I hired Anthony Brown aka Tony Brown from Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP (JMBM). Anthony was retained specifically per the agreement to represent my deceased brother In the filing and abatement of an open appeal & restitution so that properties held by the court could be returned to Eric's estate. None of these services were rendered, nothing was filed, and Anthony burned through the entire $10,000 retainer doing research and learning how to do abatement appeals. This was not the original agreement. Anthony could never represent the estate without initiating probate and being appointed by the court or work in tandem with the court appointed probate attorney. Anthony was well aware that probate was not established and never once suggested/recommend this was required. So Anthony could never have been able to fulfill the basics of the agreement which was to represent my deceased brother. Sadly, Anthony not suggesting and requiring this is just another fact he was not qualified to represent my deceased brother legally. Like most attorneys who decide to take on cases, Anthony was informed on all the information he needed to understand and take on the case and file the abatement of the appeal. But only after signing the agreement and collecting the full retainer amount, Anthony then went back and burned through half of it learning how appeals and abatement works on my bill. He then proceeded to let me know he didn't want to file the abatement of the appeal which was the basis of him taking on the case. Meanwhile, the District Attorney filed. I asked Anthony if he was going to file a response and he said "it would be a waste of money". So just watching on the sideline without any dispute or rebuttal, the District Attorney got the appeal court to close out the appeal. If Anthony Brown had told me he was going to need $10K to research an appeal, I wouldn't have hired him. But that's what happened and my recommendation is to locate another attorney to handle your appeals