The Law Offices of James L. Arrasmith

I needed legal assistance evicting a tenant. I found this firm using a Google search and saw that the Google reviews were positive. I reached out for an initial consultation and provided all of the relevant facts. Based on these facts, I was provided with an estimate for drafting a three day notice to quit (for eviction), serving the notice and filing for eviction proceedings with the court. I was told that the actual costs from the estimate could vary a bit and if the firm's appearance in court was required, this could cost more. This seemed pretty standard, so I immediately paid the estimated cost as a retainer so we could move forward. The firm requested I write down the relevant facts that had been discussed during our consultation, which I also provided promptly. After this, I heard nothing from the firm for weeks. I started calling and emailing to request updates. Responses received were generally lacking in detail and reflected very little progress. I threatened to terminate the relationship and only then was I provided with a draft of the three day notice to quit which was a pretty standard three day notice to quit with some of the written facts that I had provided incorporated. I immediately reviewed the draft of the three day notice when received and asked when it could be finalized and served. About this time I also received an invoice detailing charges for a little less than half of the original retainer / estimate. While I felt like that was a lot for just the draft three day notice that had been provided, I was eager to just get it finally served to the tenant as it had been over 6 weeks since I'd originally engaged the firm at this point. But again, despite calls and emails, the firm was not providing any updates. Frustrated with a lack of progress, I provided notification that I was terminating the firm's services. A few days later, I received another invoice that essentially used up the remainder of the original retainer / estimate. I understand that the original estimate / retainer could vary based on actuals, but I do not understand how the firm managed to blow through the entire retainer when they only drafted a pretty standard letter. There was no serving and no filing eviction documents with the court. I am left to wonder if the firm provided a low-ball estimate up-front just to hook my business, or did they inflate actual costs after I terminated service in order to avoid providing a refund of the remaining unused retainer? I reached out to the firm to review their billing and they insist it is accurate. Upon research, I have found reviews that suggest I am not the only customer that has had these types of issues with this firm. I urge you to do your homework before engaging with this firm.

I for one came to the Arrasmith group with rose colored glasses. That is to say, I had already been turned down by at least a dozen lawyers as they saw no merit or profitability in my case suing a former attourney for malpractice. Arrasmith stated I must act fast so the statute time doesn't run out. I was convinced my case was rock solid so I hired them. I sent the necessary retainer $5k and spoke with an actual attourney. He was a brilliant thinker which impressed me but his accent was so thick I had to ask to repeat everything during our 45 minute interview. I'm thinking great this is what I'm paying $300/hr for, but wearing my roses glasses I pressed on. That was my only contact with a lawyer, till the last. I was kept updated by "the company press secretary" at $145/hr. They wrote a demand letter but could not find who to send it to. They sent to a defunct address in Oakland and to someplace in Florida, what Florida? Why. I did a simple white pages internet search and found an address no problem that was concluded to be correct. They sent it but yielded no response. They requested another retainer for a little more than the first. To persue court activity. All the while I maintained contact with press secretary and more often with accountants to consider contingency and payment arrangements. After a few stalled payments and failed contingency talks they concluded that my case was not persuable. I spoke to another attorney at this point as they kept reassigning them elsewhere, a total of three, I only spoke with two. She concluded there was no faith in the case. It took them $13k to come to this conclusion where everybody else did it for free.

Buyer beware. I am adding my review to a long list of unhappy clients. I hired the Law Offices of James L. Arrasmith to assist me with a seemingly slam dunk eviction process. With any eviction process, speed is critically important. At the time of this review, I am 5 weeks in, $9200.00 lighter and I have no evidence that the James Arrasmith team has filed anything with the courts on my behalf. I do not receive regular case updates and I asked for clarification on any barriers to filing a simple Notice to Quit and 3 days later, I don't even have a courtesy response. I hope they change their business model from a billing engine to a true service model. This has been a very expensive lesson to learn but read and write Google reviews. This may be the only thing they respond to. Do your job.

DO NOT RECOMMEND. Zero transparency as to what will be invoice. I never once received any indication of what work would be done prior to being invoiced. Retainer paid on 09/03. Termination on 10/06. Total Cost $3,420 for 5 days where I received 0 documentation, just a questionnaire that I never answered. I hired James L Arrasmith to assist on a case that involved wrongful eviction and domestic partnership on 09/29. Prior to this I paid $240 for a 30 minute consultation that was rescheduled multiple times because the attorney was not available. No where near the scheduled time and at my place of work, Arrasmith calls and starts the consultation. The call was very disorganized but I was given assurance that I have a case to be won. I paid the $5,000 retainer and by 09/30 I received a follow-up questionnaire by associate at the firm. I DID NOT respond to the questionnaire as it required a lot of bandwidth on my part to gather the information needed to answer the questions (billing statements, messages, photos, etc.). In the process of gathering the information and developing answers to the questionnaire, I decided to go a different route for how I would proceed with the case. 10/04 I received an invoice totaling $990 for work leading up to that date. 10/06 I sent a letter of termination of representation. (I receive 0 acknowledgment that this has been received). 10/24 I am given "Conclusion of Legal Services". 10/25-10/28 - I make multiple calls to check in on the refund of my retainer and all documentation associated with my case. I am told that I will receive final invoicing 30 days after the letter of termination was submitted. 11/06 - I receive final invoice that includes that initial $990 invoice from 10/04, but now an additional invoice from 10/01 that is for 4 hours of work totaling to $2,430. The itemized description included nothing of value beyond the information that was provided on the consultation call! It noted "Comprehensive review" "Analysis" "detailed legal research" "documented legal basis" "prepared comprehensive legal memorandum" - nothing was provided or justifies the 4 hours of work that just reiterates the information from the consultation call. Again, I did not respond to the questionnaire. I did not provide text messages, photos or anything of the such that would require a deep analysis to which this was billed. What makes it more interesting is that per the agreement, should the account fall below 40% of the retainer amount, the client is required to replenish the account to the full amount. By this math my account was below this threshold on 10/01, and no one in the office called to tell me that my account needed replenishment for 7 days. Completely unethical and I will move forward with filings with the California State Bar, BBB, and consumer fraud units.

We sent a Client Cancellation Notice to the firm. It became apparent their firm operates at a much more glacial speed than our needs permitted. With no one stepping forth to act as a liaison or customer support contact between ourselves and "the final lawyer", we found it impossible to proceed. I did reach out on multiple occasions via email and phone calls from my first contact with their firm on October 14th and asked for assistance on receiving contact information and such to facilitate the on boarding process and proceed with our case matter. I will say though, that in an extremely timely manner, we did receive notice of how to make a retainer payment and when the introductory meeting would take place. Other than that communication fell silent from their end. Additionally, I am sad to say that the intro meeting (prepaid as was required) was only with a smiley face image. No live person revealed themselves from behind the mask. I had to ask what was going on as nothing was forthcoming from "the intro lawyer". Contact from the firm to facilitate interaction with "the final lawyer" only arrived the next business day (October 27th) after we sent in our Client Cancellation Notice to the firm.