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Dear Friends,

I had the misfortune of being a client of Pasulka & White, LLC a law firm in Chicago.

Pasulka & White isn't cheap -- $425 per hour for the top lawyers at the firm, $300 per hour for the low-level lawyers.

This firm specializes in divorce law -- that is, making big money off the misery of others.

The partners at this firm are David Pasulka and William White. Their posh offices are located on Madison Street in downtown Chicago, in a skyscraper right near the Richard E. Daley Cook County Court Building.

I paid them $24,000 to represent me in my family law case. 

This left me with not enough time to find a new lawyer for my all-important trial that was to take place on Monday, November 3.

[Click Here To See Their Bizarre Motion to Withdraw from My Case]

[Click Here to Read Their Cover Letter Informing Me of Their Motion to Withdraw]

Yes, I had fallen a few thousand dollars behind what they claim I owed.

I must emphasize "claim" I owed because there appeared to be plenty of padding and/or make-work projects in their bills that did little or nothing to benefit my case.

For example, they would often send multiple lawyers to simple "status" hearings, even though I told them I only wanted to pay for one lawyer.  There was no need for two or three lawyers to show up at status hearings.

They would also charge me for conversations they would supposedly have about my case with other lawyers in their firm.  So these charges would really pile up since, again, they would be billing me for multiple lawyers' time. 

They never informed me how all these internal conversations (meetings, conferences, etc. at their offices) among lawyers at their firm helped me or my case.

At the time they quit my case, they were claiming I owed them about $9,000, but they weren't counting the $5,000 deposit I paid them.

They call the $5,000 a "Reserve" fund -- needed to pay possible future bills.

At the time they quit my case, I had paid them $22,500.  I then paid them an additional $1,500 even after they quit (bringing my total paid to $24,000), figuring that should certainly be more than enough to have them go away.

The lawyer working on my case was a fellow by the name of Mitchell B. Gordon -- who I almost never heard from (except when he wanted his bills paid) and who rarely returned my calls.

Upon learning of their "Motion to Withdraw" from my case,  I called Mitch Gordon (my so-called lawyer) on the phone.  This time, he did return my call.

I offered to use my credit card to pay Pasulka & White $2,500 immediately.

So if you count the $5,000 "Reserve" fund they were holding, that would have brought my total outstanding bill with Pasulka & White down to about $1,500.

I then promised to pay the $1,500 to Mr. Gordon on the day of the trial.

Mr. Gordon answered "No" to my proposal.

He informed me that they were quitting my case and abandoning me for my Monday trial unless I immediately paid the full $9,000 he said I owed -- which would be enough not only to pay their claimed bill, but enough to leave them with $5,000 on deposit to pay against any possible future bills that might come up.

This just was not possible for me -- not that week, anyway. I was cash strapped.

It's a tough economy out there. I would need a payment plan, or something.

But they had no interest in that.  So they quit my case.

This Mitchell B. Gordon fellow (my supposed attorney) is a real piece of work. 

Mitchell B. Gordon was the primary lawyer working on my case.  When I talked to him, which was rare, he never seemed to know much about my case.

He certainly did not seem to be focused on it.

The only time I saw this guy (other than one brief meeting at his office) was when he showed up on court dates -- which were mostly perfunctory status hearings involving very little work or brainpower.

Mitch Gordon completely missed one court date.

He just forgot about it.

Slipped his mind, I guess.

There I was standing in front of the judge looking like an idiot with no lawyer.

Meanwhile, my ex-wife's lawyer was loaded for bear and ready to fight.

The most junior lawyer in the firm (a Ms. Kathryn Carso) eventually showed up, more than an hour late -- a nice woman just out of law school who knew almost nothing about my case either and who quit the firm a few weeks later.

They were charging me $200 per hour for her time.

Talk about his firm not being engaged in my case!

I have no idea how much of their bill is exaggeration or outright fiction.

Lawyers charge by the hour.  Who knows what they really or how much time they really spend? 

You just kind of have to take their word for it.

Then they like to put the big squeeze on you for money a few days before your important hearing or trial -- when you're about to go in front of a judge and are in no position to question their bill.

Their "Motion to Withdraw" is worth a read.

[Click Here To See Their Motion to Withdraw from My Case]

[Click Here to Read Their Cover Letter Informing Me of Their Motion to Withdraw]

They give "irreconcilable differences" as their reason for abandoning me four business days before trial.

Owing about $4,000 (if we count the $5,000 "reserve" fund, and assuming their bill is accurate) is not an irreconcilable difference -- especially since I had already paid them $22,500 by that point and offered to pay another $2,500 immediately on their bill plus an additional $1,500 the following week to quickly pay down what they claimed I owed.

So it's not like I wasn't paying them a lot of money.

In fact, on their bill dated November 12, 2008, I find a billing item for October 1 (which is not long before the November 3 trial) that states: "Left message for client thanking him for keeping up with his $1,500 payments."

So they were very pleased with my payment record until right up near to the date of the trial.

My guess is they decided to quit once it came time for them to prepare and conduct a trial -- which does require some real work, not just the useless make-work projects they had been creating for themselves at my expense.

Judge Moshe Jacobius Rejects

Pasulka's "Motion to Withdraw"

So this Mitchell B. Gordon guy (my so-called attorney) arrived at court on November 3, the day of the trial, with nothing but his "Motion to Withdraw" in hand.  He had no papers on my case at all, even though he knew we had an important trial that day.

Meanwhile, my ex-wife's attorney arrived at the court room with a big cart packed with files on the case.  He was all set to go -- ready to fight to the finish.

By contrast, Mr. Gordon (my so-called attorney) went into court (without me present, without even telling me he was in front of the judge) to ask Judge Moshe Jacobius for permission to withdraw from my case.

Judge Jacobius REJECTED Gordon's Motion to Withdraw, noting that I had paid the Pasulka law firm a lot of money ($22,500 to that point) and deserved good representation.

Though I wasn't there to see it, I gathered that Mitchell B. Gordon had received quite a scolding from Judge Jacobius (I really liked this judge. What a good and sensible guy he is!).

Judge Moshe Jacobius ordered that the proceedings would go forward if we did not settle the matter.

But Mitchell ("Mitch") Gordon was in no position to argue my case.  He had no papers.  He had done little, if any, preparation for the trial.  Mitchell B. Gordon advised me to try to settle the case right there rather than risk going into trial that day.

Mr. Gordon advised me to accept a monthly support increase of an additional $600 -- (on top of the approximately $11,000 per month in support and other costs I was already paying her) and to agree to pay half my ex-wife's legal bills (half being $22,500 because lumped in were legal bills she had from our previous case).

SIDE BAR:

Pasulka & White were just handling part of my case. My ex-wife and I also had other legal actions against each other going on, spanning years and in multiple states and jurisdictions. We had a real legal bloodbath going on over visitation rights and other issues. 

But that's another story (and a doosey it is).

END SIDE BAR.

Now . . . part of Mitchell B. Gordon's job here was to get my $11,000 per month in support and other obligations reduced in this tough economy, not increased!

And I certainly did not think I should have to pay half my ex-wife's legal bills (half being $22,500, that included legal bills going back to a previous case in another state).

But it was also clear to me that Mitchell B. Gordon did not want to go into trial on November 3, 2008  unprepared.  Nor did I want to risk having him go into trial unprepared -- without so much as a scrap of paper about my case. 

I had little choice but to accept my ex-wife's very unfavorable settlement offer.

She probably could not believe her good luck.

I informed Mr. Mitchell Gordon that I no longer wanted him or the Pasulka firm to represent me in this case, even though Judge Jacobius ruled against their Motion to Withdraw and that they had to represent me for another month, until the next status hearing.

I felt I could certainly do better on my own or with another legal counsel, since it was clear the Pasulka firm had no interest in my case (if they every had any interest in my case).

So I sent them multiple messages via email and fax telling them to perform "no more work" on my case and to return all my documents and files -- which I needed for the ongoing visitation case and other pending issues.

My files and documents never arrived, but I continued to receive additional monthly bills from Pasulka.  I was even charged $1,087.00 for work the Pasulka firm says it did on their "Motion to Withdraw" from my case.

Then I continued to be billed for additional services every month (totaling as of this writing approximately  $600, with additional bills and new charges still arriving even now) even though they had quit my case more than a year ago, on October 28, 2008 -- and even though I requested that they cease any and all further services, other than returning my files and documents on the case to me.

The Pasulka firm continued to keep my documents and files on the case (apparently as ransom for their bill). They claim I still owed them $5,735.05 -- which I dispute since (among other problems mentioned above) they kept charging me for supposed services after they quit my case.

I finally had to get a judge to order them to return my files and documents that I urgently need.

Pasulka & White Sues Hart for $5,735.05

and Then Apparently Tells a Bald-Faced Lie to the Court

On December 8, 2009, I went to my mailbox and found a copy of Pasulka & White's lawsuit against me, aimed at collecting $5,735.05 in legal fees they say I still owed them, plus a Motion for a Default Judgment that was to be heard on December 9, 2009 (the next day).  As part of their Motion for Default Judgment, they state: "1. Defendant was served on October 22, 2009 by personal service."

But I was NEVER served by personal service in this case on October 22, 2009 or any other time.   My credit card statements, debit card statements and other proof show that I was in Maryland with my wife Wanda for the last half of October, including on October 22, and through early November.

[Click Here to Read Their Lawsuit Against Me]

These papers were evidently sent by Pasulka to my mailbox, which I maintain at a UPS Store -- and which I check about once a month.

Click this link to see a Google Maps photo with the address of the UPS Store where Pasulka & White falsely claimed "Defendant was served on October 22, 2009 by personal service."  (106 West Calendar Ave., La Grange, Il 60525)

So I showed up at court on December 9 without an attorney to argue against Pasulka's Motion for Default Judgment.  And no one from Pasulka's law firm even bothered to show up for the hearing. So the judge struck down Pasulka's Motion for Default Judgment.

They then filed their Motion for Default Judgment against me again. 

I went back to the court on December 22 for the hearing. This time a Pasulka attorney did show up. I had never seen this guy before.  But no one from the firm who had actually worked on my case was present.

The judge struck down their Motion for Default Judgment . . . again.

I am now asking the court to conduct an investigation of the Pasulka law firm for apparently lying to the court concerning their sworn affidavit claiming that they served me on this matter in person and then continuing to affirm this falsehood in open court to the presiding judge -- even after I presented proof in court that I was not served "by personal service" or served in any other valid way.

Usually, judges don't like being lied to.  So we'll see what happens here.

[Click Here to Read Pasulka's "Motion for Default Judgment"]

(Note how amateurish this looks for a motion before a judge. Point #1 is the lie)

Click Here to Read My Motion for a Hearing and Court Investigation Into Possible Perjury by Paslaka & White 

Click Here to Read My Counter-Complaint Against Pasulka & White for Unethical Billing, Fraud and Legal Malpractice

Lawyer Quits the Pasulka Law Firm,

But Pasulka Bills Me for Her Time Anyway

For months, a junior lawyer at the Pasulka firm had been working on my case, a woman by the name of Kathyrn Carso.  She was a recent law school graduate.  Pasulka was billing her time out at $200 per hour.

But sometime in the summer of 2008, Ms Carso resigned from the Pasulka firm.

So the thousands of dollars I had been billed for her time were lost.  In addition to Mr. Mitchell B. Gordon ($300 per hour) they assigned a paralegal named Prerna Pasulka ($175 per hour) to replace Ms Carso on my case.

So I had to pay again for Ms. Prerna Pasulka (who I'm guessing is related to the owner of the law firm, David P. Pasulka)  to get up to speed on my case. 

My feeling is that I should have either been reimbursed for some or all or Ms Carso's time, since she left the firm in the middle of my case.  As a result, any work she performed on my case did me little good.  Or, I should have been reimbursed, at a minimum, for Ms. Prerna Pasulka's training time she spent to learn something about my case, since I had already paid for Carso to learn my case.

Even today, I continue to receive bills from Pasulka & White for additional supposed services.

Now their claimed bill is in excess of $6,000.  It continues to mount up almost every day with these people, even though they quit my case more than a year ago.

So now this case is scheduled for a status hearing on February 8, 2010.

I'll continue to update all who are interested in this case as new developments occur.

Sincerely,

Benjamin J. Hart

Abandoned (and now sued) Ex-Client of the Pasulka & White Law Firm

P.S. I am happy to post any reply Pasulka & White might have to this letter on this website. I will also be posting all Pasulka's motions against me so that readers can have a clear picture of how the law firm of Pasulka & White treats its clients.

P.P.S. I am also interested in hearing the experiences of any other clients of Pasulka & White.  I'll be happy to post your story here if it makes interesting reading. I'll also be creating a forum here for current and former clients of Pasulka & White to share their experiences concerning this firm.

I would very much like to find out if Pasulka & White's conduct toward me is a pattern with their other clients and former clients.  Please send your stories and any information you might have about Pasulka & White to me at:

Click Here to Read My Counter-Complaint Against Pasulka & White for Unethical Billing, Fraud and Legal Malpractice

RottenLawyers@aol.com

Please document your claims as thoroughly as possible.