Raymond Paparella

We retained the services of The Law Firm of Raymond Paparella to determine if a “Will” and “Trust” could be contested. Mr. Paparella informed us that he had 11 years of experience in the field, his demeanor was friendly, and he was eager to help us resolve our issue. We chose him because he was flexi...ble in his terms to accommodate us financially, due to our very limited financial means. After our conversations, I became concerned that I had taken on more of a brainstorming role with Mr. Paparella instead of being reassured that his experience had already determined a clear cut course of action to resolve the matter. Mr. Paparella wrote two (2) letters on our behalf; one was approximately 250 words in length to a probate attorney, and another was approximately 160 words in length to a realtor. The response from the probate attorney concluded that the Will and Trust in question could not be contested. Mr. Paparella recommended that we proceed no further and that he would provide a refund from the $5,800 retainer. We received an $800 refund by check by mail but there was no accounting at all for the $5,000 billed (approx. 11.7 hours) and the retainer rate of $425 per hour equates to a bit more than $7 per minute. The previous legal services we retained included meticulously detailed records of activities and time spent on them. Due to the value of the Trust, we had no option other than to attempt to question it. Needless to say, we were very unhappy and disappointed that the two letters and any other undocumented and unaccounted work performed added up to a very round and convenient number of $5,000. To be exact-- $5,000 at the rate of $425 per hour equates to 11.7647 hours or 705.882 minutes. We could understand any round number in relation to time spent, but, in my opinion, the likelihood of 11.7647 hours of undocumented time is highly questionable. Due to this aspect, which we consider to be highly unprofessional, we cannot recommend the services of The Law Firm of Raymond Paparella.