess of $2,500 for a couple of emails, a phone consultation, drafting a letter, and a process server (which was never explained to me and did not make a difference in this matter).

4. I would advice you clearly and in writing tell them you won't be paying for an initial consultation preparation (unless you do feel it is needed and you are aware of this charge). I would advice that you request in writing that they let you know when your retainer is running out and before any charges above what you have already paid are made. I never thought I would end up paying more than the $1,500. I thought the $1,500 was already too much and never thought it would go beyond this. If you have any questions, request to have a conversation in person or the phone instead of email. This way you can know how much time you are being charged for. It is very hard to prove later on how much time they are charging you for replying to your emails.

It is very frustrating to need a lawyer and then have a lawyer that you need to second guess every step of the way. I ended up resolving my situation without their help and this only caused me more stress and more money lost.