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4.9 /5.0

33 Client Reviews

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Showing 11 - 11 of 11 reviews | Professionalism

Posted by anonymous | August 08, 2017

Very Unprofessional

I was referred to this attorney by Hyatt Legal Plans to create a will, living will, and power of attorney. In the beginning, Joseph Rutigliano talked to me on the phone directly, and was very helpful, answering all of my questions in a kind and professional manner. However, right after I gave him m...y information to put in my will, that's where everything started to fall apart. He was very clumsy -- he put other people's names as my child's guardians, meaning he basically copy-pasted other people's information into my will, or used another person's will as a template to create mine. He was pretty responsive in sending me an amended/corrected will, but at the same time it seemed like all he cared about was creating another will for my wife to add her as his client. After all of the corrections were made on December 18, 2014, he emailed me saying he'd be on vacation for the holidays. It is now February 4, 2015, and he still hasn't replied to any of my emails. I called Hyatt Legal Plans today, who then called his office. Only then his assistant called me later today in an annoyed tone of voice to set up an appointment to notarize my will. She said office hours are 9AM to 5PM, so when I said I'd visit at 9AM, she then said "but I might not be here at 9." This was right after she told me their office hours. After that she said I needed to bring three strangers as witnesses to notarize my will, and that they couldn't help provide witnesses themselves. All of my other colleagues that used Hyatt Legal Plans were able to complete their wills and have them notarized at their lawyers' offices (who provided witnesses for them) within weeks! This is taking me two months (including 1.5 months when I got no responses from them at all), and I'm still stuck in a position where I have to ask three of my friends to take a half day at work just to get my will notarized because obviously their one-person office is closed on the weekends. I definitely do not recommend Joseph Rutigliano. I really regret doing business with them.

Joseph Rutigliano

Replied last August 08, 2017

I try my best to take client suggestions and criticism seriously. That being said, this review is spiteful and silly. This particular client took great offense to the fact that I had a vacation scheduled and was not available at his convenience. I suggested he have a notary witness his signature if he needed it signed right away then never heard from him again until months later. The law requires three witnesses to a will. Those witnesses cannot be people who take under the will for obvious reasons. That is the law, they are not my rules. They don’t have to be strangers (like I said, spiteful and silly) but they must be people who are not receiving anything under the will. I believe my positive reviews speak well for my office.

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