Stephen D. Barnhill

I called the phone number listed on James Snyder's website. I spoke with a woman who said she'd have someone get back to me about a speeding ticket. Stephen Barnhill called me back. (I later learned that he just uses the same answering service as James Snyder, but rarely communicates with the secreta...ries who take messages for him.) He was pretty thorough over the phone, answering my questions and telling me that if I hired him, he could go to court on my behalf for my ticket. In order to hire him, he said I needed to send him a check for the court fees, the amount of the ticket, and his fee at least the week before my court date. I sent this to him weeks ahead of time along with a letter asking him to confirm that he received it. After not hearing anything for a few weeks, I started to get nervous that he hadn't received it. I made several phone calls to his office, but he NEVER called me back. Finally, after one of my many phone calls, one of the secretaries said she'd try to catch him the next time he came to the office. She finally called me back to tell me that it was on his calendar, but that he wouldn't be returning my phone calls. I hoped that he would actually go... The court date was scheduled for a Wednesday. During the first phone call, he said I would hear from him within 24 hours to let me know that it all went smoothly. After not hearing from him, I called on Friday to see what happened. Over the next two weeks, I left 6 messages trying to get in contact with this man. I actually had to call the clerks office at the court to find out what happened myself. Little did I know that he had actually moved my court date (without informing me), from Wednesday to Thursday. This wouldn't have been a problem had he communicated that to me. Then, I noticed he cashed my check the day after my original court date...which turned out to be the day he actually went to court. The crazy thing is, when I called the clerk's office, they said he DIDN'T pay the fees while he was there, which is what he said he would do. I then began calling his office again...finally, when he called me back, we were on the phone for less than 2 minutes. I asked him why he hadn't paid the fees and he said he had 30 days to do so. Why does he need 30 days? I sent him the money in plenty of time and he was supposed to pay on the court date. This is totally unprofessional. Was he using my money in some other matter? He told me he would pay it within the 30 days and "it wasn't a big deal". Well, to me, it was a big deal. I asked him to mail me confirmation that he had paid the bill and a letter outlining what he had done in court. Did I ever receive anything? No. I'm giving him two stars, instead of one, because he did go to court on my behalf, but he was a nightmare to work with. I would honestly NEVER recommend this attorney.