Matthew Adam Pek

Matthew Pek

A word of advice to all clients or prospective clients seeking counsel: Do not pay anyone any money, especially without telling them first, be they a lawyer, doctor, mechanic or hot dog vendor, without getting something from them FIRST. Sometimes we refer to this as "security", a more general way to put it would be an "expectation" of some sort. In law, clients should - and most often do - get the benefit of both security and an expectation as to what it is exactly that this person, this attorney, is going to do for you, all in a single comprehensive document, uniformly referred to as a "Retainer Agreement" - which protects the client as much as it does the lawyer, but above all, offers the benefit of a roadmap of the nature and scope of services the lawyer is agreeing to undertake on your behalf, it tells the client either how much they can expect to pay, a close estimate, or more often than not, just HOW they will be billed (i.e., hourly versus contingency, etc) Chad here made a mistake, and decides to blame me for his own lack of sophistication and naivete (Rule #1 in life, that I've learned as an attorney: TRUST NO ONE, PERIOD. A disillusioning and disheartening realization to say the least, but I assure you, whoever you are and whatever you do, a word to the wise: NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED. Sad, but true. Not realizing how naive and susceptible to online users willing to throw money down on every URL, which is not a fair description of Chad, but neither is it far from the truth - looked me up, asked me a few questions, we shared a brief email exchang e in which I outlined, in sum, my plan of attack, game plan, etc., put differently, Chad wrote me - again - having NEVER spoken to this person on the phone nor met them, NEVER; and I in turn explained how I would go about handling the matter were he to retain me. I also included a brief rundown of my fee structure in a line-item fashion, making clear for the reader what their options were, and what each would cost. Chad is upset and attempts to smear me here. I cannot help but sympathize, as I've made foolish decisions before too, more than most, and categorically in my private life rather than my profession. Without any prior authorization, pre-approval, or discussion about what exactly, precisely, specifically, he wanted from me, rather than CALL me, or just continue writing emails, Chad visited my online SquareStore (WHICH I'VE SINCE CLOSED AND DELETED FROM THE WEB TO AVOID THIS SORT OF NONSENSE GOING FORWARD), and BLINDLY paid me $550.00. I spent almost 14 hours on Chad's case. Despite the fact that I had never in fact agreed to take it. No retainer was ever discussed nor drafted, and frankly, I was forced to do the work as the process to dispute a charge for which you are PAID rather than PAYING, is protracted and painful to say the least. Not knowing exactly what this person wanted and never having met or spoke to them, I will openly admit that I was ultimately UNABLE to obtain the relief and information he wanted me to obtain from Skype. Well for all you out there who have been the victim of any variety of cybercrime, of which there are all too many now - I must respectfully urge you as follows: (1) NEVER PAY ANYONE WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT YOU'RE BUYING. THAT IS NOT "HIRING" SOMEONE, AND IS OBVIOUSLY UNWISE. WHAT, AND FOR THAT, ONLY THE CLIENT IS TO BLAME. SO, ALWAYS DEMAND A RETAINER AGREEMENT! (2) NEVER PAY ANYONE ANYTHING UNTIL YOU HAVE SOME SENSE OF SECURITY AND/OR A CLEAR EXPECTATION OF WHAT YOU ARE GETTING IN EXCHANGE FOR YOUR PAYMENT; (3) BEFORE YOU ENDEAVOR TO SMEAR SOMEONE, ESPECIALLY ONLINE, AND MOST OF ALL AN ATTORNEY AT LAW, PARTICULARLY ANY ATTORNEY GOOD ENOUGH TO MAKE BEST EFFORTS TO SATISFY, FIX, AND RESOLVE ANY ISSUES THE CLIENT MAY HAVE, ... THINK 2X. AND CONSIDER WHAT THE ATTORNEY MAY KNOW THAT YOU DON'T, AND HOW IT CAN AFFECT YOU. CAVEAT EMPTOR APPLIES MOST ONLINE