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The Law Offices of Mark J. McGowan, Esq. PC is a law firm with an office in Palm Desert, CA. At this office location, there is 1 lawyer practicing trusts, business law, litigation and 21 other areas of law.
I retained Mark McGowan for a prenuptial agreement and paid a $1,750 retainer. He failed to make any of the edits we discussed in our meetings, advised me to revise the agreement myself at home, and even suggested signing the prenup on the same day we finalized it, something that would have invalidated the entire agreement under California law had I not caught the error myself. Alarmingly, he printed my draft on the backs of highly confidential documents from other clients (trusts/wills, personal financial information, and clients' home addresses) which he suggested I bring home with me. This raises serious concerns about how he handles privileged information. When I raised these issues, he dismissed them and demanded over $4,000 in additional fees. Now, he refuses to certify the agreement at all, effectively invalidating the document and wasting months of effort and expense. I cannot recommend this attorney to anyone seeking competent, ethical, or reliable legal representation.
Mark advertises himself as a trust expert, so when he requested $2500 cash up front to prepare a trust for us, we agreed. His "expertise" consisted of cutting and pasting our information into outdated trust software that was the incorrect format for people of our limited income and assets. He used a trust for multi-millionaires needing tax shelters. When we asked why, he said "in case you win the lottery". The trust was full of errors, including his previous client's name on the signature line instead of ours. We tried to help him out by proofreading the documents for him, but ultimately we couldnt use the trust. Mark is a nice older gentleman, but clearly has no knowledge of current trust law or modern computer software. We requested a refund and were refused.
After the following, I never heard back from Mark McGowan: Hello Mark - Here’s hoping all is well with you and your endeavors. Based on our previous conversations, I was under the impression that you would refund at least a portion of the $495 that I gave you on October 11, for your hourly rate. As I recall, we had two telephone conversations; one being on January 28, 2022, which last approximately five minutes, and another on September 26, 2022, when we spoke for approximately 10 minutes and arranged a meeting on October 11, 2022, which took place and lasted approximately 15 minutes. So, if I have made a mistake in my assessment of your help and time, please let me know. Otherwise, I would appreciate you providing the refund I am due. Thank you, RJ Preston Indio, CA 92203
72-630 Fred Waring Drive, Suite 201Palm Desert, CA 92260U.S.A.
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