Overall, I felt comfortable working with Mr Shurtz. He was a good listener, was frank in a kind way & had novel solutions for my concerns. I feel that that the job was done capably & correctly. His rates are reasonable & the initial consult fee was too little for the service I received. I paid 2-3x that for 10 mins with other attys. Cost was not the deciding factor tho- I just felt comfortable. He is very open & approachable.\r
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The major issue for this practice seems to be inadequate staffing; I don't think he has a paralegal. When I had minor procedural questions, I always had to leave a msg for the atty. Also, he can clearly use some help with document prep. When I came to sign, the forms had many omissions even though I gave him all the pertinent info in advance. I sat in the office & paid atty's rates for him to fill in blanks and correct numerous typographical errors. After all that my ex's name was misspelled on the Petition.\r
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Aside from that, I take issue with their billing practices. In 90 days, I never received a statement of hours billed against the Trust. I asked many times and was promised a statement but never got one & so gave up. Maybe that's the norm with open-&-shut family law cases? I finally did receive one a month after the decree (a bill) & it only showed a few items that did not add up to the amount of my Trust deposit. I called for substantiation of the bill (an uncontested divorce should not cost that much) & as usual had to leave a msg for the atty. The bill works out to be ~2 hrs of his time & one of those was me sitting in his office while he typed forms.\r
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Also, I am not a needy client. I only call with legitimate questions or to clarify an important detail. I have a strong need to be ""in the loop"" though. A divorce is a time of uncertainty & high emotions & personally, knowledge is the way I control my stress. Once the Petition was filed, I felt in the dark. I felt like I was a bother to the staff, as if they knew from experience that my case was nothing to get worked up about & so they weren't motivated to help me understand. On the final day of the waiting period, I had to call the office to find out what to do & of course had to leave a msg for the atty.\r
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Mr Shurtz is the nicest guy imaginable & if you’re comfortable just sitting back & trusting the process, you’ll have a great experience. People who have a Need to Know will probably be frustrated.\r
Pros: capable, reasonable rates
Cons: inefficient, poor follow-up
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