Cynthia Ribas

Our small company hired Ms. Ribas for a simple Breach of Contract lawsuit. From the minute the engagement letter was signed, all that Ms. Ribas did was talk about her invoices and getting paid. She would send her invoice every 3 to 4 weeks and demanded payment immediately. One time she billed us for ...2 months and demanded payment within 2 days. She threatened to stop working if the payment was not received. We looked back and these threats came from her each and every month. We would pay her within 2 days of receiving her invoices. We had never experienced this behavior from an attorney before. It made us conclude that she probably didn't have any other clients. She kept reminding us that her $350 rate was discounted, but in our opinion, she is not worth $350. She would write long and repetitive emails that contained information we already knew and would bill us over and over for it. The opposing party purposely sent an 800-page document that was unrelated to our case, and she insisted on reading it. She billed us for that time too. She doesn't like being asked questions or challenged. She wanted us to settle the case by paying the opposing party an amount which was unacceptable to us since the opposing party basically hijacked our patented product. When we refused to accept this, Ms. Ribas waited until we were out of town and she filed a Motion to Withdraw from the case. She filed this Motion smack in the middle of an important Settlement period. She knew the other party would never settle with us, if we didn't have a lawyer to represent us and they didn't. What she did is shameful. In her Motion to Withdraw, she claimed she was not paid. We showed the Judge the date that we received her invoices and the date she was paid, proving her wrong. When she saw that we responded to the judge with the truth, that she was paid, she changed her story and said we talked to other lawyers and tried to change the legal strategy. All of this is untrue of course. We just disagreed that we should pay the company after they played a role in committing fraud and obtaining US patents with forged documents. I do not think that is unreasonable. Ms. Ribas however did. The Judge allowed her to withdraw and now we are seeking new representation. It will be difficult for us because she made public disparaging comments about us for all other lawyers to see.