C. Edward Hartman III

I hired attorney Hartman to defend us in a real estate contract that we decided to back out of. He was very promising when I met him. I explained our reason for wanting to back out of the deal and he said our reason was very reasonable and that if he speaks to the other party's lawyer, whom he says h...e knows personally that they would understand. He suggested that we give them a thousand dollars to compensate for their time. He also promised before I paid the retainer that if they don't accept his offer, he would make things very difficult for them by looking for a loophole in the contract and that made me feel relaxed. When I contacted him a few days later and asked if he had spoken to the other party's attorney, I noticed his demeanor had changed. By then I had paid the retainer fee. He showed more sympathy for the other party than for us, his clients. He made a statement that made me uncomfortable, he said" They are very excited to buy their new home, and are making plans, as any couple might" - that showed emotion and sympathy for the other party, not a good sign for a lawyer who is supposedly representing you. I was surprised to notice that he had no zeal to get us out of the contract anymore. I then asked him to give me an idea of an amount to offer them so they could agree to walk away from the deal and he said I had to decide on the amount myself, he refused to give me a suggestion, same person that suggested a thousand or two when I first met him, the day I was supposed to pay the retainer. He went further to say they might not accept my offer because all they want is the home and that they are still willing and bent on closing on the deal. I then asked him if he read the contract and if he found any loophole like he promised to do on our first meeting, and his response was, I know that contract in and out, it's the basic real estate contact, there is no loophole or a way out. We got upset about his lack of interest and we called him to express our anger, but he claimed we shouted at him so he told us he would no longer represent us. Although we did not shout at him, we spoke angrily, luckily for us we had already hired a replacement lawyer. When we noticed he had changed and wasn't fighting or representing us the way we expected he would, we sought a second opinion and the same day the new lawyer found a loophole and got us out of the deal. I then informed Hartman that our new lawyer found a loophole, something he claimed he did not find but he told me he disagreed with the new lawyer, "but that new lawyer got us out of a contract he couldn't or did not want to get us out of. I know he's a smart lawyer, so I don't know if this was deliberate or negligence. I wonder why it seemed he wanted the outcome to favor the other party. I hope it's not the reason I suspect... I rather not share that thought, as I could be wrong about that. If we had not felt something wasn't right and if we had not hired another lawyer for a second opinion, we would have lost the house or paid $15,000 to the other party.

Mr Hartman has handled our families personal and business matters for 30 years. We have found his firm to be professional and well versed in numerous aspects of law. In addition Mr Hartman and his staff maintain a personal interest in all our concerns and requirements. This is a firm to entrust w...ith all your legal needs.

I have used Mr. Hartman's law firm on several occasions including for my most recent case. While the results of all of the work that I have given to this firm have been excellent, I have been most impressed with the vast knowledge base that Mr Hartman and his colleagues have demonstrated over a wid...e array of cases that they have handled for me. Without exception, every case has come to a successful completion.