The Viorst Law Offices, P.C.

I completely disagree with [redacted]’s recitation of events, as follows:   [redacted] claimed that Defendant [redacted] agreed to serve as his real estate agent, and then bought his ([redacted]’s) house out from under him, for a lowball sum.   [redacted] did not provide me with a full set of...

documents before I filed the complaint, in state court.   I filed a complaint alleging misconduct by [redacted], due to a conflict of interest in serving as both real-estate agent and home buyer.   Once I had a full set of documents, provided by [redacted]’s lawyer, it turned out that [redacted] had made it very clear, in writing, that he was not serving as [redacted]’s real estate agent.   Further, there were emails written by [redacted] to [redacted] reflecting that [redacted] understood that [redacted] was not his real estate agent.   Although the documentation showed that the case lacked merit, I went forward with the case, by deposing [redacted], and scoring as many points as I could.   [redacted] was given notice of his 06/29/17  deposition, but he failed to appear, claiming that he had car trouble.  At his request we then rescheduled his deposition for the following day, 06/30/17, and he failed to appear again.  So, his deposition was never taken, due to his non-appearance.   Following [redacted]’s non-appearance, defense counsel sent me an email stating that he intended to seek financial sanctions against [redacted]. [redacted]’s failure to appear for his own deposition undermined the strength of his case, as well as his bargaining position at mediation.  Appearance for a deposition is a minimum mandatory requirement expected of all clients.   We went to a settlement conference on 7/12/17, at which time the mediator told [redacted] that he really had no case.  Nonetheless, at the settlement conference, [redacted]’s insurance carrier offered to pay some money.   Following a full day of negotiations, they told us that their top number was $15,000.  Since we were undoubtedly going to lose if we proceeded to trial, [redacted] accepted the offer.   My contract called for a contingent fee of 40% (which would have been $6,000), and my costs were in excess of $1,000.  Thus, I would have been entitled to receive approximately $7,000 out of the $15,000 paid by the insurance company.  Nonetheless, in order to be fair to [redacted], I agreed that he would receive $10,000, and that I would accept a total payment of $5,000.  Thus, rather than receive a fee of 40%, I received a fee of approximately 25%, well below the market average.   I have attached my fee agreement, and the settlement disbursement statement, so that you can see that [redacted] was treated fairly from a financial standpoint.  I have also attached documentation regarding the rescheduling of [redacted]’s deposition, as well as an email from defense counsel requesting sanctions for [redacted]’s non-appearance.  If you want more documentation regarding the facts of the underlying case, or any other information, please let me know.   I firmly believe that [redacted]’s complaint should be rejected as unfounded!