I wish I would have called Mike weeks ago instead of wasting an insane amount of hours wading through alot of terrible information on the internet. Worrying and stressing out about debt is pure agony, and after talking to Mike, I realized I suffered in vain. The fear of talking about what I felt was an embrassing/moral failure, kept me paralyzed from moving forward for far longer than I want to admit.
Mike runs an extremely professional and respectful practice. He had actually answered some questions on the AVVO forum and immediately stood out. So I decided to give him a call and take up his offer for an in-depth case evaluation. I'm not going to lie - I had reached out to many other attorneys that advertise a free consult, so I was skeptical. With other firms, I'd call, and I was never able to talk to an attorney for even 5 minutes. I'd often get their call staff, where they would ask how much debt I had and how much money I had available to offer in settlement. That's it. Based on that, they would tell me whether they could work with me or not, and explain that they would need a retainer right away to move forward and how much their % would be of any "savings" they could negotiate for me. But I was at the stage of deciding between debt settlement and bankuptcy, and just wanted to understand my general options. I couldn't even get that far with any of the other firms. Their free case consultation was more of an asset evaluation with a non-attorney.
Mike was immediately different. He has a very streamlined process that asks you to upload your documents in a safe, secure way, so he can properly review your info AHEAD of your call with him. I really appreciated that he cared about the safety and security of my delicate personal information. That was also a main issue with other attorneys. Their firms might send a document asking for a ton of stuff, and just expect me to email it as an attachment to them. And when it comes to sensitive financial information, that's just a no-go. Mike, and the process his firm follows, values privacy, and that was a huge plus for me.
On our call, Mike was kind, informative, and generous with his time (he spoke to me for about 30 minutes without ever making me feel rushed). I had a document that listed all the questions I had, and he proactively brought it up, and said, "I can knock this out in about 5 minutes." And he proceeded to answer all of my questions from the document and anything else I wanted to ask! Questions that I had run all around the city, on phone/forums to try to get answers to. By being generous with his time, he saved me time and unneeded stress and aggravation. I honestly found myself speechless that he seemed so energetic and willing to jump right in and help me in that manner.
Mike is personable, professional, and clearly confident in the applicable law, and will give you a plan on how to move forward, even if it means waiting and not immediately hiring him.
Thank you Mike for being positive, kind, professional, and treating me with respect. Seeking out these kinds of services can be intimidating, overwhelming, and embrassing for alot of folks, and you take alot of the judgment right out of it.
So if you are reading this, and just feeling anxiety/despair about your situation OR if you are tired of leaving calls/messages for attorneys that never call back or don't want to even briefly evaluate your situation, don't be afraid, and just call Mike. No questions are off-limits and he'll really listen and provide generous feedback. I promise that no matter the outcome, you'll have a clear path and strategy for moving forward. Best of luck to all, thanks Mike!
Anonymous, California