I hired Peter Gleichman, [hereinafter PG] Mar 2006 for a land lease breech of contract suit of which the sum to be collected was in excess of 15,000.00 We went to magistrate court court once, July 2006, The case could have been settled, however PG in attendance, looked as if he had slept in his suit..., Hair and his beard was a muss and He smelled of alcohol, (witnesses present) as if he had been drinking the night before if not that morning. He was clearly not prepared to go to court as the case was continued. I questioned as to why we were in Magistrate court in lieu of Superior Court where we should have been due to the circumstances of this case. He wanted to go to Magistrate court first then to Superior court if need be. I was against this plan, and made my point clear and wanted this case settled once and for all.
A retaliatory action was filed by the defendant which was clearly a case of malicious prosecution among other things, (using the legal system as a weapon, in short ) PG clearly stated in Late 2006 that he didn’t want to go to court with My case due to the bond issues of the defendants retaliatory action that was filed. Even though information from 2 Magistrate Judges said that we could proceed with the case.
We had relocated out of state in March 2007 providing PG, the court and other attorneys with new addresses, email addys, and phone numbers. PG sent me a billing invoice to our NEW residence which stated "Net Due" 800.00 in May of 2007 and didn't list what he had done to earn the fee. I contested the billing and didn't hear anything since, until, Dec 2010. When I spoke with him via landline regarding this fee it was now 971.00 again with no explanation of why. He also had requested another 1500.00 retainer which was over and above the retainer I had already paid him in 2006. I had approximately 7,000.00 invested in his fees for this suit already.
In Dec 2010 PG advised me that he had no means of contacting me and that if I send another retainer of 1500.00 and pay the 971.00 he would re-file the case. I terminated his services and requested all documents pertaining to my case. Upon receipt I discovered that in Feb 2009 PG was contacted by the court to set a court date in march 2009, PG entered a “Voluntary Dismissal without prejudice” without my knowledge and settled the case 24 Feb 2009.
In Dec 2010 PG stated that he didn’t want to go to court because of “Credibility issues” Which didn’t exist. He flip flopped his reasoning for not wanting to go to court. PG also stated that he didn’t have means to contact me regarding this case and that was the reasoning for his entering a voluntary dismissal without prejudice. This is a flagrant and blatant untruth, as in the package I received from him existed several emails where we had communicated not only from one, but 2 email addys of mine and two others that were friends emails for contacts. There was an email dated May 2008 that clearly had the updated contact addresses, phone numbers and email addys. PG claimed he never received this communication, which if so, proves he neglects his email / communications. He was also notified of the other attorneys involved and had access to contact info through the court. He neglected utilize contact info and / or acquire this info to make contact, and clearly violated the BAR Code of Conduct regarding “Communication”.
In short PG has a complaint being filed with the Georgia BAR Association for violations of the Codes of Conduct and Ethics violations. The hope and intention is to pursue disbarment or suspension. By his negligent or willful actions that caused this case to be lost, I had lost in the vicinity of 30 to 60,000.00, not to mention the funds I had paid him for his seemingly inept services. A Civil suit against PG is being sought against PG, and the original suit is being re filed, and a malpractice suit is being considered.
My recommendation for this character is NOT good, nor do I recommend.
