Robert L. Flanagan

Robert Flanagan

Mr. Bates agreed to a settlement the morning of trial. We were prepared. It was his decision not to have his case tried. If you go on Maryland Judiciary Case Search you will see that Mr. Bates posted this complaint after a judgment was entered against him for unpaid legal fees on May 12, 2014. Because Mr. Bates would not respond to my offer to work out his outstanding invoice, we had to take him to court. After hearing both sides, a judge determined that the fees (not "close to 30K") were reasonable and awarded our law firm a judgment for every penny we asked for. More information about these occurrences are available on request. My duty as a lawyer is to be candid with my clients. I take this duty seriously. . I had to tell him that the evidence did not support his opinion that the child's mother had "kidnapped" their child or that she was "homeless". A police officer was supervising on the scene, the day the mother moved out of Mr. Bate's house. By his own admission he had cut off electricity to the family home while the mother and child were living there. This was alarming to the child's mother. Mr. Bates obtained a settlement that gave him substantial access to his child. He decided to agree to the settlement rather than go to trial.