Richard A Manzo

I hired Richard Manzo to write a simple letter about a real estate matter. The first appointment I was hesitant but unfortunately I retained him. He would not do anything else until he knew that the check was good. We made a second appointment and which I was stood up. Mr. Manzo was a no-show. Call m...e later in the day wanted to meet. I came prepared with all the information he would need neatly written down. When I gave him the paper he said he could not see it so I read it to him. A day or so later he request for me to send him the same information by email Richard could not get my name correctly and he seem to be quite confused on who I was the buyer or the seller. I’ve pacifically told to wait and see what happens. But he decided to make phone calls and the only thing he accomplished was embarrassing me. He even had to email me to get my phone number and then when he called me the TV was blaring out in the background. I am pretty sure he does not work with a paralegal from what I understand his son is helping him. I do not know what his legal education is. When confronting Mr. Manzo seems to think his incompetence is normal.

I hired Mr. Manzo a few years ago to take over my divorce case after it was handled previously by two other attorneys who I felt did not handle my case properly and kept litigating in court for over a year and a half and overcharging me for their services. Mr. Manzo charged me a flat fee of $10,000.0...0 and took over my case. At first, I felt that he was very expensive and that I was trapped and had no other choice but to hire him since no other attorney was willing to take my case and I was exhausted of all this. Mr. Manzo did everything he can to avoid going to court, he listened attentively and kept me informed and we worked on a settlement with the opposing party. I trusted him entirely and was happy with the final agreement. Even afterwards, if I had any legal question, I would call him and he was there to guide me and give me legal advice at no charge. Two years later when I found out that my former husband was making more income, I wanted to take him back to court for modification of child support; I called Mr. Manzo again to represent me in court, he advised me that the judge will have more sympathy for me if I would represent myself, and to show that I am not wasting any more money to pay for legal fees. He answered all my questions at no charge, I was very confident and filled out and filed all the legal papers by myself and appeared in court as a "pro se". I was prepared to fight alone and got an increase of nearly $300.00. Mr. Manzo is an experienced and skilled attorney, he is very competent and has a good work ethic.

There are not enough spaces for the very(s) that I want to put, but very, very upset with that LACK of service. I am pasting an email I sent him, because phone calls never get to him. Good afternoon Richard Manzo, As discussed in mid October, I requested you set up a hearing for modification o...f child support due to my upcoming Oct.31st layoff. I emailed you my layoff notice and waited for your response. After several calls to your office, mostly getting the answering service, I got nowhere. I scheduled an appointment with you to talk about the case overall. You informed me that the 10,000 dollar retainer that I started with was all but gone, MUCH to my surprise, and all you could, do was draw up a modification request, that I would have to submit to the court, my ex, and any other required party. You never asked if I could afford another retainer, you never offered any information for an indigent party in my circumstance, you never laid out any expectations for me going further. In essence Richard, you accomplished nothing. You served me in the worst possible manner I could ever imagine from ANY profession, much less, one where people could go to jail due to a lack of response. That was a frustrating day for me, obviously. I asked you that afternoon for my file, and for you and I to go our separate ways. Your response was to give you a call and let you know of my request??? Still wondering what that means...? Currently, I am trying to get through this very difficult situation without counsel, and I know I should be used to that by now, but Michelle's attorney cannot speak to me because you still haven't withdrawn as counsel. I would like you to get that done as soon as possible. If there is some reason that you can't withdraw from my case, please let me know. I have left several messages over the last two weeks with your office for my file, so that I may proceed with my case. I have not received my file, a call, an explanation, or anything. One last time, will you please withdraw from my case and send my file, or call me and I will pick it up!