Michael S. Katz

He completely failed us. I paid him $1500 to represent my husband in his case. No real research on his case was done. Everything he presented in court was given to him by me. There was literally no fight given for my husband. He was given the original offer the probation officer has given him which w...as 2 years. But what he did after made it so much worse. I can never utter those words because I couldn’t believe he said it to me. I want my money back

We do not recommend Attorney Michael S. Katz, Decatur, GA. We were experiencing issues with the construction of our home due to construction delays, defective workmanship, and liens being filed due to the non-payment of contractors. In April 2009, we hired Mr. Katz to assist us in remedying the const...ruction issues. Mr. Katz's first letter to the builders was sent on June 11, 2009. While we worked on obtaining estimates for home repairs and started working on those repairs, Mr. Katz refrained from pursuing the case, as he stated the damages were not fully ascertained. By 2011, the cost of repairs was fairly well established. As such, on April 25, 2011, Mr. Katz sent a letter to the opposing attorney regarding the case. Consequently, on September 13, 2011, Mr. Katz sent a letter to the builders advising them of the cost to complete the work needed on our home, a list of damages, and enclosed invoices associated with those cost. Although Mr. Katz sent this letter, he did not immediately move forward with arbitration. By March 2012, nothing further had been done to move the case forward. We were frustrated with the lack of progress and sent a certified letter to Mr. Katz. Despite this letter, Mr. Katz did not move forward with the arbitration request until six months later. Finally, on October 1, 2012, Mr. Katz filed a Demand for Arbitration. The Demand was not personally served on the builders until October 28, 2013, over a year later. On February 26, 2014, Arbitration notified Mr. Katz that the arbitration process had been initiated. The builder subsequently hired a new attorney in July 2014. On September 11, 2014, Mr. Katz sent a letter to arbitration, advising that we were ready to move forward with the proceeding and requesting that the arbitration be scheduled. On June 25, 2015, an arbitration hearing was set for October 26, 2015. On November 4, 2015, the Arbitrator signed the scheduling order, which required that all discovery be completed by February 12, 2016. The order also set the arbitration for March 28, 2016. On November 18, 2015, the builders hired a new attorney, which in return notified Mr. Katz of the representation, and setting the depositions for us on December 4, 2015. The week before those depositions, Mr. Katz notified him that he had a criminal case conflict for the date of the depositions, taking us off the calendar. The rescheduling of the depositions was set for January 2016. We were not notified of the rescheduling, therefore, the depositions did not take place. Throughout this time, Arbitration sent regular invoices to all parties. On December 23, 2015, a case manager with arbitration emailed both attorneys seeking payment of outstanding invoices and gave a deadline by February 15, 2016. Mr. Katz did not pay by February 15 and never responded to arbitration. Arbitration closed its file on our claim on April 26, 2016. The arbitration firm deemed the arbitration dismissed or abandoned on that date. After the dismissal of the arbitration, Mr. Katz did nothing further to pursue our case. On October 26, 2016, the six-month statute to refile our claim expired. Additionally, Georgia's 8-year statute of repose on negligent construction claims expired on June 17, 2017. As a result of Mr. Katz's failure to refile the claim prior to the expiration of the renewal statute and the statute of repose, we are now precluded from ever recovering on our claim. On June 29, 2018, over two years after dismissal, Mr. Katz sent us a letter withdrawing from the representation. Mr. Katz never notified us about his decision to dismiss and/or abandon the arbitration. He made the decision unilaterally, despite it was contrary to our instructions. We feel that Mr. Katz breached the standard of care and his fiduciary duties to us.

After he was paid $1,000 for service, he did not do his job. I ended up doing the foot work, and some of the paper work, but he still never filed a response with the court. He and his staff are very curt. I am not even showing in the court system as having a representative. I am at square one and ne...ed a good divorce attorney.

Mr. Katz met with me once partially explaining the course of action he would take. I thought I had his support. Once he got paid, his representation of my case, failed me. After the case, he failed to move forward in the manner in which he promised. I primarily went to him for assistance & represen...tation for a TPO, & assistance with the company that also failed me. I now am in worse shape, without recourse, or assistance from him, or anyone. Worst of all, the stalker presented a 'witness' of a bad neighbor- proving he now knows where I live. its hard enough to lose a case like this, worse to not have support you've paid for. Fear (of the stalker, & fear of losing) is what had me hire him in the first place. Katz's nonchalance is still costing me. Nothing has been resolved. Even after following up with him, he days there's nothing he can do for me. He said, "you can hire someone else". I wish I had the first time. If you want to help a guy pay a bill, hire him. If you seek justice; hire a more genuinely & actively concerned lawyer.