Introduction

Approximately 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men will have an intimate partner subject us to domestic violence in our lifetimes. According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV), nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States, and 1 in 15 children are exposed to intimate partner violence each year.

When living under the constant threat of physical abuse, victims have two places to turn for immediate relief: law enforcement officials and legal practitioners. Legal services are immediately necessitated for securing protective orders and custody of young children and filing divorces and accompanying lawsuits. We find ourselves desperately searching for a legal service provider that we can place our trust in; a legal practitioner who will take the necessary steps to ensure the protection of the children at risk throughout the legal proceedings and going forward.

My Story

I felt like I waited my entire life to start a family and become a father. Soon after I had acquired two college degrees and established myself as a software engineer and instructor, I met the woman who would become my first spouse. I knew from early on that she had been raised in abusive households, but she initially seemed resolute about discontinuing the violent and otherwise abusive patterns which she had grown accustomed to. Within the first year, and shortly before we learned that she had conceived our child, she became physically abusive. I finally gave up on attempting to stop her abuse and scheduled a consultation with The Law Offices of Jeffery M. Leving to secure an order of protection and file for divorce when my spouse had begun attacking me more frequently and in the presence of our child and I was suffering from chronic pains resulting from her abuse which disabled me and caused me to be without income for a period of approximately five months.

At the consultation, I requested a realistic estimate of the costs and fees to be charged by The Law Offices of Jeffery M. Leving for the legal services which I required of them and we laid out the plan which we would later execute with minimal variation. I informed them that I was unemployed due to chronic pains caused by the domestic abuse and could only afford to cover the retainer with funding from my 2018 tax return and a severance payment which I negotiated with my previous employer. I came to them abused, injured, unemployed, and terrified for my son's safety, and was assured that the costs and fees would be somewhere between $6,000 and $10,000. Because I believed that I was placing my trust in a legal group that would help me protect my son, myself, and our financial future, I paid them $10,000 for their services.

Unfortunately, placing my trust in Jeffery Leving's office was one of the worst decisions that I have ever made. Within the first few months, the office had charged me over $30,000 and withdrew from my case because I did not have any additional funding to give them, even though they were well aware of my financial situation from the very beginning. While they were making their demands, I also identified what I suspected were redundant charges throughout the itemized statements which they were providing and they refused to provide any clarification without receiving further payment. Now, my son and I are facing the repercussions of my having to represent myself as a pro se litigant without any legal assistance because Jeffery Leving's office led me to believe that my initial retainer of $10,000 would ensure their involvement until the conclusion of the divorce. Furthermore, I had already been buried in debt from (1) supporting my abusive spouse who refused to work, (2) being injured and unable to work for over half a year as a result of her abuse, and (3) receiving medical attention from eight different specialists and physicians who were involved in diagnosing and treating my chronic pains, and now I have an additional $20K+ debt to Jeffery Leving's office which I cannot pay and they have already made mention of wage garnishment.

Call to Action

Please ask The Law Offices of Jeffery M. Leving and other legal groups, especially those claiming to be authorities on Fathers' Rights, or who represent themselves as having "a passion for the health and welfare of the family" to provide realistic estimates to victims of domestic violence who often come to them in times of absolute desperation given the involvement of minor children. Furthermore, please ask The Law Offices of Jeffery M. Leving to (1) represent me free of charge until my divorce case is finalized, and (2) honor their initial estimate; settling my account on the $10,000 which I have already paid them.