TS
Tammy Lowe Stefanick
Sep 26, 2017
Disappointed, to say the least. Ms Seabrook came recommended to me thru Legal Shield. Though I found her rather curt, she was willing to handle my separation/divorce, which, except for a marital property, was straightforward. I was hoping I had mistaken her attitude for confident professionalism. The separation paperwork was filed, and during the course of the mandatory 1 year waiting period, my husband and I worked out the details of our divorce, without mediation or the help of either of our attorneys. I phoned Ms Seabrooks office shortly after the 12 months was up to see when we were to get moving on the divorce. Good thing I did, as she stated that it was almost past the allotted time to file! Really, I thought. Were you going to call me or just let things lapse...?
The court date was set, and less than 24 hours before we were to appear, Ms Seabrooks assistant called and told me I had to bring somebody to court with me to swear that my husband and I had been living separately. I was panicked. All the people I know who could do this also work full time. Less than a days notice was not enough time for people to request off work. I went into work the next morning, obviously distraught. One of my co-workers suggested that perhaps a notarized letter would be acceptable to the courts, and she would be willing to write and sign this for me. I headed into court for our early morning appearance, notarized letter in hand. I phoned Ms Seabrooks office several times to see if this would be acceptable, speaking each time with her assistant. Ms Seabrook made it with just a few minutes to spare, and wasn't sure if this would work. When I said to her that I hadn't been given enough notice to ask someone to make arrangements to take off work, she said her assistant was new and hadn't realized she was supposed to let me know.
The judge would not accept the notarized statement. I called my co-worker, desperate. She was able to put everything on hold and run to the courthouse. Of course, at this point, the judge was seeing other cases, as we had now missed our time. My co-worker, missing work, was waiting also. We made it through, and thankfully my employer was very understanding.
Which brings me to fees. Though her mistake, Ms Seabrook had no problem charging me for the wasted time. A week later, speaking to my ex, he informed me he was getting a refund from his attorney. I had just received a bill for an additional thousand plus dollars. I was paying almost $1300 dollars more than my ex, and this was supposedly with my Legal Shield discount. I called Ms Seabrooks office to inquire, just to make sure this was correct. A week later, after no response, I called back again. The following day. I received an email with her detailed bill, service fees agreement I had signed, and an additional fifty some dollar bill to me for asking about my bill. The amusing thing is that she had sent a final letter, on lovely letterhead stationary, asking to keep her in mind for referrals. If this is how she thinks she'll get new business, I fear she'll starve.