Shiohban Royster

I removed her as counsel due to lack of transparency and billing discrepancies. She was overcharging for emails and not providing backup for the emails she charged me for. She finally confirmed she I was over charged after I presented old emails of what she quoted me. I then suggested I wanted to par...t ways with her and requested her to refund me my partial retainer payment (which should have been fully refundable as she advised that no work will be done until full retainer amount was paid). In order for me to get my partial payment reimbursed she wanted me to sign some document stating I would not write a bad review on her etc. I never signed any document retaining her service and I told her I did not feel comfortable signed anything from her because of her lack of transparency. She then charged my retainer for the drafting of this document and refunded me the difference. SO NOT RETAIN HER FOR ANYTHING!!!

I'VE RETAINED HER A MONTH AGO AND WHEN I FINALLY REACHED HER SHE SAID SHE LOST HER PHONE. (MIND YOU, SHE TEXTED ME FROM THE NUMBER SHE CLAIMED WAS LOST) BY FAR, THE WORST ATTY I'VE EVER HIRED. STARTED OFF LIKE SHE WAS SO READY AND WILLING TO HELP, THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN, BOOM, GONE. I HIGHLY RECOMM...END PASSING HER UP. FYL, THE BAR ASSOCIATION FROWNS UPON THINGS LIKE THIS...

***IF YOU'RE EVEN CONSIDERING USING HER SERVICES, PICK ANOTHER ATTORNEY!!! I SURELY WISHED I HAD!!!*** I chose Ms. Royster out of several attorneys, even those who my agent had worked with in the past. Her fees were on the higher end, but I decided to give her my business because I wanted someone ...similar to myself to represent me as a first time home buyer. My experience with Ms. Royster started off relatively good and then it dramatically declined as my real estate transaction progressed. She provided very little guidance on the process, did not keep my agent in the loop. On the day of my scheduled close, my paperwork was a mess!!! Between her errors of incorrectly drafting the sales addendum and the title company she suggested working inefficiently, my closing had to be pushed out (and this was after I had already left work early and waited in her office for several hours only to be notified at the end it wasn't going to happen). After waiting a whole week for these errors to be corrected, the morning I was to finally closed. Ms. Royster sent me an invoice charging me almost $1,000 in extra legal fees. She took advantage of my situation and entrapped me. It got to the point where I walked away at the closing table. After discussing what transpired, she assured me she would reimburse the excess separately within the week. That was 2 months ago!!! To date she hasn't responded to my requests to receive my money. I am now left with no other option than to write this review. I hope that no one else has to go through what I did, because to be taken advantage of by an attorney, especially at a time in your life where joy should be experienced is unfathomable. I will also be filing a formal complaint with the NJ Bar association as well exhaust all legal recourse I have.

This attorney is quite simply the most unprofessional attorney several of us have ever encountered. She left during the middle of a closing leaving everyone involved in the transaction perplexed and puzzled. Furthermore this isn't the first time we were told that she has exhibited such behavior. All... the parties close to this transaction would never do business with her again.