James S. Tupitza

It distresses me that after 3 years someone would still be so angry that they would write this comment without first saying it to my face. On the other hand, I appreciate the criticism because it helps me improve the quality of services our firm provides. If everyone said only good things, I would be lulled into a false high opinion of myself. One of four college roommates hired my firm to deal with a routine Landlord Tenant problem. Not much money was involved and the legal budget was low. I met with the client and went over the case. I did not take the time to have the client come up a second or third time from Virginia to prepare because it would have only generated fees and benefited no one. When younger, I tried this same fact pattern a hundred times. I was adequately prepared for trial. The small claims court judge simply decided to ignore the technicalities of the law and find for a local landlord against college students who were accused of damaging an apartment. Obviously I did a bad job of communicating with the client's mother after trial, and she is still obviously not happy with the result. For that I am sorry. We have discussed this situation at a staff meeting and have taken steps to address the issue. Whether the trial is a LLT matter in small claims court, or a multi-million dollar trial in federal court, we prepare to go to trial and win. Unfortunately we do not bat 1000.