Home
> General practice attorney in San Jose, CA
> Law Offices of Martha J Olson Review
Law Offices of Martha J Olson
General practice attorney in San Jose, CAReviews: 14 | Overal Rating: Average
Excellect | |
Good | |
Average | |
Bad | |
Awful |
Reviews
Please do not waste your time, money, or the highly probable loss of your case on this lawyer! If you read reviews by REAL clients, with REAL names (not "A Google User") you'll notice a distinct pattern of negative reviews surrounding this attorney, especially on YELP.
Unprofessional; Martha's office makes amateur errors that any business should be above, such as obvious misspellings, incorrectly filled out (legal) paperwork, and gross billing errors. I almost laughed when I received a bill in which the numbers had LITERALLY been cut from one sheet of paper and glued onto another, rather than retyped. This may seem insignificant, but it demonstrates the overall lack of professionalism that encompasses every aspect of Martha's practice.
Disorganized; Martha's firm is highly disorganized and it will cost you! She and her subordinate called me on the same day, to give me the exact same piece of information, yet charged me for both the calls because they hadn't coordinated with one another. What's worse is that these duplicate calls were necessary in order for them to correct some significant misinformation they'd provided me the day prior.
Martha charged me for receiving both the misinformation, and the redundant communications to correct it. When I pointed out this billing error, Martha refused to adjust the bill, justifying her position by claiming I'd made calls to her secretary that she hadn't charged me for. (In case you're new to the legal scene...calls to a secretary is not a legitimate reason to bill a client). This is fraud.
Once I hired a new attorney, I coincidentally ended up in court on the same day as one of Martha's clients. Martha showed up to court late and disheveled, causing a scene in front of the judge. I felt bad for her client, whose case wasn't even heard because Martha failed to properly complete preliminary actions on her client's behalf.
Poor Communication and Lack of Legal Knowledge; when I asked questions specific to my situation, I was rarely provided with clear answers. Rather than discussing details, Martha gave me vague assurances stating "let us worry about the law," then charged me for this "legal advice." Rather than actually working on my behalf, Martha ignored my case, failed to respond to my e-mails, and did not return my phone calls for weeks at a time. I was left in the dark concerning important aspects of my case, but charged all-the-while. As others have complained, Martha hasn't moved into the current century and still uses snail-mail for the limited correspondence she does provide.
Unethical; last, but not least, Martha is unethical. She initially assured me she could help, took a $5000 retainer fee, but then did very little. The few things she did do were done incorrectly. I went to the BBB to complain, as her website stated she was a member, only to find the BBB had an alert out on her because she'd been falsely using their logo to advertise on her website for over a year.
Martha did not refund the amount she fraudulently billed me, she did not return an accurate remainder of what little was left of my retainer, and she lied to the BBB to get out of the bad rating they put on her.
Finally, although Martha utterly ignored me while I was her client, she began trying to intimidate me (via snail mail) after I complained to the BBB. At this point, I'd already substituted Martha out for a new attorney and received my FINAL bill. Once I complained to the BBB, however, Martha wrote me angry letters claiming I owed her more money, with absolutely no support for this assertion. Likewise, she "recounted" my case with such blatant error to fact, it was apparent she'd been oblivious to what was going on the entire time.
Bottom Line; The only reason this "attorney" hasn't been disbarred is because the people who seek her services are already in a bad situation. Be assured, Martha will only add to your troubles.
I don't think I am the first client to report issues with this lawyer. Read the other reviews on this site and Yelp. Wish I read more before I hired her. It would have saved me from a lot of stress.