Ledbetter personifies the public opinion of attorneys
Ledbetter personifies the public reputation of lawyers. I got a bill from these guys I didn't understand, (I know, what should I expect, but,), so, I asked them to explain, as, I had not received any service. And they explained, basically, "we charge what we can, because we can, and that's your bill." So I just sucked it up and paid it.
But then, (and this is why people joke about attorneys), I got another bill, for the email they sent to me, explaining their invoice. Charges: 20 minutes of the bookkeepers time, 12 minutes, $45.00.
When we met, Tosca Henry told me the initial consultation was " "free" ". She emphasized that and Explained it. (Liar liar pants on fire...)
I told her one of the things I needed from the "free initial consultation" was clarification as to how Ledbetter invoiced, and her only clarification was "you'll probably be surprised at how affordable our services are".
Uh huh. Well, I thought, the intro is "free", so let's see how it goes.
I had two contracts I wanted reviewed. In the first session, the *free introductory session*, (where two meet and greet and see if there's 'a fit'), her *professional legal opinion*, (to be clear: what I would be paying for), was that one contract needed modification, and the other was fine. Then, in the only brief and worthless phone conversation we had, she switched it. (!) (?) Now the other was, "so minimal, it wouldn't be worth the money," (thank you, Sister!)
But now the other, which at first "free initial meet/greet consultation" visit was fine, was all of a sudden worth investing her time in, (read: lots of my money). (?)
Tosca, I'm confused; I know she thought so. But I did not yet know that we were *done*, and I figured we'd discuss her *professional change of opinion* further, later, but...
Tosca then told me I'd need to provide my documents to her in a "formattable version" for her to work with, "and I don't know how to do that."
(Did she just say that?)
You need to do this before I can do anything for you, "and I don't know how to do that."Really? Ledbetter Law Firm doesn't know how to use Adobe Acrobat? At the time I didn't either but it took literally a minute, max, I just had to open Adobe and look.
So I tell her I'll figure it out as I have the time. It's probably on YouTube, Ledbetter Law could easily invoice people to have their bookkeeper watch YouTube to figure out how to expedite matters. And I intended to figure this out for Ledbetter Law, so they could help me, but this was not a priority for me, I was just looking for a *good* attorney, this was really a trial for me, and so I told Tosca I would get back to her when I figured it out. (As it turns out, converting scans to "formattable versions" is a 'no brainer' feature in Adobe Acrobat.)
But then, (!), (?), I got a bill from Ledbetter Law for $405.00. Huh? So, I called to find out what it was for. We'd had one 'free intro', and one brief/ meaningless phone conversation, in which Tosca completely contradicted herself, not 'just a little', and she'd said she needed something from me before she could provide something for me.
So $405 for what?
I don't think it's uncommon for businesses to be asked to explain an invoice, but for them to charge the customer, or client, $45.00, to explain that invoice? This is what earns attorneys their reputations.
I'm only grateful I didn't really need one, that was the wrong tree.
Nice facade, though.
(Cute: Immediately after my review posted Ledbetter rounded up their 4 best friends to publish positive though empty reviews. It takes a lot to offset a bad review. "If the shoe fits, you must not acquit.")