Keith L Altman

Waste of time and ten thousand dollars. These people don't do a thing and hardly get anything done if anything at all. They are unresponsive and do the bare minimum for your case. On top of that, they are forgetful and have a hard time understanding your issue. So many broken promises from this firm.... Before acquiring their assistance, I was already on the right track with my appeal process and doing everything I needed to report my school. Keith promised reliable assistance in the appeal process and a "big brother" look out so the school faculty would not hassle me so easily, and if all failed, we would talk about the next steps into litigation (if it was necessary). They never actually wrote an appeal. They just literally repeated all my previous appeals and then put them into their own words that was abysmally wrote up. I had to change so much it was obvious Robert, my "rep" had no idea what was going on with my case. In total, I think he wrote three emails to my school that were all magnificently rejected. In the end, my school rejected all attempts for my "representitves" to reach out and talk. Keith Altman's law firm pretty much told me what I already knew from the beginning and gave up with their tails between their legs. The school said no, and Altman Law politely agreed with them and made no attempts to fight the school. I NEVER once spoke with a layer for the whole time I was using their assistance. I made countless calls and emails to Keith requesting assistance and a new representative and I never spoke with him after my first 300$ consultation. These people are scams! Please take your money elsewhere and do your research! I was desperate and wasted my money and pride with these "people".

The firm is unethical and unprofessional. The attorneys should be investigated for violating the Michigan Code of Professional Conduct. I lost $15,000, received no meaningful representation, and was left to defend myself in a workplace investigation. Furthermore, despite appalling and nearly non-exi...stent representation, they repeatedly refused to refund my money and, only after numerous requests, produced inaccurate and misleading billing records. By way of background, I have been an attorney for over twenty years. I am also a college professor. A student made false allegations against me in retaliation for a complaint I filed against the student for egregious misconduct. To be clear, the allegations against me were false. I contacted this firm and paid $150.00 for an initial consultation, where I spoke to an attorney from Boston for about five or ten minutes (the firm is based in Michigan). He quickly requested a fee of $15,000 to represent me. After that, I never heard from him again. Also, I had one meeting with Mr. Altman to discuss my case, which lasted no longer than fifteen or twenty minutes. Over the next three months, I never heard from him again. Instead, I was given a non-attorney assistant, whose responsibility was essentially to answer my questions, even though he was not qualified to provide legal advice. In fact, over the investigation's three-month period, this firm spoke to the university once and drafted two poorly written letters to the university in which they misstated the facts. Quite frankly, they were embarrassing. When human resources released their report, I was forced to spend hours drafting not one, but two written responses and ultimately resolved this situation myself. I contacted the "assistant" to complain about their conduct. He admitted that he "dropped the ball" and apologized. After that, I never heard from him again. Instead, out of the blue, I received a call from an attorney in another state -- recall, the firm is based in Michigan -- who was suddenly assigned to my case. I had never spoken to this attorney before, and the attorney asked me what I would like the firm to do for me. At this point, I was so appalled because it was obvious that retaining this firm was a terrible mistake. The attorney ultimately wrote one more letter, and I was left to fend for myself until the investigation was officially concluded. After many hours of drafting responses and meeting with university officials, the investigation was resolved favorably. But I did all the work. Ultimately, I lost $15,000. I demanded a refund repeatedly. Indeed, in a good-faith effort to resolve the matter, I compromised and said I would accept a refund of $7,500. They refused. What's worse, I repeatedly requested their billing records; when I received them, they were inaccurate and misleading with, among other things, duplicate entries for the same conversations or tasks, and no indication of how much time was spent on them. It was shocking. For the past year, I have hesitated to file a complaint against this firm because I feared that the firm would respond with falsehoods. After speaking with my attorney colleagues, however, and showing them the billing records, they were adamant that I should file a complaint with the Michigan State Board of Ethics. I intend to do so, and caution everyone to not, under any circumstances, retain this firm.

Run- In my situation this firm was a scam. The firm will provide misleading and partial information to you, in order to secure a “consultation payment.” Mine was $175.00 dollars. Firstly, the two and only phone numbers they provide result in two scenarios- Line number one, either they answer ...or not and line number two has an AI operator answer and you get nowhere, eventually stating, “No one can take the call.” The sales rep would not answer my question as to if their group, firm or business has an attorney licensed in my state of TN where my legal matters reside. I asked how long the consultation would be and she replied about a half hour in a voice that seemed suspicious, that’s when I should’ve said no, declined and left. After payment I receive an email stating I can send documents (good, I composed an overview letter for the firm to read and sent a few more/ additional important docs, I’m paying for the consultation, it’s not free so I’m understandably sending them to be reviewed). Then I read, “We will do our best to review documents, if you send numerous documents or long legal documents they may not be reviewed.” What! Then, thereafter they’re a no-show for my scheduled consultation. After I send an email, a rude lady on the phone tells me (calls me), “On my end I see, let me check,” as if I’m imagining this in which I had to say, “No, you're wrong, want me to forward you the email I have, was sent by you guys?” She then tells me she will get back to me. I replied, “If I can't get my consultation today, I need a refund.” Then, the lady who scheduled me wrong on their end calls me with the same attitude. I tell her I just want a refund and don’t appreciate the errors and accusations like I’m an idiot and I have been waiting on the phone twenty minutes. She tells me (like the other lady), I’ll check and get back to you. Finally, a male attorney calls me and leaves me a voicemail. He says, “Sorry” very nicely and tells me I can get a consult Friday, three days away in the afternoon with an advocate or they can refund me. While he was apologetic, still I just wanted my refund and emailed them, instructing the office a third time to refund me. I don’t want to speak to an advocate- I already have an advocate, my own advocate I have been working with and paying hourly fees to for months. I was (verbally) promised to speak to an attorney. For a $175.00 fee, you should receive a 1-2 hour consultation with a real licensed attorney in which they should review your sent documents. A zoom virtual meeting invite and link, not a phone number to call as they instruct you to and, certainly, the *attorney should show. This is not how this improper firm works. I suggest requesting something in writing or email before payment- To rightfully state: I will be meeting with/ see a licensed attorney (name) and have them disclose the duration (how long the meeting will be) of your consultation. I believe there are entities we could make/ file a complaint with regarding this party’s processes and procedures.

Mr. Altman and co., during our consultation felt so genuine and ready as if he had a call to action. He had made large statements such as how likely we were to turn around my situation and that it was a done deal. He also commented repeatedly how likely we’d be able to have the school pay for my atto...rney fees and the like. No promise was made, but being that I was in a time of crisis I feel and felt preyed on. I felt disregarded throughout the entire process, out of the loop on everything, and I was led to believe things that were not factual, such as an agreement supposedly between Mr. Altman and my school’s counsel which would allow me to make up the semester I lost time-wise. I was told my suspension could get overturned with ease—then it began to take weeks to hear anything back from Mr. Altman and co. This is where my concerns began to grow. I’d send email after email waiting to hear back, and scheduling a phone conversation was near impossible without at least a single reschedule on their end. I was told in an email that there was a conversation between Mr. Altman and my school’s counsel that there should be no issue in a class overload, and that Mr. Altman and my school’s counsel had worked together previously/had a good relationship. I was also told by my school’s administration that somebody associated with Mr. Altman (not entirely sure who) simply agreed with my school’s counsel that I was at fault after I had been told otherwise by them. They failed me at every single step of my crisis and over a year later I’ve yet to see even a minuscule positive result. I feel betrayed, lied to, and would never in good conscious recommend this group to even my worst enemy. $10,000 for roughly 6 or so meetings between Mr. Altman and my school’s counsel (as far as I’m aware)—appalling.