Beware of Ethan Marcus. Even though he is very likable, you need to make sure that you get everything in writing. I have found his work to be sloppy and unprofessional, and his billing is often incorrect.
Apparently his MO is to have his staff over charge, double bill and charge for work that was not done. When you challenge him on the billings, he will apologetically remove the mistakes. But if you have not complained, you will have overpaid. In several instances where I did catch bad billings, and had their staff agree in writing, the bad billings remained on the next series of invoices.
If you have used Marcus Family Law and were happy with the results, you might want to check on the invoices. I would venture you could get a few thousand dollars back.
For example, In 2009, he removed about $2300 in billings from my invoice because they were incorrect. He blamed these errors on his staff who were new. He told me that he would never hire a schvartze again.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Ethan Marcus Review
Beware of Attorney Ethan Marcus. Even though he is very likable, you need to make sure that you get everything in writing. I have found his work to be sloppy and unprofessional, and his billing is often incorrect.
In 2009, he had to remove about $2300 in billings because they were incorrect. He blamed these errors on his staff who were new. He told me that he would never hire a schvartze again. These billing documents are on file with the San Diego Bar Association.
This year, after making another major error that cost me thousands of dollars, he offered to again reduce my fees. I took him up on his offer. In his documents to the San Diego Bar and the San Diego Better Business Bureau, he agreed that he did indeed make this offer and that I agreed.
However, after my case was settled, he changed his mind and rescinded our agreement. Instead of paying me back the remainder of my retainer, he now claims that I owe him thousands of dollars in fees. Some of these fees includes work that was never done, billings that his office said was in error, as well as work that was completed when I wasn't even a client of his. I am not the only ex client who has had issues with Mr. Marcus, his work and his billing.
In his documents, Mr Marcus told the San Diego Bar and SD BBB that he was justified in doing all of this because I refused to come in and meet with him. I have repeatedly asked for a written explanation of these fees and have not received any response. I wanted a written record and Mr. Marcus does not want to comply. I like Mr Marcus. He is funny, clever and witty. Unfortunately, he is very sloppy with his billing and legal work. Make sure you get everything in writing before you agree to engage him.
In 2009, he had to remove about $2300 in billings because they were incorrect. He blamed these errors on his staff who were new. He told me that he would never hire a schvartze again. These billing documents are on file with the San Diego Bar Association.
This year, after making another major error that cost me thousands of dollars, he offered to again reduce my fees. I took him up on his offer. In his documents to the San Diego Bar and the San Diego Better Business Bureau, he agreed that he did indeed make this offer and that I agreed.
However, after my case was settled, he changed his mind and rescinded our agreement. Instead of paying me back the remainder of my retainer, he now claims that I owe him thousands of dollars in fees. Some of these fees includes work that was never done, billings that his office said was in error, as well as work that was completed when I wasn't even a client of his. I am not the only ex client who has had issues with Mr. Marcus, his work and his billing.
In his documents, Mr Marcus told the San Diego Bar and SD BBB that he was justified in doing all of this because I refused to come in and meet with him. I have repeatedly asked for a written explanation of these fees and have not received any response. I wanted a written record and Mr. Marcus does not want to comply. I like Mr Marcus. He is funny, clever and witty. Unfortunately, he is very sloppy with his billing and legal work. Make sure you get everything in writing before you agree to engage him.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Marcus Family Law Center - Review
In early 2011, The San Diego County Bar Association reviewed the evidence. They interviewed Mr Marcus and then submitted their decision. They said that Mr. Marcus owed me thousands of dollars and he should pay up.
Instead, Mr. Marcus decided to sue me in Small Claims Court for the monies he falsely claimed I owed for his poor work. After going to court, and reviewing the evidence, the Small Claims Court also decided that I did not owe Mr Marcus anything for his work and that instead he owed me a refund. He has paid me what he owes. Done and over.
===
The San Diego County Bar Association has finally served Ethan Marcus and the Marcus Family Law Center. After going back and forth with the San Diego Better Business Bureau, Ethan ended up telling them he decided to charge me an extra 1750 because he won my case. He put it in writing. He decided to give himself a bonus because he didn't screw up.
The best part of his new argument is that he now is claiming responsibility for actions taken by opposing counsel.
Re the actual point of my case - that he promised to not charge me - he is not denying it. He instead is saying that he told me additional info and that I did not understand what he said. This is despite a witness to the contrary - his own brother who works at Marcus Family Law Center.
Instead, Mr. Marcus decided to sue me in Small Claims Court for the monies he falsely claimed I owed for his poor work. After going to court, and reviewing the evidence, the Small Claims Court also decided that I did not owe Mr Marcus anything for his work and that instead he owed me a refund. He has paid me what he owes. Done and over.
===
The San Diego County Bar Association has finally served Ethan Marcus and the Marcus Family Law Center. After going back and forth with the San Diego Better Business Bureau, Ethan ended up telling them he decided to charge me an extra 1750 because he won my case. He put it in writing. He decided to give himself a bonus because he didn't screw up.
The best part of his new argument is that he now is claiming responsibility for actions taken by opposing counsel.
Re the actual point of my case - that he promised to not charge me - he is not denying it. He instead is saying that he told me additional info and that I did not understand what he said. This is despite a witness to the contrary - his own brother who works at Marcus Family Law Center.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Attorney Ethan Marcus Complaints
I am having problems with Marcus Family Law Center and Attorney Ethan Marcus in San Diego.
Here is a little taste of what happened to me. I am not an attorney or a legal professional so this is all my opinion.
In March 2010, I had what was supposed to be my final hearing on my ongoing Family court case to reduce child support. According to Attorney Marcus, all was set and it it should have been a slam dunk. I had my most recent tax return and a complete documentation of my income and expenses. However, it turned out that he forgot to file the appropriate form.
When he prepared and submitted my OSC, he neglected to file an Income and expense Report.
According to the court, this is basic law practice and he neglected to that. When we went to court, the other attorney won, according to Judge Schall, because Attorney Ethan Marcus had forgot basic procedure.
Luckily I was not penalized for Attorney Marcus's mistake. Unfortunately, I did lose five months of retroactive child support payments. I had to start over and made plans to hire a different attorney. However, Attorney Ethan Marcus knew I was very upset and made me on offer.
This offer was made a day or two after the hearing. In his office, in front of witnesses (his employees) Attorney Marcus said that he would not charge me for the work that he had done between the previous hearing in August 2009 and the recent hearing on March 1.
As I had already lost the five months retroactivity and, according to Attorney Marcus, would not be able to get it back, I went with his offer and agreed.
In front of witnesses in his office, he said that "it would be like it never happened" and "that we would start the billing over from scratch" and use the deposit I had already given him in August 2009 to cover the next motions and hearing. I asked if that meant I owed him anything and he said no - we were starting over. I agreed to the proposal.
We re-filed, and a few days later, my ex and her attorney decided to settle. All was solved to my satisfaction. However, if Ethan had done his job right, they probably would have settled earlier before the March hearing and I might have also got thousands back in retroactive child support. So it goes... Is this malpractice? Does incompetence count?
As the case was settled, there was minimal legal work involved from Attorney Marcus and I expected to get a refund from my deposit.
However, about two weeks ago, I got a call from Attorney Marcus's office rescinding the agreement and telling me that I not only would I not get a refund as promised but that I now owed them money.
Attorney Ethan Marcus did agree to cut a few thousand from the bill as he had promised but said I now owed several thousand more from the time period in question. I disagreed. In other words, he would only reduce the billing by about half rather than for the full amount as we agreed.
According to the billing, for the recent work completed, which I was happy with, I was entitled to a refund of about $1750.
I got a series of threatening emails and phone calls. Because I would not agree to physically come into his office and argue this billing issue with him, not only would Ethan not uphold his side of the agreement, he was now going to charge me the full amount. In other words, as punishment for not physically coming to his office, he was retracting his written revised billing.
On top of that, he also refused to let me have my files back. I still do not have my files - about a month after the settlement.
I have repeatedly asked for a discussion of this issue - to be conducted via email so that there would be a written record. Ethan has refused to do that. In the email exchanges, neither Ethan or his office denied making the promise or provided any justification for only reducing the billings by half instead of by all as we had agreed. Last week, Marcus Family Law sent me a letter threatening to sue me.
Is this how you want to be treated by your attorney?
That is where we stand now. I have already contacted the San Diego County Bar Association. Later this week I will be working with the San Diego Better Business Bureau. Marcus Family Law Center already has two complaints on the site related to billing - both of which seem to have been resolved in some way.
Next blog entry will cover further developments as well as Marcus Family Law's new spin off business - the AAA Legal Relief Clinic.
You send responses or questions to vidiot3786@gmail.com.
I assume that there are others in the same boat. See http://www.avvo.com/attorneys/92131-ca-ethan-marcus-298758.html
Here is a little taste of what happened to me. I am not an attorney or a legal professional so this is all my opinion.
In March 2010, I had what was supposed to be my final hearing on my ongoing Family court case to reduce child support. According to Attorney Marcus, all was set and it it should have been a slam dunk. I had my most recent tax return and a complete documentation of my income and expenses. However, it turned out that he forgot to file the appropriate form.
When he prepared and submitted my OSC, he neglected to file an Income and expense Report.
According to the court, this is basic law practice and he neglected to that. When we went to court, the other attorney won, according to Judge Schall, because Attorney Ethan Marcus had forgot basic procedure.
Luckily I was not penalized for Attorney Marcus's mistake. Unfortunately, I did lose five months of retroactive child support payments. I had to start over and made plans to hire a different attorney. However, Attorney Ethan Marcus knew I was very upset and made me on offer.
This offer was made a day or two after the hearing. In his office, in front of witnesses (his employees) Attorney Marcus said that he would not charge me for the work that he had done between the previous hearing in August 2009 and the recent hearing on March 1.
As I had already lost the five months retroactivity and, according to Attorney Marcus, would not be able to get it back, I went with his offer and agreed.
In front of witnesses in his office, he said that "it would be like it never happened" and "that we would start the billing over from scratch" and use the deposit I had already given him in August 2009 to cover the next motions and hearing. I asked if that meant I owed him anything and he said no - we were starting over. I agreed to the proposal.
We re-filed, and a few days later, my ex and her attorney decided to settle. All was solved to my satisfaction. However, if Ethan had done his job right, they probably would have settled earlier before the March hearing and I might have also got thousands back in retroactive child support. So it goes... Is this malpractice? Does incompetence count?
As the case was settled, there was minimal legal work involved from Attorney Marcus and I expected to get a refund from my deposit.
However, about two weeks ago, I got a call from Attorney Marcus's office rescinding the agreement and telling me that I not only would I not get a refund as promised but that I now owed them money.
Attorney Ethan Marcus did agree to cut a few thousand from the bill as he had promised but said I now owed several thousand more from the time period in question. I disagreed. In other words, he would only reduce the billing by about half rather than for the full amount as we agreed.
According to the billing, for the recent work completed, which I was happy with, I was entitled to a refund of about $1750.
I got a series of threatening emails and phone calls. Because I would not agree to physically come into his office and argue this billing issue with him, not only would Ethan not uphold his side of the agreement, he was now going to charge me the full amount. In other words, as punishment for not physically coming to his office, he was retracting his written revised billing.
On top of that, he also refused to let me have my files back. I still do not have my files - about a month after the settlement.
I have repeatedly asked for a discussion of this issue - to be conducted via email so that there would be a written record. Ethan has refused to do that. In the email exchanges, neither Ethan or his office denied making the promise or provided any justification for only reducing the billings by half instead of by all as we had agreed. Last week, Marcus Family Law sent me a letter threatening to sue me.
Is this how you want to be treated by your attorney?
That is where we stand now. I have already contacted the San Diego County Bar Association. Later this week I will be working with the San Diego Better Business Bureau. Marcus Family Law Center already has two complaints on the site related to billing - both of which seem to have been resolved in some way.
Next blog entry will cover further developments as well as Marcus Family Law's new spin off business - the AAA Legal Relief Clinic.
You send responses or questions to vidiot3786@gmail.com.
I assume that there are others in the same boat. See http://www.avvo.com/attorneys/92131-ca-ethan-marcus-298758.html
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Attorney Ethan Marcus Bad Review
Attorney Ethan Marcus Attorney Reviews
After doing a little research, I was not surprised to find that other clients have had a similar bad experience. This is from "Amber" who used Mr Marcus during the same time frame I did.
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My divorce was basic, and both my spouse and I were in agreement on almost everything, but Mr Marcus's office suceeded in dragging it out over three years, getting me less than when what originally agreed on, and charging me for rediculous things like "training his assistant, when the one assigned to me left. time to researching basic divorce laws, when he claims to have 18 years experience? Incorrect billing charges, and incompetent office staff.
see http://www.avvo.com/attorneys/92131-ca-ethan-marcus-298758/reviews.html
----
In my case, Mr Marcus apologized for his assistant inexperience and his overall confusion, and offered to refund several thousand dollars for this time period. Unfortunately, he did not refund me for HIS mistakes. I was charged thousands for him to prepare and file a document that the court expressly told him that they did not want to see.
If you have had a bad experience with Attorney Ethan Marcus please email me at vidiot3786@gmail.com
After doing a little research, I was not surprised to find that other clients have had a similar bad experience. This is from "Amber" who used Mr Marcus during the same time frame I did.
----
My divorce was basic, and both my spouse and I were in agreement on almost everything, but Mr Marcus's office suceeded in dragging it out over three years, getting me less than when what originally agreed on, and charging me for rediculous things like "training his assistant, when the one assigned to me left. time to researching basic divorce laws, when he claims to have 18 years experience? Incorrect billing charges, and incompetent office staff.
see http://www.avvo.com/attorneys/92131-ca-ethan-marcus-298758/reviews.html
----
In my case, Mr Marcus apologized for his assistant inexperience and his overall confusion, and offered to refund several thousand dollars for this time period. Unfortunately, he did not refund me for HIS mistakes. I was charged thousands for him to prepare and file a document that the court expressly told him that they did not want to see.
If you have had a bad experience with Attorney Ethan Marcus please email me at vidiot3786@gmail.com
Friday, April 30, 2010
May 2010 Problems
Are you having problems with Marcus Family Law Center in San Diego? I am.
Here is a little taste of what happened to me. I am not an attorney or a legal professional so this is all my opinion.
In March 2010, I had what was supposed to be my final hearing on my ongoing Family court case to reduce child support. According to Attorney Marcus, all was set and it it should have been a slam dunk. I had my most recent tax return and a complete documentation of my income and expenses. However, it turned out that he forgot to file the appropriate form.
When he prepared and submitted my OSC, he neglected to file an Income and expense Report.
According to the court, this is basic law practice and he neglected to that. When we went to court, the other attorney won, according to Judge Schall, because Attorney Ethan Marcus had forgot basic procedure.
Luckily I was not penalized for Attorney Marcus's mistake. Unfortunately, I did lose five months of retroactive child support payments. I had to start over and made plans to hire a different attorney. However, Attorney Ethan Marcus knew I was very upset and made me on offer.
This happened a day or two after the hearing. In his office, in front of witnesses (his employees) Attorney Marcus said that he would not charge me for the work that he had done between the previous hearing in August 2009 and the recent hearing on March 1.
As I had already lost the five months retroactivity and, according to Attorney Marcus, would not be able to get it back, I went with his offer and agreed.
In front of witnesses in his office, he said that "it would be like it never happened" and "that we would start the billing over from scratch" and use the deposit I had already given him in August 2009 to cover the next motions and hearing. I asked if that meant I owed him anything and he said no - we were starting over. I agreed to the proposal.
We re-filed, and my ex and her attorney decided to settle. All was solved to my satisfaction. However, if Ethan had done his job right, they probably would have settled earlier before the March hearing and I might have also got thousands back in retroactive child support. So it goes... Is this malpractice? Does incompetence count?
As the case was settled, there was minimal legal work involved and I expected to get a refund from my deposit.
However, about two weeks ago, I got a call from Attorney Marcus's office rescinding the agreement and telling me that I not only would I not get a refund as promised but that I now owed them money.
Attorney Marcus did agree to cut a few thousand from the bill as he had promised but said I now owed several thousand more from the time period in question. I disagreed. In other words, he would only reduce the billing by about half rather than for the full amount as we agreed.
According to the billing, for the recent work completed, which I was happy with, I was entitled to a refund of about $1750.
I got a series of threatening emails and phone calls. Because I would not agree to physically come into his office and argue this billing issue with him, not only would Ethan not uphold his side of the agreement, he was now going to charge me the full amount. In other words, as punishment for not physically coming to his office, he was retracting his written revised billing.
On top of that, he also refused to let me have my files back.
I have repeatedly asked for a discussion of this issue - to be conducted via email so that there would be a written record. Ethan has refused to do that. In the email exchanges, neither Ethan or his office denied making the promise or provided any justification for only reducing the billings by half instead of by all as we had agreed. Yesterday he sent me a letter threatening to sue me.
Is this how you want to be treated by your attorney?
That is where we stand now. I have already contacted the San Diego County Bar Association. Next week I will be working with the San Diego Better Business Bureau. Marcus Family Law Center already has two complaints on the site related to billing - both of which seem to have been resolved in some way.
Next blog entry will cover further developments as well as Marcus Family Law's new spin off business - the AAA Legal Relief Clinic.
You send responses or questions to vidiot3786@gmail.com
Here is a little taste of what happened to me. I am not an attorney or a legal professional so this is all my opinion.
In March 2010, I had what was supposed to be my final hearing on my ongoing Family court case to reduce child support. According to Attorney Marcus, all was set and it it should have been a slam dunk. I had my most recent tax return and a complete documentation of my income and expenses. However, it turned out that he forgot to file the appropriate form.
When he prepared and submitted my OSC, he neglected to file an Income and expense Report.
According to the court, this is basic law practice and he neglected to that. When we went to court, the other attorney won, according to Judge Schall, because Attorney Ethan Marcus had forgot basic procedure.
Luckily I was not penalized for Attorney Marcus's mistake. Unfortunately, I did lose five months of retroactive child support payments. I had to start over and made plans to hire a different attorney. However, Attorney Ethan Marcus knew I was very upset and made me on offer.
This happened a day or two after the hearing. In his office, in front of witnesses (his employees) Attorney Marcus said that he would not charge me for the work that he had done between the previous hearing in August 2009 and the recent hearing on March 1.
As I had already lost the five months retroactivity and, according to Attorney Marcus, would not be able to get it back, I went with his offer and agreed.
In front of witnesses in his office, he said that "it would be like it never happened" and "that we would start the billing over from scratch" and use the deposit I had already given him in August 2009 to cover the next motions and hearing. I asked if that meant I owed him anything and he said no - we were starting over. I agreed to the proposal.
We re-filed, and my ex and her attorney decided to settle. All was solved to my satisfaction. However, if Ethan had done his job right, they probably would have settled earlier before the March hearing and I might have also got thousands back in retroactive child support. So it goes... Is this malpractice? Does incompetence count?
As the case was settled, there was minimal legal work involved and I expected to get a refund from my deposit.
However, about two weeks ago, I got a call from Attorney Marcus's office rescinding the agreement and telling me that I not only would I not get a refund as promised but that I now owed them money.
Attorney Marcus did agree to cut a few thousand from the bill as he had promised but said I now owed several thousand more from the time period in question. I disagreed. In other words, he would only reduce the billing by about half rather than for the full amount as we agreed.
According to the billing, for the recent work completed, which I was happy with, I was entitled to a refund of about $1750.
I got a series of threatening emails and phone calls. Because I would not agree to physically come into his office and argue this billing issue with him, not only would Ethan not uphold his side of the agreement, he was now going to charge me the full amount. In other words, as punishment for not physically coming to his office, he was retracting his written revised billing.
On top of that, he also refused to let me have my files back.
I have repeatedly asked for a discussion of this issue - to be conducted via email so that there would be a written record. Ethan has refused to do that. In the email exchanges, neither Ethan or his office denied making the promise or provided any justification for only reducing the billings by half instead of by all as we had agreed. Yesterday he sent me a letter threatening to sue me.
Is this how you want to be treated by your attorney?
That is where we stand now. I have already contacted the San Diego County Bar Association. Next week I will be working with the San Diego Better Business Bureau. Marcus Family Law Center already has two complaints on the site related to billing - both of which seem to have been resolved in some way.
Next blog entry will cover further developments as well as Marcus Family Law's new spin off business - the AAA Legal Relief Clinic.
You send responses or questions to vidiot3786@gmail.com
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