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Felt Confident At First
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Many of these reviews are premature. BEWARE of paying for the "prefiling" - The director of Terani disclosed that police frequently bypass attorneys & their clients and will file criminal charges anyway.(What did I pay for then?) I was told this AFTER
being denied a refund and spending the night in jail Sept/2013- I can only conclude that they took my money with the understanding that they probably wouldn't do much work at all & then ask for $7,000 more(on top of the thousands already paid)to continue to
represent me. I obviously did not receive value for my money. The attorney they provided me with use to practice in PA, was unfamiliar with Georgia law, had no office; he came to my house my first and only time meeting him. He had asked my wife where the jail
is, and if I got out on bail yet (3 days later) It took my case worker over a week to return my calls. TWICE! - Don't take the risk with this "law firm".-
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Business's response - on 11/5/2013
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Client was under investigation and hired the law firm for a pre-arrest investigation against very serious accusations. The law firm was hired to help create a buffer between client and law enforcement. The goals of the pre-arrest investigation are to: apprise client of legal rights, prevent or REDUCE the filing of criminal charges, attempt to arrange a peaceful surrender (so client isn’t arrested at home, at work, in public, etc)., and to prevent client from making statements that may damage his defense or incriminate himself. At the time of retention client requested legal representation and legal help. Besides the initial consultation, our law firm does not offer or provide any other free services. We provided client with the best possible legal advice given the time and facts that were available to us. Upon retention, client’s attorney, made immediate contact with client to further evaluate the nature of the allegations and determine the intricacies of the investigation. Client attorney met with client, spoke with him several times after the meeting to answer any questions and keep him abreast of the matter, spoke to the lead investigator to begin negotiations and attempt a peaceful and quiet surrender. In addition, and most importantly, as a result of the representation, client did not make any further statements that could negatively impact his defense in any way. Client directly benefited by the representation and advice that he received as he did not make any incriminating statements to any law enforcement agency, any District Attorney or other organization that may have provided the state with more evidence against him. Unfortunately, after careful deliberation, we do not find any legitimate reason to refund any amount of the retainer fee. Client received competent legal defense and excellent client service. Our law firm was in constant contact with client and returned phone calls in a timely manner and kept him informed of his legal rights. Unfortunately, in some situations, law enforcement (including detectives) lie to defense attorneys and circumvent the peaceful surrender request despite stating otherwise. In Client's scenario, the investigation virtually came to a screeching halt because of the legal representation. For many months the investigation was on put on pause and the District Attorney was forced to file charges based on the limited information they had - which ultimately resulted in client being charged with a MISDEMEANOR charge ONLY as opposed to the SEVERAL FELONY charges that the investigator was hoping for.
Moreover, Client has failed to pay the law firm his outstanding balance for the representation and the law firm has discounted his outstanding balance in a good faith effort to help the client. Client hired the law firm for the pre-arrest investigation stage of the process only. The retainer agreement CLEARLY states that there are "No Court Hearings" and the Client understand that the law firm would need to be retained for in courtroom representation. Our law firm has successfully represented hundreds of innocent people during the pre-arrest investigation phase of the criminal process, however in unfortunate situations - sometimes you just can't fight the facts or the evidence that has been gathered BEFORE the law firm's involvement. It is important to note that these specifics do not encompass all the work that was performed on this matter.
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