Sisemore Law Firm

I hired Justin and his firm during the early part of 2018. He and his associate, Pam W began mishandling my case from day one. The mistakes, the lack of professionalism, and the practice of not being up front with me as a client continued right through until I terminated his firm for, among other reasons, mishandling my case while at the same time setting things up to charge me an unconscionable amount of money.
When I hired Justin, I was having issues with my prior attorney. She claimed that I owed her money that I didn’t owe. She made the mistake of deciding to sue me. I in turn filed a suit against her for malpractice.
There were some deadlines pending with that prior matter. Instead of Justin doing the proper research regarding those deadlines, he 1) informed me in his Fee Agreement that the deadline for me filing an answer had passed; and 2) He told me NOT to file anything regarding the prior matter until instructed to do so.
I followed his instructions explicitly – trusting his knowledge -(mistake). It turns out that he was dead wrong about the filing deadline. The deadline had NOT passed. But due to his misguided instruction, the filing deadline did lapse which left me in jeopardy of having a default judgment filed against me.
When the other side filed a motion for default – Justin – (through one of his associates, Pam Wilder) – never acknowledged their mistake. Instead, Ms. Wilder instructed me to “get an answer on file as soon as possible” – Her response to me was especially disappointing because on an earlier occasion, she TOLD me that she would “give me some guidance on how to draft an answer” – well – that didn’t happen.
When it came time for me to draft this response, Ms. Wilder was unavailable. She claimed that she was away having dental surgery.
Mind you – I had paid the Sisemore law firm over $14k in legal fees and this was the type of advice and counsel I was receiving. I confronted Justin about this. Never at any time did he acknowledge that he or any of his associates had made mistakes. His lack of accountability bothered me the most. Mistakes happen. Own them and fix them. Instead, Justin behaved like a coward. He lied and then tried to cover it up. This is who would be representing you if you hired Justin.
Most people going through divorce are going through a traumatic time in their lives. But most of the trauma is caused by the attorneys. Where you hope your attorney will protect you, many of them prey on the situation by extracting as much money as they can as you go through the process. I cannot stress enough my disappointment with some of the lawyers in the Family Bar and the unethical manner in which they conduct themselves (especially Justin).
As Justin and my former attorney are finding out, I WILL make every effort to hold an attorney accountable when they lose sight of what it means to represent someone ethically, responsibly, and in the client's best legal AND financial interests, Justin failed to do that. And I'm simply sharing my experiences with others as they consider their hiring decision.