Steven Elliott Harris

I used Steven Harris for a relatively complicated arbitration which was before the American Arbitration Association. At the time I engaged him, he was with a Boulder, Colorado law firm, shortly thereafter he left the firm and subsequently contacted me and asked to continue representation in the matt...er. I had not used him previously, he had been recommended by another lawyer. That is probably when I should have contacted a different attorney. Mr. Harris is without the resources of a firm. I believe he is/was dealing the financial issues of a new practice, the ONLY thing that was done on time were his charges against the retainer; he represented that he could handle the matter for $10,000, it ended up being nearly triple that amount. During depositions he was unprepared, appeared in jeans and sneakers and did practically nothing. Each of his preliminary matters were dismissed. About a week prior to the arbitration he started to attempt to focus on the matters at hand, unfortunately for me, as he had done throughout the proceeding, he had lost pertinent knowledge of the matter and spent preparation time attempting to find a silver bullet and therefore did not adequately prepare for the arbitration. Needless to say, there was no silver bullet, and the arbitrator rendered what could be considered to be a complete and thorough refute of the case presented by Mr. Harris. I had provided a very thorough set of background documents which were essentially unused in his preparation. The only matter which was completed was the payment of his bills which were rendered in increments that appeared to be dictated by his personal financial requirements. When the arbitrator's determination was sent to him, he forwarded a copy to me via e-mail and did not accept or return my calls. Mr. Harris seems to be unable to focus on or handle complex matters. He is a sole practitioner that needs the resources and discipline of a firm. I could not recommend him for any type of complex legal matter and it appears he has no specialty, so if he is to be engaged one should be certain that the matter and work is basic, non-complex and that the work begins and ends over a short period of time.