Margaret A. Bennett

The worst experience I have ever had with a company. They are overpriced, unfair, unhelpful and pompous. For starters, you have to pay for a consultation. Don’t let this fool you, many (better) law firms offer this complimentary. It was $200 dollars for an hour, and Ms. Bennett only met with me... for 30 minutes. No refund, no application to the retainer. After the consultation, the first correspondence I had was with Ms. Bennett over the phone. Any question I asked she responded in an agitated voice as though I should have known the answer. Excuse me for not being an expert and having questions, that’s why I hired a lawyer. There was a 6 month waiting period before the court date could be scheduled. I simply asked if we could put the actual date which was sooner, not that date I met with her, so that it could be over with sooner. She said no, stated that would be lying, and then proceeded to recite the law. It wasn’t my intention to lie. It’s ironic though, because she is the one who suggested during our consultation that I plead mental cruelty, which would have been a lie. She told me she just did this for a client and everything was done in a week. During the process, nothing was explained to me. I felt so lost and confused. I had to e-mail their office (and you better believe they charged me for it) with questions on stuff they should have explained in the first place. I was doing my best to keep the cost down, but they made it nearly impossible. When the court date arrived, Ms. Claeyssen represented me. I was told that Ms. Bennett was assigned to my case. I requested someone else, because Ms. Bennett was the most expensive hourly rate and also I wasn’t comfortable with our prior phone conversation. They told me no one else was available (someone was on leave). So I was stuck paying top dollar. But then, they swap it out last minute and send Ms. Claeyssen to represent me. I’m sure Ms. Bennett wanted to use her higher hourly rate to do all the paperwork, but couldn’t be bothered to show up in court. I felt that was unfair. In court, poor Ms. Claeyssen sounded like it was her first time. She was visibly nervous with a shaky voice, red face, and stumbling on her words. It was extremely uncomfortable and awkward. Bennett Law sent me a list of questions that would be asked at court. They wanted me to swear under oath that “I was satisfied with Bennett Law Firm’s representation” and “I was satisfied with their billing.” I told them to remove those questions and that I wouldn’t answer them because it wasn’t true. It boggled my mind that they had so many good reviews, but now I see how they have people swear under oath that they were satisfied so that no one can come back with a bad review. I thought I was finally done with them, but no. The court made a mistake and didn’t include all of the paperwork in my final document. I had e-mailed Bennett Law saying I didn’t feel I had all the information, but they assured me I did. Well, after waiting in line with the documents for over an hour I was turned away because they were not correct. I went back to Bennett Law asking for the completed documents, but they told me I’d have to go to court myself and get them. When they refused to help me and insisted I would have to get this document myself (even though it should have been included in what I paid for AND they are in court all of the time), I advised them I would be reviewing the horrible experience I had. Within minutes I had a missed call/voicemail, an e-mail, and another missed call/voicemail a few hours later. Bennett Law Firm, the energy you use to try and prevent a bad review from coming out, is the type of energy you should use to actually assist your clients so they have a satisfactory experience. All Bennett Law Firm cares about is making money, and it’s really unfortunate it has to be at our expense. Do yourself a favor and avoid them.