high expectations from attorney?

[Guy&Hoa 0]

Hello all,

I hired an immigration attorney specializing in K-1 and K-3 visa's. Everything seemed on the level and my initial conversation was well. The thing I noticed as time went on, I got the feeling you were less important to them as a function of time.

_Calling them and despite assurances from receptionist you will get called back it does not happen

_ emailing the attorney's secretary with matters to your case, and not receiving a courtesy reply or even an email response sometimes until several days later

_calling the attorney directly, and getting excuses, as he is not in the office or, they are in a meeting, or he will not be in until the afternoon.

Am I having high expectations? I'm really ready to fire this person. I'm a professional myself, and while I don't necessarily work with the public, I feel there should be more courtesy and promptness called for here.

I pretty much made my own sworn statements and double checked all paperwork by myself. I'm thinking if my statements don't help my case, I will fire this guy and contact Marc Ellis directly.

Just wanted to get feedback on the professionalism of the industry. I know I wouldn't treat a client of mine like this.

R/

-Guy&Hoa

[JenT 0]

I think you answered your own question.

[britty 1]

My attorney was great. His receptionist was a right cow, but he was very professional and everything was done correctly and within a very short time. Half the battle is having to deal with receptionists or administrators who feel that they have every right to treat you like something they stepped in in a dog park. I told my attorney's receptionist that she needed to change her attitude, and finally refused to deal with her. I informed my attorney that she was in fact a hinderance to his clients and was possibly the result of a failed visa application herself, as she always appeared very bitter. Possibly some of these "support" staff are failed attorneys and maybe just can't live with it.

[Glen Charles 0]

I am not impressed with attorneys, generally.

I would not use an attorney for immigration unless you somehow felt

1) you were impaired somehow- for example, your english skills were not up to the task; or

2) there is some type of unusual problem with your particular case (in which case it may be futile anyway).

If you do use an attorney, I would try to make sure that they specialize in immigration to the exclusion of all else.

Here is why: If you have a general practitioner, he has all sorts of trials going on with all sorts of deadlines. Seriously, he might have 130 cases active, each with a unique schedule of motions, pleadings, responses, petitions, trials and conferences, some of which require a great deal of work on a short timetable. For example, an appeal might require a unique 20 page document with a 10 day deadline. He misses any of them and he can be sued for malpractice and lose his career. But with an immigration case, the deadlines are generally pretty distant and easy to meet and rarely a risk regarding malpractice. Immigrations can easily go to the bottom of the stack.

[chuckandkim 0]

GuyHoa,

Let's get this straight: like anything else not all lawyers are created equal!

I myself started the process with a very good dedicated attorney but shortly after that I found out about VJ. The rest was history! I did pay my attorney $500 to have her reviewing EVERY piece of paper I sent in for the petition, the package 3 and 4 upto the interview. The rest of the journey, I did it with VJ help! So my take on attorney is VERY positive! It helps to ease your fear when you not know how/where to start this process, to bring someone from a far far away land home!

About your current attorney, write a formal/official letter to release him from his duty as your lawyer, make sure you pay all that you owe him off. Come and request ALL documents that belong to you and filed on your behalf. Take the files and RUN! This lawyer and the service won't get any better when time progress.

More so, you have answered your own question as JenT mentioned... contact M.E. who is working and living in Vietnam, whose immigration legal expertise is beyond any lawyer here in the US office. Why? Simply, M.E. can meet the Consulate Officers face to face ANYTIME on your behalf for official business.

Just for fun, ask your current lawyer "Can you point out to me where is Vietnam on the map?"

Anyway, contact M.E. if you like, but I am not sure where you are with your case?

Hang in there

[GREEN/TRAN 0]

my experiance with lawyers is that they are all the same. ALL OF THEM.

[GREEN/TRAN 0]

my experiance with lawyers is that they are all the same. ALL OF THEM.

[shannon65 2]

I used an immigration attorney to prepare an I601 (waiver of inadmissibility) because this is much more difficult than K-1. I think he knows what he's doing and his fee wasn't exorbitant for this type of case. But there are certainly communication problems with lawyers. He didn't always get back to me right away. He took quite a while to finish preparing the case. The worst was when his secretary went out on sick leave and there was no one to answer the phone for a few months. He' was in court a lot and there were always cases with earlier deadlines than mine. But if the case were denied, I would ask myself if I had done it with an attorney would the result be different?