- Report: #37035
Complaint Review: Sean Callagy - Montvale New Jersey
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Sean Callagy
85 Chestnut Ridge Road Montvale, 07645 New Jersey, U.S.A.
Phone:
201-505-1733
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Sean Callagy, partner in law firm Callagy & Randolph unethical & incompetent scumbag lawyer Montvale New Jersey *Rip-off Report Investigation shows author's claims to be unfounded
*Author of original report: Rip-off Report Investigation shows author's claims to be unfounded
*Consumer Comment: A satisfied client
*Author of original report: Additional Information all readers should know
*Consumer Comment: Callagy Law Office sued for 3.4M April 7th, 2014
*Consumer Comment: My Thoughts on the matter
*Author of original report: More from this bad lawyer
*UPDATE Employee: Mark Felty Haribo Tech
I retained attorney to handle a wrongful termination arbitration case (I had been fired).
The lawyer kept assuring me that the case was a "no-brainer", and asked several times for "more money to pursue your case". On the date of the hearing, they charged a large sum of money to my credit card (without authorization) as "pay for his services".
When the hearing finally happened, I arrived to be told by my attorney that we didn't have a case. My former employer offered a "settlement" that this bozo lawyer told me to accept saying that at least I would get something instead of nothing. I signed after he convinced me I had no choice.
The day after the hearing, I started to think about what was said by my former employer, and what my lawyer said, and started to think he was totally off-base. I did some quick research on the net and found *several* laws and court cases that totally contradicted what had been said.
The agreement had a clause in it that allowed a period of time during which either party could revoke the agreement. So, I tried to contact my attorney to find out about these cases and laws to see if they applied and if we should break the agreement and go back to arbitration or to court. He never responded.
I got a check from my former employer that was supposed to be the amount we had settled for. It was about one-third the actual amount. I tried to contact the lawyer again, and no answer.
After the time allowed for revoking the agreement passed, I still hadn't heard from this lawyer, so I wrote him asking for my papers back so I could contact another attorney to see what could be done. This, I got a response to - the attorney said "no problem".
A month later, I still hadn't gotten the papers. So, I sent another note. In reply, I got a "final bill" that was not only more than what we agreed to when I hired him but was nearly three times the amount I received in the settlement!!!
I wrote him a very long (8-pages) letter stating why I didn't think the bill was correct and making a "counter-offer". The counter-offer included reversing the charge to my credit card and returning my papers. I also said that if they worked to fix the problems with the agreement, I would pay them some more money. Otherwise, I demanded that they refund all of my money since they had botched the job.
A couple of weeks later, I got a package in the mail which included about half of my papers, and an agreement to my counter-offer. The charge didn't get reversed. I waited, and waited, and waited. I sent them another letter.
In response, I got a law suit where he notified me that he was filing a suit to recover his fee, in full, which was now about $500 more than it had been!
A few other points:
In NJ, lawyers are required to put their fees into writing. He never did, except for the periodic "bills" I received. These don't satisfy the requirement.
He not only charged my credit card without authorization, when I disputed the charge, he told the bank that the charge was justified and demanded that they not reverse the charges. He never provided any proof of authorization (a violation of federal law).
His "final bill" wasn't a final bill since more kept getting added on. He now expects me to pay for his letters to the bank on the charge dispute, his letters to me demanding payment, and other charges that have never been itemized.
His "final bill" states that interest will be charged on outstanding balances after 10 days. In NJ, he can't do that unless it was discussed when he was hired (it wasn't) and if it's in the written agreement. See above about the written agreement. Also, interest can't start until 30 days have passed but that's a moot point since it's been several months already.
He deducted a sum of money from the "escrow account" but didn't account for it. It's marked only as "payment for invoice #x".
The arbitrator recently sent me a bill telling me that she sent three copies of the bills to the attorney and it was never paid. Aside from the fact that the attorney didn't pay the bills, nor turn them over to me, he deducted the money in the paragraph above at about the time that they told me over the phone that they needed money to pay the arbitrator. I believe it was deducted to pay the arbitrator but was never sent to her.
This attorney lied to me on several occasions. I won't go into details here because it's complicated. But, I can prove at least one of those occasions.
Of course, this is all a very brief description. There are many more details that show how bad this guy is.
All in all, this attorney left me in a worse position after hiring him, than I was in before I hired him. He committed fraud, deception, malpractice, and proved himself thoroughly incompetent as an attorney. But, he's very competent as a con artist.
STAY AWAY!!!
Saul
Passaic, New Jersey
Click here to read other Rip Off Reports on Attorneys and Lawyers
The lawyer kept assuring me that the case was a "no-brainer", and asked several times for "more money to pursue your case". On the date of the hearing, they charged a large sum of money to my credit card (without authorization) as "pay for his services".
When the hearing finally happened, I arrived to be told by my attorney that we didn't have a case. My former employer offered a "settlement" that this bozo lawyer told me to accept saying that at least I would get something instead of nothing. I signed after he convinced me I had no choice.
The day after the hearing, I started to think about what was said by my former employer, and what my lawyer said, and started to think he was totally off-base. I did some quick research on the net and found *several* laws and court cases that totally contradicted what had been said.
The agreement had a clause in it that allowed a period of time during which either party could revoke the agreement. So, I tried to contact my attorney to find out about these cases and laws to see if they applied and if we should break the agreement and go back to arbitration or to court. He never responded.
I got a check from my former employer that was supposed to be the amount we had settled for. It was about one-third the actual amount. I tried to contact the lawyer again, and no answer.
After the time allowed for revoking the agreement passed, I still hadn't heard from this lawyer, so I wrote him asking for my papers back so I could contact another attorney to see what could be done. This, I got a response to - the attorney said "no problem".
A month later, I still hadn't gotten the papers. So, I sent another note. In reply, I got a "final bill" that was not only more than what we agreed to when I hired him but was nearly three times the amount I received in the settlement!!!
I wrote him a very long (8-pages) letter stating why I didn't think the bill was correct and making a "counter-offer". The counter-offer included reversing the charge to my credit card and returning my papers. I also said that if they worked to fix the problems with the agreement, I would pay them some more money. Otherwise, I demanded that they refund all of my money since they had botched the job.
A couple of weeks later, I got a package in the mail which included about half of my papers, and an agreement to my counter-offer. The charge didn't get reversed. I waited, and waited, and waited. I sent them another letter.
In response, I got a law suit where he notified me that he was filing a suit to recover his fee, in full, which was now about $500 more than it had been!
A few other points:
In NJ, lawyers are required to put their fees into writing. He never did, except for the periodic "bills" I received. These don't satisfy the requirement.
He not only charged my credit card without authorization, when I disputed the charge, he told the bank that the charge was justified and demanded that they not reverse the charges. He never provided any proof of authorization (a violation of federal law).
His "final bill" wasn't a final bill since more kept getting added on. He now expects me to pay for his letters to the bank on the charge dispute, his letters to me demanding payment, and other charges that have never been itemized.
His "final bill" states that interest will be charged on outstanding balances after 10 days. In NJ, he can't do that unless it was discussed when he was hired (it wasn't) and if it's in the written agreement. See above about the written agreement. Also, interest can't start until 30 days have passed but that's a moot point since it's been several months already.
He deducted a sum of money from the "escrow account" but didn't account for it. It's marked only as "payment for invoice #x".
The arbitrator recently sent me a bill telling me that she sent three copies of the bills to the attorney and it was never paid. Aside from the fact that the attorney didn't pay the bills, nor turn them over to me, he deducted the money in the paragraph above at about the time that they told me over the phone that they needed money to pay the arbitrator. I believe it was deducted to pay the arbitrator but was never sent to her.
This attorney lied to me on several occasions. I won't go into details here because it's complicated. But, I can prove at least one of those occasions.
Of course, this is all a very brief description. There are many more details that show how bad this guy is.
All in all, this attorney left me in a worse position after hiring him, than I was in before I hired him. He committed fraud, deception, malpractice, and proved himself thoroughly incompetent as an attorney. But, he's very competent as a con artist.
STAY AWAY!!!
Saul
Passaic, New Jersey
Click here to read other Rip Off Reports on Attorneys and Lawyers
7 Updates & Rebuttals
Justin Floyd
Reno,Nevada,
USA
Mark Felty Haribo Tech
#2UPDATE Employee
Tue, June 14, 2016
This guy Justin is a slick character from JCF Capital. He claims to have hundreds of private clients and relationships with funding sources, but in fact he has a list of venture capital firms you can download off the internet for the price of an hour worth of internet time and the local library.
A company I consult for hired his firm because he was referred by a lawyer (dont even get me started on lawyers). He came out and told us how great he is and how successful he has become. It was right before Thanksgiving and I suggested to my employer that he wait until January or February before he get started with the fund raising campaign. EVERYONE knows bankers and rich people dont spend the holidays pouring over business pland and looking at new possibilities....they enjoy themselves and go on vacation. That's the whole point of being rich and successful.
This guy claims November and December are their very best months, and in year's previous they did huge amounts of invesmtnets, more than any other months! Well, needless to say, he gets his $15,000 retainer. Two months go by to January and then one phone call happens. A company that wants to steal the small business technology. Very nice. Three months go by and nothing. Justin doesnt even return his calls, texts or emails.
Just when he is about to be written off, he reappears and says he has all these hot leads. But, his 3 month deal is over and he needs $5,000 per month to work the investment. No one is calculating that a 10% fee is worth at least 10 times his monthly demand, so he gets paid another $5,000. Low and behold....another month goes by with absolutely nothing....until another invoice for $5,000 more shows up. This guy spends more time on his monthly invoice that actually doing any work.
He had all this history when he signed his agreement in November 2015, but he hadnt received his broker license until September 2015. He spit back the same collateral material he was provided, but he did manage to put his own name on it first. He doesnt have any employees...only a few foreign students that work as 'interns' that dont need to be paid. I guess in order to get your license you need to be able to scam, swindle and cheat your way to other people's money.
Stay away from this guy. He has nothing you need.
More from this bad lawyer
#3Author of original report
Thu, June 02, 2016
In February of 2016 I was contacted by a marketing firm on behalf of Mr. Callagy demanding that I remove the report that I filed back in 2002. They threatened legal action if it was not removed. This is despite the fact that Mr. Callagy's previous lawsuit against me was dismissed by the court, and despite the fact that the Fee Arbitration Board found in my favor and found that my allegations were substantially true (contrary to claims by the management of this site that my original post was without merit). He had no "colorable claim" (the words of an attorney I consulted) for defamation and no right to demand removal of my post on this site.
I consider this attempt by Mr. Callagy, and/or the firm representing him, to be an attempt to interfere with my freedom of speech and that any such lawsuit, as well as Mr. Callagy's original defamation claim, are nothing more than Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_lawsuit_against_public_participation) intended to restrict free speech on the Internet. It is, in my opinion, more bad behavior from this attorney and the marketing firm he hired.
This kind of behavior should not, and cannot, be supported if we hope to have a free Internet and free exchange of views, ideas, and opinions. The reason I am posting this message is to let others reading this, especially Mr. Callagy and any firm he engages, know that I will not be censured or intimidated.
robert roffman
New Jersey,USA
My Thoughts on the matter
#4Consumer Comment
Tue, April 19, 2016
My experience and feedback:
Spoke with this firm and the lawyer kept assuring me that the case was a "no-brainer", and asked several times for "more money to pursue your case". On the date of the hearing, they charged a large sum of money to my credit card (without authorization) as "pay for his services".
When the hearing finally happened, I arrived to be told by my attorney that we didn't have a case. My former employer offered a "settlement" that this bozo lawyer told me to accept saying that at least I would get something instead of nothing. I signed after he convinced me I had no choice.
The day after the hearing, I started to think about what was said by my former employer, and what my lawyer said, and started to think he was totally off-base. I did some quick research on the net and found *several* laws and court cases that totally contradicted what had been said.
The agreement had a clause in it that allowed a period of time during which either party could revoke the agreement. So, I tried to contact my attorney to find out about these cases and laws to see if they applied and if we should break the agreement and go back to arbitration or to court. He never responded.
I got a check from my former employer that was supposed to be the amount we had settled for. It was about one-third the actual amount. I tried to contact the lawyer again, and no answer.
-Robert Roffman
Single Dad
ridgewood,New Jersey,
Callagy Law Office sued for 3.4M April 7th, 2014
#5Consumer Comment
Wed, May 14, 2014
On 4/7/2014 the Sean R. Callagy Law office was sued for 3.4 million dollars for allegedly "doing little to no work" on a Class Action suit by thier co-counsel firm in Bergen County Superior Court.
Report Attachments
Saul
Passaic,New Jersey,
U.S.A.
Additional Information all readers should know
#6Author of original report
Thu, January 29, 2004
Anyone reading the above reports should be aware of the following information: 1. In August, 2003 a Fee Arbitration Committee, operating under the auspices of the Supreme Court of the State of NJ found: - Mr. Callagy did, in fact, overcharge me for his services, denied him the additional fees he was seeking, and actually ordered a partial refund on monies already paid. - Mr. Callagy did not respond to my communications to him that the other party had reneged on the agreement. - Mr. Callagy failed to take action with regard the breach by the other party, and he did not contact me to tell me that he was not proceeding, or to advise me to seek other counsel. The report of the Fee Arbitration Committee substantiates several of my statements in my original post, and therefore my original post did have some merit, contrary to the Editorial posted. 2. In January, 2003, Mr. Callagy filed a lawsuit against me for, among other things, libel, based on my posting. In September, 2003, the Court dismissed all the charges against me because Mr. Callagy refused to provide documentation to substantiate his claim (in other words, failure to provide discovery).
.
.,Other,
U.S.A.
Rip-off Report Investigation shows author's claims to be unfounded
#7Author of original report
Thu, February 20, 2003
Periodically, when time and funding permits, Rip-off Report attempts to investigate the accuracy of reports filed. Usually, our investigations show that the victims were in fact ripped off. This case however, is different.
After an investigation, Rip-offReport.com has determined that the allegations made by Saul in reference to Sean Callagy Esq. are without merit.
It is our opinion that Sean Callagy has proven himself to be a lawyer whose main goal is to provide quality legal representation and client satisfaction. If Rip-off Report needed legal counsel in the State of New Jersey, we would most likely ask for their assistance.
The only reason we have decided to comment on this report rather than remove it, is because of our extremely strict rules regarding report deletion.
[email protected]
John
Westwood,New Jersey,
U.S.A.
A satisfied client
#8Consumer Comment
Thu, January 09, 2003
I have had the good fortune of retaining Mr. Callagy on a number of personal matters. I found him to be fair, ethical and extremely knowledgable. I would not hesitate to recommend him.
