I hired this firm to handle a straight forward simple Chapter 7 bankruptcy case. I was never permitted to talk to the attorney herself. You are only permitted to address and speak to the paralegal handling the case. Most of the time this is fine but for special concerns or questions, I want to know I can speak to and rely on the actual attorney's advice - not their paralegal who I question. I was not even permitted to leave a message for the attorney Valerie by her husband, Bill, who is also an attorney there and Valerie won't return calls or answer the phone. My experience was terrible from the start but they already had my money and it would cost me much more to switch attorneys midway. So I figured how hard can this be? Routine bankruptcy. As we proceeded, the paralegal handling my case used the wrong outdated information that I advised him not to. I caught the mistakes including two debts that he left off that would have cost me over twenty thousand dollars. I had to constantly scrutinize their work and advise him what to do. Following the meeting of the creditors, the only time I was privy to meet with or talk to the attorney, she told me that her office would be in touch regarding an issue in question. I never heard a thing. I asked what happens after the creditor meeting and if i needed to do anything else. I was told nothing further needed to be done and to wait for the Ch 7 to be discharged. It was discharged three months later. Several months after the discharge I found out on my own that neither of the debts I had petitioned and sworn to reaffirm (my house and car) had been reaffirmed. I was never advised by the law firm that this was the case. They were supposed to follow up on this and make sure it was done. I hired them to protect me and ensure all laws and procedures were followed. In addition, they gave me terrible advice (confirmed by several other competent and highly respected established attorneys) regarding one of the debts that would have cost me ten times what they projected and resulted in an unsuccessful outcome had I followed their advice. I contacted the office several times after learning that the debts were not reaffirmed and only once several days later did a paralegal who I had no knowledge of call me back. Neither the attorney nor the paralegal who worked on my case ever contacted me. I explained the urgency of the situation and my grave concern. I told her this was hampering my plans to put a will in place and secure my family and that I had questions. I told her likely I would want to have them reopen the case and correct the problem at no charge since they scrued up and did not do what they were supposed to in the first place which I had already paid them for. Furthermore, this is affecting my credit rating and preventing me from re-establishing it. The paralegal I spoke to said she'd talk to the attorney and call me back within two days. That was nearly two weeks ago. I have called and emailed and have received no response. It is clear that this law firm has no concern for their clients and they seek only to herd them in like cattle. They take your money upfront and you are stuck. They are incompetent, careless, and negligent. They will not respond to your questions or calls and are not willing to step in and clean up their own messes. I highly highly HIGHLY recommend that you do NOT use this law firm. My suggestion is to find a competent and reputable practice or attorney that will care about you and your needs and fulfill their obligations towards you. This is not the law firm to do that and Valerie and Bill Sherman are not the attorneys you want in my opinion.
more