Edward F S Deignan

Teddy Deignan was very helpful with my case. I reached out after work hours on a Friday and he was able to contact me before the weekend was over and set up time later in the week to consult. His consultation was concise, and he explained the process of filing a response very well over the phone, so ...that I did not feel lost when I went to the courthouse later. He was upfront with his opinion that my case was relatively simple and that I probably did not need to pay for an attorney to appear with me in court, but he stated his rates in case I decided to anyway. Overall a very helpful consultation, which both gave me concrete steps to take and put my mind at ease after a landlord had surprised me with an unexpected petition.

Ted provided insightful advice to me during our initial conversation over the phone, and suggested I meet with him as soon as possible (in two days, as he was booked in court). Unfortunately, for me, I decided to go ahead and go to court by myself the following day, rather than wait a day and have m...y sit-down consultation with him. I thought this would save me time and money; I think I may have made a costly mistake. When we met for our pre-scheduled consultation the following day, he had already been tracking the case and knew I had been to court. He spent much more time with me than any other lawyer had, answered all of my questions, helped me think about things in new and different ways, and ultimately he decided that it was not in my best interest to retain him at this time. He didn't ask for money, or try to get me to sign a retainer, as several other lawyers have. He simply said that if the case changes and develops, I should call him down the road. Well, three months later, it did. I called him up after my very favorable experience with him months earlier -- he's a guy I felt is honest, knowledgeable, and trustworthy. I explained to him that the landlord was coming after me for more money (rent, fees, legal expenses, etc) to the sum of a fairly large amount of money (in my book). He remembered my case, asked more questions, discussed it with me, and then decided that I would be needlessly spending more money by retaining him than by resolving the case on my own with the landlord. I explained to him, "I'd rather pay you $X than pay the landlord $5X-$10X." He said he understood, but after fully understanding the case, felt that it would not be possible to save me more money than it would cost to retain him, however. I was surprised, and in some ways impressed, that he was, in a sense, walking away from the money I was obviously willing to pay him. He was happy to offer many helpful tips to me, however, of what to do and what not to do, what to say and what not to say, and what to write and what not to write. Bottom-line, Ted makes time for you, talks to you, takes time to understand your case, asks you questions you hadn't thought about, answers any and all questions you may have. Above all, he's honest has the client's interests in mind. It's been my experience with other lawyers that they don't take time to understand your case, answer your questions, or show great insight -- they just want a retainer fee. Ted is completely, and refreshingly, different. The next time I need a lawyer (hopefully never), I'll contact Ted again -- and I highly recommend others contact him, too.

I called him for advice regarding a former landlord; I wasn't sure where I stood legally in terms of filing a suit, especially as I'm now living overseas. He asked me a lot of questions, was extremely thorough in answering mine, and (since he has experience working abroad) offered additional advice ...(such as assigning Power of Attorney, etc.) to make my life a little easier later. He also suggested ways to solidify my case now should I bring it to court later. Overall, he was knowledgeable and quite nice; the consultation answered all my questions, and there was no charge. I definitely recommend him.