Equal Justice Law Group, Inc.

"Let’s start by saying if you are looking for a firm to represent you please read and listen to the reviews of this place. I decided to give it a chance and boy was that a mistake. First let’s start off with the communication from this place. If you have questions that need to be answered in a timely manner then this is not the place. I honestly had to email 2-3 times to get an answer and when I wouldn’t get a response I would call. Mind you each email sent costed $22 and phone calls all depended on how long the call was. So problem 1 as stated is the worst communication for a paid service. Now onto the case, I was involved in a child custody case that was dragged out for over 1 year. During that year the opposing counsel had reached out by email to David many many times. Well guess what, whatever email that was listed did not go directly to him and they remained unread for months. Meanwhile I’m arguing with the mother of my child and saying they haven’t cooperated when in fact they were. Next issue was we were supposed to file an ex parte to address the situation quickly. I tried contacting them over and over because I had heard nothing about it. Finally when I was contacted back, I was told David no longer wanted to do an ex parte and wanted to take them back to court and challenge the motion and go after them for attorney fees. As stressful as this stuff is I went with the recommendation that was told to me. Months later as the date neared I spoke to David and asked him. Why are we doing this instead of the ex parte, He had said he did not know why it was changed nevertheless, what did not make sense to me , this challenging of the motion was a week or two before my next court date for the exact same thing. So that was a waste of $ 2,500 and got zero results. David was a nice guy, but in my case seemed very unprepared and didn’t fully understand what was going on. maybe he has too many cases going on and I understand that, but I was very disappointed in the service of his staff. The only time they called you, was on billing day other than that you would not hear from them. now let’s talk about financials I spent well over $10,000, and nothing was accomplished. I understand just because you pay an attorney doesn’t mean you’re going to get the results you want. But this place nickel and dimes you for everything they can. It’s so bad that I ended my service with them in November and they had the nerve to send me a bill for $121 in January for account maintenance. When asked about this bill and reminding them that I am no longer a client of theirs. Her response was you may be done with us but that does not mean we are done with you. This was after I signed in November, the paper that releases them as my representation yet they had the nerve to still charge me something almost 2 months later. I would not recommend anyone to use this firm unless you have thousands of dollars to throw away because that’s exactly what will happen. Do you research and if you’re going through family courts avoid them at all cost!"

"Charged $500 for a consultation that was not helpful. Was not upfront that an additional $1500 would be needed to be retained. Just said their might be fees for paperwork and any court costs, if needed. The lawyer said a follow-up would be included in my initial payment. During said consultation, he didn't grasp the situation right away and started to make it sound like it would be easy and court free, Had to correct him and restate all of the problem. I had already done the easy court free portion. Had i not known that, he would have charged me $2000 just to do what I had already done for $15! Waited over 2 weeks just to be told I had to pay the retainer first. When I pressed the receptionist for what all the wait was and what they had worked on, She said she only knew there was an affidavit stating what I already had proof of. I was advised by another lawyer to demand a refund and was denied because Mr Foyil's time and knowledge is money. Not once in his response did he even mention the retainer. He said if certain services were requested, he would provide a quote for said services. Quote for the services?!?!? It's called a retainer! Had the office said that to begin with, I would have gone with the group that would have included the consultation in the retainer!! I picked the group because they made it sound like the $500 WAS to retain him. I even joked how others were charging $1500 to retian. That would have been the optimal point to say, "Oh, this is JUST for the consultation. He will charge for that later." Now I am out $500 and no better off. Not. Happy."

"Had a great initial consult with David. Very professional and knowledgeable."

"I hired Mr.Foyil to represent me in a probate case. In the 7 months I worked with him, I spoke to him on the phone only two times. Only once in person. With our phone interview I felt confident in his guidance, so I paid the retainer to get the ball rolling. Once I paid my retainer, he was impossible to contact. I would leave voicemails with the front desk, on his personal phone extension, his email, etc.When that did not work, I went to his placerville office to find that it did not exist. I went to the El Dorado hills location to find it’s not theirs. I did not feel like wasting gas to attempt the Jackson location. I was informed after these attempts that the best chance I had to get ahold of him is through his paralegals. I spoke to 2 paralegals trying to get my case understood and get court plans arranged. I was left with many unanswered questions and concerns. I ended up having many threats against me by the trustee in my probate case where Mr.Foyil said he would file court paperwork to stop the threats and stop the sale of a home I was supposed to inherit. He never filed the papers. The trustee ended up taking me to court in another county. I had to call in numerous times in desperation to see what we were going to do. No response. Finally the last day we could file a response to the courthouse I had to call a paralegal who told me that they drafted a response and were rushing it that day.I didnt know that the information drafted by the firm on my behalf had false information stated about me, that ended up costing me near $900 in damages to pay from my own pocket. I was embarrassed about the false information being presented to the judge and the opposing counsel. The day of court, I arrived early and my lawyer was nowhere to be seen. Calling the office, I only got the response "he's on the way!". He arrived over an hour late. We barely had time to go over any of my concerns. I was left without confidence in my representation. We ended up deliberating with opposing counsel and I was not happy with the outcome. I did get to keep the house in exchange for offering to pay a substantial amount of money out of pocket to the trustee. Almost $18,000. I felt Mr.Foyil did speak up a small amount with counsel deliberations,but, I feel I did more of the arguing. I felt a lawyer should fight for their client. Once judgement was made and the invoices came in from the law firm, I started seeing billing issues. In my contract I agreed to pay interest at 18% annually on any unpaid balance, instead, I was being charged monthly. I started being charged $10 a phone call to speak to the secretary to make payments over the phone. There were charges that were supposed to be removed, that I repeatedly had to remind them to remove in emails that were left unanswered. Charges were not removed. There were charges for services rendered after the date I requested termination of services. I had to write multiple emails to get these taken care of. I made a payment arrangement which I was thankful for! The only downside was all the phone calls when I didn't call exactly on the first day of every month, when pay day may have been on the 3rd. I would get phone calls, emails, and regular mail like clock work every first day, second day, third day, even on a Saturday, even the day before Christmas Eve. This is by far the most consistent communication I ever got from this firm. It left me wondering where all this attention was during the time I needed it most? The last voicemail from Mr.Foyil said he would take me to court, place a lien against my home and wage garnish me for money he claimed I owed that I did not. I wrote a polite email showing my evidence of false charges and payments made on time, in full. Mr.Foyil did apologize and blamed a lack of inter office communication. Which was the excuse I was given through my whole case. I would not feel confident with this representation in the future. Professionally- I would not recommend this firm to anyone."

"I was connected to David as part of my Anthem EAP. I had a very pleasant experience from the time that I called the office to my actual telephone consultation. David listened patiently to my narrative and then my questions and he went over everything in s very clear and concise manner. I was very impressed with how he handled the consultation as he was very comfortable to talk to and very knowledgeable in the field. I will definitely utilize his services in the future."