F. X. Sean O'Doherty
333 S. Grand
Ave, 25th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90017
10601 Civic Center Drive, Suite 120, Rancho
Cucamonga, CA 91730
15635 Alton Pkwy #260,
Irvine, CA, 92618
Lied to me multiple
times and did not inform me of
very
important events having to do with my case
*He finally saw this article and sent an email.
That and the response are at the end,
here.
Mr. O'Doherty was hired by
our insurance company to represent us on a serious car accident claim.
A man had pulled out in front of my son and, as a result, was killed.
All witnesses and investigation proved my son was not doing anything
wrong. However, since we live in the USA everyone has the right to sue. The widow and the passenger sued us.
I'm leaving a ton of bad stuff out of this list to keep it fairly short.
5/17/03: The first time
we met Mr. O'Doherty he started out with two big lies and a few smaller ones.
I'll give you the big ones.
1. He said he didn't have
results from the county coroner's office because they were backlogged.
I called the coroner and they had the results ready almost a year prior!
2. He also told us we shouldn't
file a counterclaim against the deceased yet he had already filed one on
our behalf!
6/30/03: We found out that he used a copy
of my son's signature to declare that my son had read some forms, which
he hadn't.
7/3/03: I received a letter from O'Doherty
containing a settlement demand faxed to him on 6/25/03 and the offer was
valid until 7/3/03 at noon. It caused me to panic because it was past
the deadline to respond. In that same letter he stated, "...it is
my duty to represent your interest in this case and present your wishes
to the insurance carrier." Looking back I believe our wishes were never
considered. He had already discussed the settlement with our insurance
company and they had decided to ignore it, although his letter to me
didn't say that. My wishes? I'd say he didn't care one tiny
bit about my wishes in spite of what his letter said.
8/1/03: I found out later that Mr.
O'Doherty told the court what dates he and we would be available for
trial. He never asked us what dates we were available.
8/11/03: Mr. O'Doherty's letter, responding
to my 7/7/03 letter to him, stated he would send me updates every 30
days. He never did not provide me with 30-day updates. Off and on I continued
to ask him for copies of things. Sometimes I had to request them
many times before receiving them. Other things I never received
even though he said he would send them to me.
2/28/04: Mr. O'Doherty called to
tell us to meet him 30 minutes early on the day we were to give
depositions so he could tell us deposition procedures that he had said in one
of his 2/18/04 letters he would tell us over the phone.
3/1/04: (deposition day) My son and I
arrived 45 minutes early. After we had been waiting for him for a long
time Mr. O'Doherty called the opposing attorney on his cell phone and
asked him to tell us that he would be late. I was extremely
uncomfortable being approached by the opposing attorney. Mr. O'Doherty
arrived 45 minutes AFTER the scheduled start time of the deposition. It
turned out that Mr. O'Doherty's wife had car troubles and he chose to be
late to our deposition so he could help her! How long does it take
to tell her to call a tow truck?
3/15/04: The arbitration that Mr. O'Doherty
told us would be taking place in his 1/13/04 and 1/28/04 letters never
happened. He never told us it was cancelled. I found out later
while looking at the court records.
5/7/04: Mr. O'Doherty 's letter said the
trial was to be 10/4/04 and to make sure we were available for that
date.
9/28/04: I called Mr. O'Doherty to
see if there was any chance of settling out of court and some other
questions. He answered my questions. I told him, "See you Monday."
It was at that point he told me the trial had been
postponed to 11/1/04!!!! What kind of attorney doesn't tell his
client that the trial date has been postponed? I found out later
that he was the one who postponed it!!!
9/29/04: I sent a letter to
Mr. O'Doherty stating I wanted to be notified immediately if there were
any more changes in the trial date and told him to call me the Friday
before the November 1st trial. I called my son's friend, who was in the
car with him at the time of the accident, just in case the attorney
forgot to tell him about the postponement. He was never ever told
he might need to be at the trial in the first place!
10/29/04: Mr. O'Doherty did
not call me that day as I had instructed in my 9/29/04 letter to him. I
had to call his office at 2:37PM! His assistant told me that the
November 1st trial date had been POSTPONED to 2/7/05!!!!!
FOR THE SECOND TIME, he postponed the trial date and
didn't even bother to tell us!!! I
had even sent him a letter telling him to let me know if it was
postponed. I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone.
1/17/05: I called to ask some questions.
Mr. O'Doherty's assistant told me there was no chance of an out-of-court
settlement taking place and the trial would not be postponed again.
1/31/05: (one week before trial date of
2/7/05) I called Mr O'Doherty to ask some questions about the trial.
I was informed that they had settled out of court in spite of the fact
that I had been told on 1/17/05 they could no longer settle out of
court. The settlement conference was at 9:30AM that day, yet I knew
nothing about it. Isn't it customary to call the client as soon as
something as major as "WE SETTLED OUT OF COURT AND YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO TO COURT"
takes place? I wonder when they would have called me. Also, once again,
we were not consulted regarding a settlement. I wonder if we were
even going to be told.
2/3/05: I spoke with my son's friend, one
of our witnesses. He had not been informed that the trial had been
called off even though Mr. O'Doherty told me on 1/31/05 that he would
call to let him and our other witness know the trial would not take
place. Is there any truth in the mouth of that man?
2/4/05: Mr. Doherty's assistant told me I
should have copies of everything pertaining to the case in case it
should be resurrected when the children came of age. She told me
she would send me the rest of the paperwork. She never did.
11/28/06: I sent a letter
requesting the copies that I had been told I would receive.
12/6/06: Mr. O'Doherty responded to my
request with this: "this file is closed and has been sent to storage."
He said I would have to contact the county clerk and have them retrieve
the documents! He ended with, "Thank you for your cooperation and
I hope that this addresses your request."
Like I said, there were many more things that Mr.
O'Doherty did wrong, but I only gave you the bigger ones.
I filed a complaint with the California State Bar
Association. They wouldn't accept my complaint because they said
my insurance company was the actual client of Mr. O'Doherty. I
sent a letter to my insurance company (State Farm) informing them of how shabbily I
had been treated in hopes they wouldn't foist Mr. O'Doherty on any of
their other unfortunate clients. I got a response from someone at
State Farm but I don't know if they are still using him. If they
are then shame on them! They are torturing more of their clients
with Mr. Communication Problems.
If you are contemplating hiring him I'd suggest you
only do so if you don't care about being notified of major developments
in your case, if you enjoy being lied to by your own attorney, if you
don't care about getting important documents, and if you are willing to
sit around and wait while he helps his incapable wife change her tire.
UPDATE: On 4/20/18 I got an
email from
fxoairlaw@earthlink.net.
Here's what it said: "What is missing is fact this lady was not
the client. Her adult son's driving resulted in killing someone.
What is missing is her incessant meddling and fact this case was
resolved in favor of her son, protecting him from financial exposure
beyond his meager insurance policy........"
So, here's my response to fxoairlaw:
You surprise me with your non-factual response.
I was your client. The vehicle my son was driving was in my name.
It was proven by the expert witness that my son was not doing anything
wrong. He was not speeding nor doing anything else that would make
him be found guilty of poor driving. The independent witness
proved the man who died ran the stop sign in front of my son. My
incessant meddling was only asking questions and asking for copies since
I was told to get copies by your assistant. If that is incessant
meddling you need a dictionary. I was the one who had the vehicle
insurance and the policy was not meager. You stated on one
occasion you would try to keep the settlement under our $300,000 limit.
Again, I recommend a good dictionary. I don't think your email has
helped to make your reputation any better than you've already made it. |
