Rachael Frawley-Panyard

My mother had a land contract situation that was going sideways and I suggested she get a lawyer to help. She felt it would be expensive, so I offered to pay to get the issue worked on by a professional. My mother got a recommendation for the firm Rachael works for from a coworker who stated that the...y were effective. So we decided to give them a try. It didn't even get that far. In fact, the only two options I have here are "Hired" or "Consulted", I'd say they did neither for me. It's somewhat unclear if they offer a consultation on anything other than their fee structure. The partner that my mother originally contacted recommended Rachael within their firm and they discussed fees. Things sounded good, and land contract documents were sent. A couple days passed, and since my mother works 12 hour shifts (Rachael only wanted to speak by telephone), she asked me to give her a call and see what was needed and get some guidance on moving forward -- since I've been fully involved in the situation and, in fact, would be the person actually paying for this service. Since there are privacy issues, a note was already sent by email asking Rachael to discuss matters with me. I gave Rachael a call to try and get the ball moving. From the start Rachael was combative about the whole situation. It seemed to me that she lacked the skills or knowledge on how to deal with a "third party" being involved. At this point, she started demanding that my mother pay her retainer before we discuss involving myself. Huh? I accepted that she couldn't discuss "privileged" information with me until some formal documents were filed and I asked her what information she needed so that I can get things moving somehow. At this point she complained about not getting paid despite having spent "several hours" reviewing the documents -- I said I'd have a check dropped off today and get the paperwork in place, just need to know what is needed. She said she'd need to ask her manager, but she wants to get paid before that. Strange. At this point we had sussed out their MO, which was not communicated from the start. Apparently they work on this system where you pay one amount before they review paperwork, or you pay nothing from the start and then have to pay more to "unlock" what effectively is 30-minute consultation level information. All in all, Rachael seems to be lacking in the ability to deal with clients, both on a customer service level and knowledge of the legal/procedural steps to making things work. For that reason, her and her firm definitely will not be hired to work on our land contract issue.