Kurt A. Smith's Reviews

Avvo Review Score

4.4 /5.0

46 Client Reviews

Showing 11 - 12 of 12 reviews | Character & Conduct

Posted by anonymous | August 18, 2020 | Hired Attorney | Child Custody

Incredibly Unprofessional and Creeper

Even though he was rude and yawned continuously throughout my consultation, I hired him because his retainer fee was lower than most other lawyers and the other ones were unavailable that week at a family law convention.....And I ended up getting burned badly. He didn't show up to a TPO hearing as p...romised on time and missed the entire thing. Then while discussing details to a custody agreement document, he gripped my shoulder with his hand and rested it there for an uncomfortably long time....and not only did it once but TWICE. Then after I submitted the signed documents to the judge, I called to ask about further details. I was lucky I did because he then suddenly remembered he needed to respond to my counter parts custody filing. So on the last possible day to file it, he asked me to meet him at the court house to sign the paperwork and was late to his following engagement so he went straight to that hearing and made me wait in the parking lot for an hour with my two toddlers. THEN he tried to charge me $2500 for a no show, one filing and his paralegal drawing up those three documents. In addition to THAT his accountant kept leaving off a two hundred dollar payment I made in conjunction with other transactions that were made for his retainer fee, so it took MONTHS to finally resolve the issue. Even though at the end of it all, his accountant STILL never looked fully into it. I had to get my bank statement prepared to send them and when they finally allowed me to pay my account out....his rep mentioned doing it as a favor and avoiding filing a motion for something against me..... It was unbelievable.

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Kurt Smith

Replied last August 18, 2020

Valerie is just coming off of a billing dispute with the company. Accordingly, there are just a couple of details Valerie left out of her review. Valerie retained services at Smith Legal Group on March 10, 2020, to assist her with her CUSTODY case. She informed me that she had a TPO Dissolution Hearing the next day, but that she wanted to try to settle the matter with her ex without protracted litigation. Valerie asked me to meet her at the Courthouse, but not to announce that I was her attorney unless she felt like it was needed. I informed Valerie that we had several other Hearings that day, but that we would try to make it for her Hearing AS A COURTESY, as we were only retained to represent her in her CUSTODY case. As it turned out, I was able to get to Valerie's Hearing just as it was ending and Valerie informed me that everything went fine and that she didn't need me at the Hearing. We then worked with Valerie behind the scenes to come up with a Settlement Agreement that met ALL of her needs, without letting her ex know that she was working with an attorney, and avoiding protracted litigation. As stated, Valerie retained our services on March 10, 2020. VALERIE'S CASE WAS COMPLETELY SETTLED BY MARCH 19, 2020. Now here is the rest of the story. Although Valerie retained our services on March 10, 2020, She was not able to come up with a full retainer - in fact it was not even close. That notwithstanding, we continued assisting Valerie fulfilling our end of the agreement, while turning a blind eye toward Valerie's seeming incessant excuses about why she couldn't pay her bill as agreed. After we finished her case, Valerie still hadn't even come up with the money for her initial retainer. We eventually recently settled the Bill with Valerie for pennies on the dollar. However, as evidenced by her review, Valerie holds a grudge for even having to pay a partial payment for stellar legal work at a very reasonable rate. Lots of people come to my office looking for assistance on a budget. My heart goes out to all of them. But it is clients like Valerie, who take advantage of the willingness to help, that ruins things for the others that come in after. Because of clients like Valerie, who ask for favors up front, take advantage of the services offered and the favors done, and then lash out on line later under the "anonymous" moniker, Attorneys, and other professionals, grow very leery of offering kindness - it becomes not worth it when the kindness turns out to not be appreciated. That said, despite Valerie's shenanigans, I still hold out hope that karma remains kind to those who help others. ***NOTE: What is true from Valerie's review is that there are times when I yawn during consultations. I routinely work until 2 or 3 in the morning and have to be ready for 9 am Hearings or all day Trials the next day. It doesn't mean I'm not interested. It means that I really didn't get enough sleep that week and my body is feeling it. Note, however, that even Valerie, who is overly concerned about her bill that was heavily reduced to an amount much less than she owed, did not complain about the result. She won her case on terms she was extremely happy with all in less than two weeks. You're welcome Valerie.

Posted by Jeremy | October 15, 2015 | Child Custody

Worst Attorney Ever!!!!

DON'T USE THIS ATTORNEY!!! The State of Nevada referred me to Kurt as he was an affordable attorney. I needed someone to represent me in a custody battle. When I met with him for my consultation, he informed me that my case should not cost me more then $4,000. After receiving several bills with o...utrageous charges, I called to get information on why I was being charged so much. He informed me that they are inflating the price as they are going after my ex wife for my attorney fees. Once the case is closed they will reduce the price down to the quoted price if we don't get approved to have her pay for the fees. Once the case was all set and done we did not get approval to have her pay for the fees but yet he was not a man of his word and did not reduce his charges. So in the end he wants me to pay over $10,000. My ex wife paid her attorney $3,000 to do the same things Kurt did. He is a crocked individual. He has the nerve to charge my account $2,500 to have a fill in attorney and his paralegal defend me at one of the court dates. It is not my fault you decided to take a vacation when I had a court date and I should not be responsible to pay for his mistakes. Key point to this story, DO NOT USE THIS ATTORNEY AS YOU WILL NOT BE ANYTHING TO HIM BUT A DOLLAR SIGN AND HE WILL TELL YOU ANYTHING TO GET AS MUCH MONEY FROM YOU!!

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Kurt Smith

Replied last January 13, 2015

Jeremy's review lends proof to the theory that no good deed goes unpunished. Jeremy came to my office as a low-income client that needed legal assistance. I agreed to help him and began working on his case for a severely reduced retainer fee. I also agreed to accept very low monthly payments on his case in an effort to get him the legal representation he needed within his very meager budget. Turns out, Jeremy and his wife had originally decided to get a fraudulent divorce in Nye County (using a different law firm) - fraudulent because neither party lived there at the time. Jeremy ended up needing to fight this case in both Nye County and Clark County - an unfortunate circumstance that greatly increased Jeremy's bill. Jeremy's wife used the same lawyer that had bungled the case in the first place. Jeremy's ex's counsel filed inappropriate motions in Nye County and when those proved ineffective, attempted to start the entire case over again in Clark County for what was effectively a third case. My firm competently handled all three cases and got the Jeremy the best result possible under the circumstances - circumstances which included allegations of drug use which ended up being true. By means of fact check, please be advised of the following: 1) My firm NEVER quotes a flat fee to handle an entire case. Jeremy's allegation that this occurred is false. 2) My firm NEVER inflates prices in hopes of having opposing counsel pay an inflated attorney's fees award. Attorney's fees are discretionary with the judge and doing so would cause severe problems. 3) I did not go on vacation in the middle of Jeremy's case leaving Jeremy hanging out to dry. I had hearings scheduled simultaneously in Clark County and Nye County. I handled the multiple hearings in Clark County and sent an Associate AND the Paralegal that was working on Jeremy's case to Nye County to represent him. Incidentally, we won the Hearing in Nye County. That notwithstanding, Jeremy expressed his dissatisfaction that I had not personally appeared at his Nye County Hearing. What Jeremy fails to state is that as a courtesy to him, I waived the entire fee for that Associate's time and the Paralegal's time and took that entire amount off of Jeremy's bill. 4) I am one of the few attorneys in town that will accept monthly payments on their cases. The reason for this is that most attorney's have figured out that people on monthly payments often stop paying their bill. Although I understand that as well, I often feel bad when people need help and just can't come up with a huge retainer fee to get the help they need. As I stated, I set Jeremy up on a very low retainer and a very low monthly fee. About halfway into Jeremy's representation, Jeremy informed me he could no longer pay the entire monthly fee and began paying me less than half of the previously agreed upon fee. That notwithstanding, I kept working on Jeremy's case. Jeremy assured me that he would keep paying his bill until his bill was paid. Unfortunately, that has not proved to be the case. 5) Jeremy misstates what I told him at our initial meeting. For the record, what I told him was "you keep doing your part and paying your monthly bill and I will keep doing my part and will keep representing you throughout these proceedings. At the end, we will sit down and discuss your bill and discuss a fee reduction to help get your bill paid off faster." When the successful end of Jeremy's representation came, Jeremy still owed my firm $6,794.81. He has only ever paid $3,100.00. AFTER the case was concluded, Jeremy informed me that he felt he had paid enough. Although I have offered Jeremy a SUBSTANTIAL fee reduction to help him out, Jeremy has stated that the only fee reduction he will accept is 100%. I understand there will always be people out there who will not want to pay. However, for me, getting Jeremy Joint Custody despite his drug issues was a good result for Jeremy.

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Kurt A. Smith's Lawyer Endorsements

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Carol Barnes

Family lawyer | Jun 21

Relationship: Opposing Counsel on matter

"I endorse this lawyer. Kurt is a knowledgeable and compassionate attorney who zealously advocates for his client. As opposing counsel, Kurt always promptly responded to my calls and worked toward resolution."

Mark Clay

Family lawyer | Aug 23

Relationship: Fellow lawyer in community

"I highly endorse Mr. Smith. Truly exceptional and caring attorney who produces great results in representing clients! I want all people with legal problems to contact him first."

John Fisher

Family lawyer | Jul 04

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Jonathan Lacour

Family lawyer | Apr 27

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Brandon Leavitt

Family lawyer | Mar 17

Relationship: Opposing Counsel on matter

"Mr. Smith is a highly skilled and competent attorney. He is courteous and professional and does an excellent job zealously representing his clients. He his a credit to our profession and I am pleased to call him my friend and colleague."