Shelby Ann McKenzie

**Seven Months of Delays, Substantial Fees, and Unfinished Legal Work** I retained Poole Huffman in February 2026 for a time-sensitive business dispute involving valuable manufacturing equipment. Shelby McKenzie was my primary attorney. Over approximately seven months, I repeatedly asked when t...he firm would complete the necessary legal work and take action to protect the equipment. Shelby's correspondence frequently explained delays by referencing trial preparation, court appearances, other professional commitments, additional research, and scheduling conflicts. These explanations continued across several months. On July 21, I was told a revised complaint would be ready for my review within a couple of days. Similar assurances continued into August and September. By the time I terminated the representation on October 8, no new lawsuit, judicial foreclosure action, or emergency injunction had been filed. The firm did send a demand letter and record a UCC financing statement. However, that financing statement identified one piece of equipment with a serial number that conflicted with supplier records. I subsequently had to arrange a corrective filing. I also discovered that a collateral-disposition document described in billing records as finalized was still marked DRAFT and contained an incomplete date in the closing materials. The financial consequences were substantial. The firm charged or claimed approximately $50,550 in total, including my original $7,500 payment. I dispute the remaining charges. I recognize that an additional retainer was required before filing litigation and that I had approved efforts to negotiate a resolution. Legal research, negotiation, and drafting have value. My criticism is not that Shelby failed to guarantee a result. My criticism is the repeated delays, changing expectations, substantial billing, and lack of completed enforcement action during the representation. Even after termination, I continued requesting missing client-file materials and explanations concerning work performed. As of October 23, those requests had not been substantively resolved. I hired a law firm because my business needed timely, competent legal assistance. Instead, I spent months pursuing updates, examining bills, and trying to understand why promised work remained unfinished. Based on my personal experience with Shelby McKenzie, I was extremely dissatisfied with the communication, management of deadlines, and overall service. I would not retain her again.