We hired Hoffman & Forde to represent us in a construction defect case involving our home…read more Initially, we were assigned a junior attorney. After that attorney left the firm, the senior attorney on the case, Mike Dicks, took over.
From that point forward, the experience deteriorated significantly.
My sister and I genuinely dreaded seeing Mike's name appear in our inbox. Interactions with him were consistently stressful, confusing, and unproductive. Instead of feeling like our attorney was advocating for us, we often felt pressured, dismissed, or talked down to.
One of the biggest problems was communication and consistency. Mike frequently declared things "final" instead of asking for our input. Later, the defense would make additional changes and those changes would suddenly be allowed. When we asked questions or pushed back, we were told we were jeopardizing the deal or creating problems. This happened repeatedly and made an already stressful legal process even more frustrating.
Another major issue was the lack of attention to detail and organization. Despite providing extensive documentation and photos of the defects in our home, several important items were not properly addressed in the settlement scope. We repeatedly had to review and redline documents ourselves to correct errors or omissions that should have been caught by our attorney.
At one point, outdated versions of the settlement agreement kept being circulated and referred to as the final version. Despite raising concerns, the version that ultimately ended up executed still reflected earlier drafts that had known issues.
In addition, two large floor-to-ceiling windows that we had documented leaking with video evidence were not included in the settlement scope. Repairing those windows could cost tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket, despite being verbally agreed upon during mediation.
Another troubling issue involved the claim that the defendants were essentially insolvent. When we asked how that conclusion was reached, we were told that the defense provided a financial disclosure sheet completed by the defendant himself listing a house owned by his wife. Despite the defendant owning a construction business, our attorneys did not obtain the financial records or tax returns of the business owned by the defendant. That left us with serious questions about how the insolvency conclusion was reached.
The office also appeared extremely disorganized. We were asked multiple times for documents we had already provided, including basic tax information, and there were frequent email exchanges correcting mistakes or clarifying issues that should have been handled internally.
What made the experience especially concerning was that the firm's partner, Daniel Forde, was copied on many of these communications but never stepped in to address the issues.
To be clear, the construction work that is now being completed at our house has ultimately addressed many of the defects. In fact, because the damage to the house turned out to be more extensive than anticipated, the defendants ended up doing significantly more work than what was originally contemplated in the settlement. That is one of the few silver linings in an otherwise extremely frustrating process.
However, the legal representation itself was disappointing. We expected an attorney who would carefully review documents, communicate clearly, and advocate for our interests. Instead, we often felt like we were the ones doing the detailed review work ourselves while also paying for legal services.
If you are considering hiring Hoffman & Forde, I would strongly encourage you to ask detailed questions about who will actually handle your case and how closely documents and settlement terms will be reviewed before anything is finalized.
Our experience with Mike Dicks was disorganized, stressful, and far below the level of professionalism we expected when hiring legal counsel.
