Robert Anthony Miller

Excessive attorney fees of $10,000 in addition to retainer fees of $2,500, and deposition transcript cost of $576.09 for a total of $13,076.09 + additional $18,000 requested to take the case to trial. I sought legal counsel for an eviction in July of 2019 for a cost of $2,500. Two weeks later in Augu...st of 2019, Robert A. Miller demanded an additional $5000 to further represent me. Amidst my major depression (documented diagnosis) from an overwhelming amount of grief (grandfather passed away in April 2018, father passed away in June 2018, and workplace mentor passed away in August 2018) and being on a new anti-anxiety medication (trazodone), I mistakenly gave Robert A. Miller $10,000 instead of $5,000. At which point attorney Robert A. Miller exclaimed, “We charge this much $10,000 for an unlawful detainer case?” Even with this admission, Robert A. Miller (then employed by David M. Sternberg law firm) greedily took the check without hesitation instead of honestly advising me of my error. In September of 2019, they set up a useless deposition (not a normal practice in landlord-tenant disputes) where I had to pay for the transcript (after giving Robert A. Miller $12,500). In the same month, they requested an additional $18,000 to further represent me when they could not pressure me to accept an informal resolution of moving out at the end of October 2019. This would essentially give me 30 days to find a new rental, a resolution that I could have accomplished myself. If Robert A. Miller did not want to represent me in court, then do not take my additional $10,000. During a break at the deposition, I was going through an eviction law textbook and turning the pages, Robert A. Miller forcefully grabbed the book from my hands and raised his voice to yell, "Stop!" I was already crying because the settlement was horrifying and my counsel whom I paid for was yelling at me. I had to seek new counsel immediately. The opposing counsel Richard Beckman, two other UD attorneys (Dennis Phillips and Jeffrey Carter), my own counsel Wendy McNabb all advised me to seek attorney fee arbitration. Attorney Richard Beckman, the opposing counsel, stated in open court during the trial that he would never want to smear a fellow colleague, but $13,000.00 is unheard of for an eviction. Additionally, Richmond Superior Court Commissioner Jennifer Lee (now a Martinez Superior Court Judge) expressed great discontent upon hearing the $13,000 amount that was paid for a simple retaliatory eviction. Judge Jennifer Lee also asked for the name of my previous counsel and I replied, "Robert A. Miller of the David M. Sternberg law firm." I was billed for discovery which did not produce any new evidence to show for time spent. I was billed for the deposition. I was billed for emails and phone calls for hours at a time. The emails were never more than one sentence or a paragraph and that was an hour. I had to personally print out over 100 pages of exhibits to be used for the deposition and trial. Kelsey, the paralegal of Robert A. Miller and David M. Sternberg filed and transcribed my dictation for discovery responses all the documents yet Robert A. Miller billed me for her work at his rate of $350.00 - $495.00 per hour instead of the paralegal rate of $100.00 per hour. I had to take three days off from work. The first day was when Robert A. Miller recorded my statement of what happened in order to draft a response to the unlawful detainer filed against me. I had to sit there the whole day while his paralegal Kelsey Ibarolla drafted the response from Robert A. Miller's tape recorder. The second day was to go discuss the case and that consisted mainly of my sitting and waiting in a room. I even had time to talk to my therapist, my union, and my friends in three separation conversations. Nothing came out of this second day. The third day was an unnecessary deposition. Near the end of the deposition, I was deciding how to proceed and asked Robert A. Miller what were the outc