Richard A Foster

Went to see Foster for free consultation; was charged $550. Foster did not tell me his fees, nor did he state I would be charged for this consult. As I was leaving, Foster stated he required at minimum a $5,000.00 retainer up front. I put on Discover Credit Card . I was quickly handed and sign...ed a GENERAL fee contract; nothing else on the contract pertained to me as I was Foster’s first SSDI Overpayment case; however, I felt he needed me to sign something. I did not know any better. ONLY AFTER I signed the agreement ( months later ) when Foster tried claiming MY SSDI backpay did I realize the fee agreement was completed with additional X’s and other information days (someone else handwrote my phone number in etc.) after I left the office, not when I was present, and without my knowledge and consent. To find out, Foster had boxes on the fee agreement X’d stating if my SSDI benefits were reinstated, he was entitled to 15%. Foster was NOT hired to work on SSDI benefit reinstatement, he knew this, nor did he do one thing to assist in my SSDI reinstatement. Sen. DS's office was the ONLY assistance I received and integral part in getting my SSDI benefits reinstated. NOT Foster. In fact, Sen. S mailed us both letters informing us of the progress of my benefit reinstatement; in turn, Foster would Re-mail them to me. AND, CHARGE ME for time put into mailing correspondence I already had!!! From the time I hired Foster June 2015 to the end of December 2016, I COULD NOT get Foster to communicate with me about my case. I sent dozens of emails and made as many phone calls reaching out. Foster ignored me for these 6 months. I spoke to him a couple times, maybe. Finally, I decided to fire Foster at the end of December 2016. I sent a letter firing him. Instead of acknowledging the letter, Foster DROVE all the way to SSA Livonia to “review files” for my overpayment case. Foster allegedly spent 5. 5"hours at SSA Livonia and charged me (an indigent client) $1500.00. He never provided ANY receipts (or detailed account) when I asked for them nor was I given names of people he spoke to for the five hours. Foster repeatedly charged me in blocks of time which he would not account for in detail. I begged Foster for to be budget conscious on several occasions. Foster did NOT need to drive to SSA Livonia b/c he had everything he needed regarding files; to date, Foster has failed to provide me or Discover Card a breakdown (Who he spoke too? What they spoke of for 5 hours?) of exactly what he did at SSA Livonia which would cost me $1500.00! NOT ONCE did Foster consult with me before making TWO UNNECESSARY road trips equaling $2100.00 NEVER!! Important to note, Foster charges for EVERYTHING. He charges for every minute detail of work done and even for calls completely unrelated to your case. Foster NEVER went over his hourly rate or why he billed the way he did; I was ignored. Because Foster ignored me for the first 6 months he had my 5K retainer, Discover Card stated I was too late to open a dispute case going after Foster for Fraud. According to Discover, there was nothing I could do? Two weeks before my hearing is when I was notified Foster was claiming 15% of my SSDI back pay of which he never worked one day to get re-instated. I received another letter from Foster claiming he needed an additional $1500.00 on top of the 5K retainer I gave him already, or he would not come to the hearing. I refused and Foster did not show up at my hearing. Richard Foster took my ENTIRE 5K retainer; I GOT ZERO.

Worst possible choice for a lawyer. I suffered a medical injury and became disabled. Unable to pay my mounting bills, I went to this man to help me file bankruptcy. He reassured me that if I completed the paperwork that he gave me it would cost me the $1200 retainer fee and be done in three months. I...t has now been 7 months and I have no idea when this will be concluded. He failed to provide the court with the correct paperwork (Declaration of Electronic Filing) and then billed me for his staff contacting me and the emails to get the signature to him again. Every time you email the office and get a response there is a charge for the secretary to write the email and then billed again for him to review it - REALLY!? If you call to see what the hold up is - you get billed for that. He also failed to let me know that I could include him in my bankruptcy filing and now owe him another $1200 (a total of $2400)! I got a notice from the lender about my car loan. I was told by the secretary (who by the way was very nice) that they'd "take care of it" but failed to tell me that I would be billed for each and every minute and it was something that I could have handled on my own. I wasn't informed or given that option. When I got my first bill I contacted the office with my concern and was told "not to worry about it because I was a good client." Yes, I did sign the agreement and am now sincerely regretting it. I had an appointment with him on that day and was rushed out of the office because he agreed at the last minute to represent another attorney's client and had to leave to make the trip out of town. I didn't want to delay him, so I just signed the forms without fully reading them (I was also in pain and very uncomfortable sitting there). I should have taken the time to go through the paperwork more carefully. But I believed what he said and trusted him to keep his word. I have now found out that my trust was misplaced. If you are filing bankruptcy, go somewhere else, read ALL the forms no matter what pressure you are under (ask up front if you will be billed for every minute you spend reading the forms, if yes take them with you and them bring them back) and MAKE SURE that you understand the timeline.

I had the misfortune of calling this man my lawyer. After the immediate consultation, I was unable to reach him. I left countless messages, sent faxes, and heard nothing until months later when he told me it wasn't worth his time to pursue the civil matter. He completely wasted my time. I was far les...s than pleased.