I worked with a Braun Kendrick attorney once. I thought I could trust them but they proved me wrong.
Would I ever hire them again? Not a chance!
I can sum up my feelings about my experience working with Braun Kendrick this way:
1) Inferior, disorganized service;
2) Unethical billing practices;
3) Money hungry bullies.
Background: I hired an attorney from Braun Kendrick in 2017 to help support me with a difficult real estate transaction that was occurring at the time. I did get some support initially, but I was generally not pleased with the service rendered and I eventually let my attorney go and I completed the negotiation myself. I had paid them $4,000 to that point. In protest of the disappointing service I received, I withheld payment of the final $2,000 bill I was presented with.
They waited for 5 years, then sued me out of the blue! I've never been made to feel like a low-life criminal but they paid me that disrespect when a uniformed deputy showed up to my house and served me their court papers 5 years after the fact. I eventually found out (only after being served court papers) that they claimed that I actually owed them $6,000 but were only billing me for $2,000. How that could be I have no idea, as no one ever mentioned that they had run up such a big bill. (I assumed I was paying up front and when the money ran out, they would let me know and request more.) Turns out they were racking up a lots of hours and not telling me even close to how much they now claim owed them. That doesn't seem right, but according to Judge Clark of the 70th District Court, that was fine, as the issue was recently contested in court after all of this time and big surprise, I lost.
Here are all of the court documents I prepared:
Charlevoix Property Valuation Study Results
This is the summary of the detailed property valuation study I completed to come up with a fair market value for the property in question. This was far more detailed than the standard ones conducted by the two professional estimators that were hired generated, and yet my study was ignored by my brother and effectively not supported by my Braun Kendrick attorney.
My list of grievances with my Braun Kendrick attorney
This is a list including 10 separate items of contention. It also includes a graphic I created that shows the amount and timing of the two bills I had received prior to letting my lawyer go and then getting the final bill that I objected to. Of note: I never received an actual time statement until they had sued me and it was provided as evidence in a court documents they prepared.
The final bill I received
This is the final bill I was presented with. It was for an even 2 grand. How could it be a round number, and the same exact amount as the previous two bills I had received? I felt it had to be a mistake, plus I had effectively fired my attorney, so I didn't pay it.
Braun Kendrick letter I sent in 2019 trying to explain my complaints
Attached here is the letter I sent to Robert Kendrick in 2019 when I was finally presented with a 2nd request for the debt they indicated I still owed them. When I got no reply I assumed the matter was closed. Turns out I was wrong. The message I heard loud and clear was:
"You owe us exactly what we say you do punk, so shut yer pie hole and pay up." (My words, not theirs - but that is exactly how they made me feel - like a lousy, irresponsible punk.)
In fairness to Braun Kendrick and their case, here is the entire file they presented to the Judge.
Braun Kendrick's complete Court Filing
For anyone considering procuring legal assistance from Braun, Kendrick, Finkbeiner, I recommend you reconsider, unless you are willing to put up with the same difficult process of questionable service coupled with deceptive billing I endured. But either way, understanding this issue should help make sure you are billed such that you don't end up finding out far too late that you owe your lawyer WAY more than you thought you did.
-Hal Wolff (734-487-5616) (formerly Hal Wolfe)
(Background picture - my departed parents one Christmas on a visit to me about 10 years ago. They were both modest and inscrutably honest, as I also strive to be.)