Paul J Rinaldi

I retained Mr. Rinaldi before i went out of town. I paid him up front for the court fees and the attorney fees. I went out of town and came back, Mr. Rinaldi never showed up to court. I contacted the court and explained the situation, they gave me a new court date due to the fact that Mr. Rinaldi had... contacted the court originally to set the first date i had missed and the had his name as the attorney representing me on the ticket. Well apparently the second notice date the courts send out only go out to the attorney. Mr. Rinaldi never informed me about the new date. I then had a warrant out for my arrest and a suspended license. Needless to say Mr. Rinadli got fired, but kept the money i paid in advance for my ticket and for retaining him.

To start; at our first meeting demanded cash for his service, never issued official receipt, showed very little interest in my case. Never, not a single time returned my phone call. The only contact I had was form his “office clerk” (I’m not even sure of his function or a title as I was never informe...d) and even this was very difficult to get. Promised to be with me when I turned myself in at the sheriff’s office and didn’t show up. He did show up for the arraignment and told me to call as soon as I get released, but he never answer or returned my call. In all court appearances to follow not a single time he showed up on time at least an hour late each time. Yet he never notify me or the court that he will be late, on two occasions didn’t show up at all. Judge at one point was so upset that he demanded “show of cause” for not showing up. My case was total mistake with no fault of my own and was resolved by prosecution dropping charges. What should have taken no more than few phone calls and perhaps one or two court appearances, took about 6 months several court dates and many sleepless nights. So my advice is; if you are innocent and don’t want a nervous breakdown while your case gets resolved, look for a different lawyer.