Benjamin Flam

A friend recommended I reach out to Ben based on my employment issue. I am so glad that I did. I sent a message to his company's website and heard back from him the next day. We talked on the phone and I didn't feel rushed. He listened carefully as I went through the facts and one of his first qu...estions was "how are you doing?" I immediately sensed that he genuinely cared and wanted to help. He was very professional and his knowledge and expertise about the issue was amazing. His rates were fair and well explained, and he provided me with opportunities to keep my costs down. I knew that he would be there until the matter was resolved. His advice was excellent and I appreciated his approach when dealing with my employer. Being anxious about the situation, I loved his responsiveness. When I called or emailed him, Ben got back with me quickly. When time was of the essence, it was only a matter of minutes before I heard back from him. I felt more confident and comfortable for the first time since my issues began. After (we thought) the matter was resolved, he explained that if we needed to revisit the matter, he would be there. He was. Just this past week, over six months since we last spoke, I realized that the matter wasn't quite resolved. I did my part by including him in my contacts with my employer, and he jumped back in just when he knew I would need him! I compare hiring Ben to having a big brother around to bloody the nose of the school yard bully!

Ben Flam's firm was recommended to me by a friend, I actually have more than one case against the same company and Ben has been wonderful. I really had lost hope prior to having my cases handled by Ben that they would ever be heard. The first case he handled for me I did not get all the info h...e needed to him until the Friday before the case was heard. He worked all weekend reviewing reams of info with us texting and emailing back and forth. I really felt good with him by my side the day my case was presented because until then I felt like David against Goliath. He has a positive, upbeat, and caring attitude. I never felt like I was just another case in a sea of many others.

Ben is a bad person and I told him that directly. Do NOT recommend for anyone Especially if you are TRANS or LGBTQ+. I had to argue with Ben about using my preferred name and pronouns. This was early on in my transition so felt emotionally exhausting and traumatic. He came in hot with big claims an...d then became impossible to get ahold of. Then he would set a time and not show up. He always had an excuse — funeral, other clients, contract negotiations, etc. I was always 2nd or 3rd class despite being a paying client. When we did talk he drained me emotionally asking about personal matters, family estrangement, and my gender transition — none of which he used in negotiations ultimately leaving me feeling violated and like my privacy was invaded and taken advantage of. Instead he wanted to be the hero and my therapist. Neither of which I asked for. My short-term disability ended and he still didn’t have a contract for me to review until two more weeks despite plenty of lead team. When we did talk it was all about my gender transition, invasive private questions, about my lack of family support and patronizing me. He would get emotional when I asked for status updates or details — saying thing like “I know you’re going through a hard time but don’t take it out on me” for simply asking normal questions. He claimed to be on a first-name basis with my employers lawyer, and as such kept me out of the loop on all calls and told me I couldn’t join when asked. Finally we discussed what would go on the contract. When he came back with it - it was a complete mess. Promising things my doctor explicitly said no to and other line items that I could not have been more clear about. Despite this correspondence being noted several times over email and text he still denied it — saying we never talked about it. That’s his privilege though. He didn’t think he owed me a basic amount if respect and dignity. He didn’t even give me a single round of review for feedback. He was just like here you go .. . I actually made all these decisions without your consent and went against the wishes of you and your doctor. Too late now though. It became clear to me he didn’t present my strongest arguments which were on grounds on my being a protected class. He actually didn’t tell them or bring up the fact I was transgender at all — despite asking him 3-4 separate times. Instead he lied by omission saying nothing at all. When I asked about MCAD timelines, recaps, meeting notes and details - he left me high and dry in the negotiation phase. I had to fire him and go renegotiate with my employer on my own. The terms were overwhelmingly in the favor of my employer but I couldn’t go without medical coverage so had to take it. His takeaway ended up being $5k mine was closer to $3k after the unplanned gap. I’ve never felt so disrespected or taken advantage of. I’d take him to court for malpractice but that would require a jury trial - something I’d never win as a Trans person. He did everything your not supposed to do to Travs clients … Making decisions for me, misgendering me (in person and behind closed doors), lied, exaggerated, and failed to act in good faith, The situation left me feeling abused and manipulated. Hiring him was one of the worst decisions I made in my life. He left me far worse off. Because he didn’t take the % cut I was supposed to be ok with whatever I got - while he walked away with $5k for doing almost nothing that I asked. Never got any apologies. He took advantage of my kindness and vulnerability - He never asked for input or my feedback and played me as if he was fighting for my life. The evidence was obvious and overwhelmingly. He just didn’t want to try. At one point he even signed me up for further stressful and invasive investigations. On my contract he noted he’d be in attendance for “emotion support” but not legal purposes. I cannot express how offensive that felt without even asking me. Simply put — Ben is not a good person.

Definitely won’t be going back to Benjamin Flam or the Gordon Law firm. Flam claimed that he was on a "first-names basis" with the opposite side attorney, so I hired him to negotiate a settlement for me. To my shock, after pocketing my fee and making a couple of calls to the other side, he started so...unding like a mouthpiece for the other side, repeating their nonsensical claims verbatim, without giving me a chance to dispute or clarify it. He then stopped replying to emails, voicemails, and messages left with the assistant until I involved his supervisor. Most damaging of all, he did not apprise me of my rights under various Federal and State statutes while the matter was within the statute of limitations. I found out later from other attorneys that at the time I hired Gordon Law, I had a strong bargaining position, and I could have filed complaints with federal agencies for myself and possibly other affected employees, but that the statute of limitations had since expired. It is not clear if the failure to pursue my rights were due to ignorance of case law on the part of this firm or for other reasons. Flam even failed to get the other side's position in writing, insisting that written letters were for “amateurs”. He communicated with me strictly by phone and email, despite my seven explicit requests to meet in person (unlike other attorneys who would not take the case without meeting me in-person first). In the end, I certainly did not get the settlement I paid for, did not receive competent advice, lost valuable time, had no written record of the other side's position, and was left hanging for much needed answers to build my case. Altogether, very sketchy.