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Harrison LLP is a law firm established in 2003 with an office in Chicago, IL. At this office location, there are 36 lawyers practicing trust litigation, estate planning, probate and 8 other areas of law.
Phenomonally talented trust lawyer, with that rare quality of being able to work with people in a compassionate, responsive way
Excellent Trusts and Estate lawyer able to deal with complex issues while maintaining excellent client relations
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Robert Held, of Harrison & Held, worked from January, 2011 to August, 2011, for me, on my mother’s guardianship case, defending against the fees the public guardian charged to the trust of which I am the beneficiary, the guardian's withholding of assets, and to terminate the guardianship. Mr. Held was to bill me every month, but didn’t. I believe he prepared for and defended against the public guardian's fees at the fee petition hearings poorly. The guardian was awarded more than $117,000.00 in fees.
Mr. Held failed to provide the services he was hired to do, charged me over $72,000.00, then sued me for his billings, despite the fact his billings were excessive, that he promised me that he would be frugal, and that the case would cost me no more than $10,000.00.
Mr. Held told me he would have associates with lower billing rates do most of the work, but he worked on more than 90% of the case. Mr. Held's billings were not monthly as promised, and I received bills a long time after, with extraordinarily high charges.
Mr. Held failed to do in order to defend against the guardian's fees: To serve a 214 request to the public guardian prior to the guardian's fee petition hearing of February 25, 2011 (to make him produce all his time sheets to prove up all his time he claimed he spent and what services he claimed he performed); To serve a 237 notice to make the guardian appear personally at his fee petition hearing (so Mr. Held could cross examine him on his fees charged, what services he performed, and why he committed certain improper acts. The public guardian didn't appear, so Mr. Held couldn't cross examine him. Instead, the guardian sent his assistant who couldn't answer the questions); To engage an expert witness to testify as to the impropriety of the public guardian's actions, and the unreasonableness of his fees sought; Also, he didn't file a proposed counter-claim against the guardian to negate the public guardian's fees.
Mr. Held admitted to the judge at the February fee petition hearing that he was "not prepared," despite the fact that he began working on the case in January, and he didn't bother to file a motion to continue the hearing date. At the hearing in July, 2011, Mr. Held again failed to file a proposed counter-claim , to cross examine the public guardian on each charge, again failing to engage an expert witness.
Despite Mr. Held's promise to be frugal, employ associates with lower hourly rates, and telling me that the fees will be no more than $10,000.00, Mr. Held billed me over $72,000.00 in the little more than six months in the case, then tacked on interest charges! He did not send me bills monthly as he promised. The billing for March, which I got later was over $20,000.00 alone!
I told Mr. Held I wanted to meet with him to contest and discuss his billings, and he told me we could meet. He said that he was too busy at that time. I continued calling him to meet, and he kept putting me off, and he told me to not worry about it and that he would take care of it. I kept getting bills (late) that seemed excessive that I wanted to talk to him about, but he never had the time to meet with me, and kept telling me to not worry about it and that he would take care of it. I could never understand how all the work he claims he did was necessary, and if he even did it. I asked him why his associates didn't do most of the work as he promised, and he told me he had to do it. I objected, but he kept on doing it.
Of the two fee petition hearings of the public guardian's, in February and July, the Court awarded over $117,000.00. Mr. Held charged me over $72,000.00 to supposedly "defend" against the guardian's fees and terminate the guardianship. I was out more than $189,000.00 total, which I believe was due to Mr. Held's poor representation and management of the case. Then Mr. Held sued me.
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