Bert Whitehead IV's Reviews

Avvo Review Score

4.2 /5.0

42 Client Reviews

Showing 1 - 5 of 5 reviews | Trustworthiness

Posted by Jeffery | September 10, 2022 | Hired Attorney | Divorce & Separation

Takes your money and does not respond to email.

I feel like this place is not very professional. I paid all my fees of $2395 in 3 payments and then they took 2 payments of $99 for continued service plus the filing fees and every other fee and my wife and I decided to work things out and I dropped the case and have emailed several times to see if ...I could get a partial refund being there was only 5 video court dates for about 10 minutes each and the attorney would contact me the day of court to “make sure we were on the same page”. I’m not expecting to get a full refund, but when they don’t even respond to my emails to discuss the matter I don’t think it’s very professional for a firm that is supposed to be in the Legal profession. I figure at tops maybe 3 or 4 hours total was spent by them taking information and filing the forms and then I have emails sent to me that was for other clients which Is very unprofessional. I don’t understand why they feel it’s okay to keep money that wasn’t earned. Very disappointed in the service and lack of service I received. I used them, because I thought they were reasonable and a legit firm by their reviews, but I’m sure they don’t post any negatives to make them look better than they are!!!!!!

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Bert Whitehead

Replied last September 12, 2022

First of all, this was not my client, so this review should not have been posted on my Avvo profile. The attorney for this client is another attorney at our firm. Second, though, I did find out from that attorney what happened here. The client signed up for full representation in March2022 which includes unlimited legal advice, all of their hearings throughout the case, unlimited negotiation with the opposing attorney, plus preparing, filing, and serving a Petition for dissolution of marriage AND preparing, filing, and serving an emergency ex parte order for temporary custody, which was granted after a hearing. The cost that the client agreed to was $2395 and then $99 per week for as long as the case continued. We filed the Petition for Dissolution and the Petition for Emergency Ex parte order for temporary custody, which was granted after a hearing on 4/8. We worked to get the OP party served on 4/27, we were successful, and the OP filed an answer. We filed proof of service. After only a couple payments of the $99 per week, despite the client agreeing to keep paying $99 weekly payments for all of these unlimited services (advice, negotiation, hearings, review of pleadings, responses to pleadings), he then started complaining about paying the $99 per week (which he agreed to), so we literally stopped it after only two payments as a kind gesture. Despite that, the attorney at our firm continued to represent him for no additional costs for MONTHS more, without getting paid any more money from client. Thus, the client, although agreeing to get all kinds of unlimited services for modest up-front payment and weekly payments, then reneged on his contract with his attorney and our firm. After the first three hearings that his attorney at our firm attended, the court then ordered mediation. His attorney prepared the mediation order and filed it with the court. The parties held mediation which was partially successful, and both parties appeared for the fourth zoom conference on 7/11. Discovery cutoffs were discussed and the case was continued to 8/11. Meanwhile the attorney at our firm was contacted by the opposing party's attorney and discussed the case at length. On 8/8 the client notified us to tell us that the Respondent was firing her attorney and they were reconciling. The attorney at our firm reported that the parties were reconciling at the 8/11 (5th) hearing and that he would be filing a Motion for Voluntary Dismissal, which we prepared and filed; case was dismissed on 8/22. So now, this client, who would have paid any other firm at least $3500 MINIMUM retainer, non-refundable to START a case, and would have by now racked up thousands more in fees, has only paid us a total of $2593, and yet we prepared/filed/served a Petition for Dissolution, prepared/filed/serve a successful Ex Parte order for Temporary Custody, prepared for and attended five ZOOM appearances, prepared and filed a mediation order, prepared and filed an order of dismissal, and provided unlimited legal advice and discussion with the other attorney, and NOW he is complaining that we didn't give him a refund? The nerve! If this client had stuck with his original agreement, and if WE forced him to stick to his original agreement, we should be sending him a bill for at least $1,500 more, which would STILL be a bargain compared to other typical attorneys. But some people don't mind agreeing to something, getting as much as they can out of it, pushing us on an "emergency" basis to get their ex parte orders filed, and then once they get value out of it, then trying to suddenly go back on their word. There is only one party in this situation who was jipped out of money, and it was this attorney who had to deal with this ungrateful client who refused to pay what he agreed to pay and now is even asking for a refund. Although I was not the attorney, I give this client ZERO stars. Bert Whitehead

Posted by Josh C | May 14, 2021 | Hired Attorney

Bert Tiger Whitehead

Great Firm. Easy to use client portal. Awesome attorney, weekend consultations available. Affordable full representation or limited scope services. Current Client. Retained for the next 16 years

Posted by anonymous | December 20, 2020 | Hired Attorney | Divorce & Separation

Divorce

Don't waste your time. Hired for a divorce and I ended up doing it all. Sent us a check back for $250 when we paid 1k plus and he removed his google reviews. You're welcome for fixing the bug in your system. We deserve more than $250 back. But my family says when a crooked lawyer sends you a check ba...ck A. They are admitting to a screw up and B. You probably won't get it all back, so let it go. You're welcome for the free money and thanks for hurting a low income family.

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Bert Whitehead

Replied last December 20, 2020

I'm sorry this person feels this way. First, our fees were only $850 to prepare, file, and assist with service of a complaint for divorce with minors, plus 30 days of unlimited legal advice. $150 extra was to a third party for a background investigation paid to locate the Defendant in another state, and filing fees were $255. Second, it is true the client identified an error on two fields on their pdf docs at the time we shared the documents "for review." The fields were correct on the individual editable pdfs before sharing with client, but when we combined the editable pdfs into one pdf for review, two fields were affected. The client caught the errors, corrected them, and we filed the corrected docs the first time. Thus the review process worked. Furthermore, the $850 being non-refundable, we still gladly refunded $250 because the client complained about finding two errors during the "review process" , and because there was a portion of the fee still unearned since the client didn't use our help to assist in getting the Defendant served or to file the proof of service. Although these services are only $100 of the $850, we gave back $250. If we were crooked, we wouldn't have such reasonable prices in the first place, wouldn't return any "non-refundable" fees, wouldn't return $250 for only $100 of unearned fees, and wouldn't take the time to respond to the very rare poor review. In the end, we did what we promised, located the Defendant, prepared all docs, filed them correctly the first time, started the divorce case, and gave 30 days of unlimited advice and then some. Most people are thrilled with our services. We are sorry this client was not. Fortunately, thousands of people can't afford typically-priced law firms and will still enjoy our free legal advice and affordable legal help, most of whom will continue to rate us 4 and 5 stars. Our Google reviews were unfortunately deleted when we changed locations from Southfield to Birmingham, because we had two duplicate locations, so we changed one and removed the other, not knowing we were removing our reviews. Our overall rating was over 4 stars with dozens of reviews, just as with Avvo and at our website, accesslegalcare.com. Thank you for your review, and for helping us to constantly improve. God bless you and we wish only the best for you and your family. Merry Christmas too!

Posted by Lilian | May 28, 2020 | Hired Attorney | Family

Highly Recommend

Atty. Bert Tiger Whitehead of Access Legal Care is an excellent Attorney, honest, knowledgeable and persistent, who devoted much of his time towards our case in a caring manner. Even during this pandemic, we were able to obtain a court order allowing us to officially change name (add middle name) of ... our daughter on her birth certificate. We would highly recommend Atty. Tiger Whitehead to anyone seeking legal representations that is within your best interest, easy to work with , affordable and very reliable.

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Posted by Carolina G Rios | April 04, 2016 | Hired Attorney | Family

Child custody/visitation

My experience with Mr. Whitehead and his staff is reassuring as I go through a very stressful and emotional situation. His honesty, Trusting, caring with great communication on my case keeps me positive he will help me , continue to fight for justice for my daughter . I would recommend him and his st...aff .

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Bert Whitehead IV's Lawyer Endorsements

Endorse Bert

Chelsea Rebeck

Family lawyer | Nov 23

Relationship: Worked together on matter

"Bert and I have worked together on several cases. His passion for helping his clients makes him an outstanding attorney. I highly recommend him."

Jillian Hindo

Business lawyer | Sep 23

Relationship: Fellow lawyer in community

"I endorse this lawyer. Bert is hardworking and dedicated. I would highly recommend him."

Aaron Shahan

Divorce and separation lawyer | May 21

Relationship: Fellow lawyer in community

"Through Access Legal Care, PLLC, Mr. Whitehead is able to provide exceptional legal services to all residents of Michigan at a fair and reasonable price. His dedication to improve the practice in this regard is highly admirable. For that reason, I endorse Mr. Whitehead."

Madana Hermiz

Family lawyer | Apr 09

Relationship: Fellow lawyer in community

"I endorse this lawyer. I have worked with Mr. Whitehead on numerous occasions and have seen how passionate he is about what he does. He truly cares about helping people and is a great person to have on your side."

Evan Oshan

Chapter 7 bankruptcy lawyer | Jan 26

Relationship: Fellow lawyer in community

"I endorse this lawyer."

Nadine Jett

Family lawyer | Nov 12

Relationship: Fellow lawyer in community

"I endorse this lawyer. This lawyer's contributions to this site are invaluable. I happily endorse this lawyer's work, ability and charity to those asking for advice. Further, I like to endorse good lawyers, because I find the AVVO rating system to be dishonest and corrupt. Frequently, disgruntled litigants on the opposing side (not your clients) will bash a lawyer on this site, pretending to be "your" client. When this situation is brought to AVVO attention, Avvo refuses to do anything to investigate and remove the false, slanderous "client" reviews. AVVO is a mean petty internet blog site trying to make money off of lawyers, and does not care if the public receives truthful information."

Joseph Schodowski

Unknown lawyer | Sep 26

Relationship: Friend

"I endorse this lawyer."

James Poniewierski

Unknown lawyer | Aug 05

Relationship: Fellow lawyer in community

"I endorse this lawyer. Attorney Bert Whitehead IV is a great attorney. He is able to provide significant legal services at an affordable rate. I have worked for him and I also feel comfortable sending my own clients to him."

Howard Lewis

Family lawyer | Jul 29

Relationship: Fellow lawyer in community

"I endorse this lawyer. Attorney Whitehead is an outstanding attorney with an exceptional reputation. He is a strong and zealous advocate for his clients and a credit to the legal profession. I highly recommend his legal services."

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