The Law Offices of Brendan R. Appel

One of the worst days of my life was March 2nd 2012, when I stepped into Mr. Appel’s office to inquire about his services. I was trying to defend myself against a lawsuit for $10,000 in a small claims court case # 12 M2 000300 with a settlement offer of $4091.19 before the filing of the suit. We engaged in a defense and a countersuit . The case wasn’t heard before a judge until April 22nd 2014. Up until that point I had already been invoiced and paid for $16,787.22 including a $2,500 retainer (why I paid this amount is a whole other story in itself) which is well over the estimated quote of about $6,500 I had received from another lawyer that Mr. Appel was fully aware of.
For the month of April which included both preparation for the trial and the trial itself, Mr. Appel billed me for 92.4 hours of total work amounting to $21,685.62. I was flabbergasted at this amount which included a 14.10 hours work day, and requested to see him in person about his invoice. I wanted to negotiate his fees. I met with him in his office on May 5th, 2014 to try and negotiate the bill which is well before the May 10 due date and the 30 day grace period to pay without penalty my April invoice. He refused any kind of deduction; therefore at that time I told him I wouldn’t willingly pay him another dime. On May 6th 2014 he electronically filed a Motion to Withdraw Appearance from our still pending court case. On MAY 9TH 2014, the court offered its opinion in favor of the plaintiff in the amount of $9,799.20. And now on May 21st, 2014 after we appeared in front of a judge to make the withdrawal from the case official, Mr. Appel immediately filed a lawsuit against me the same day (court case # 2014-M2-000910) for $19,373.12. He also threatened to follow up with another lawsuit for defamation if I told anyone about my true story.
My first born son graduated from an Ivy League school with high honors and then joined the US NAVY and became a Naval Flight Officer at the time of two ongoing wars. He flew hundreds of combat missions in both wars, and he along with millions of his fellow servicemen have guaranteed our freedom, and I will not let Mr. Appel to intimidate and take away my 1st Amendment right to tell others about my situation and allow them to form their own opinions.