Jorgensen, Brownell & Pepin, PC - Longmont, CO

I do not take writing any review lightly. I have had the opportunity to work with competent attorneys and law firms for over 35 years, and I can certainly recommend these attorneys for various legal matters. However, I have had the misfortune to retain Jorgenson, Brownell and Pepin (JBP) for a civil litigation involving three parties and where I was the defendant. In 2018, I retained the firm and attorney Matthew Athey to represent me and defend against questionable claims filed by a builder and home buyers. From the beginning of this relationship with JBP, I understood that Mr. Matthew Athey was my principal attorney. However, without informing me, JBP assigned another attorney within one month after I signed their fee agreement. This new attorney had only graduated from law school earlier that year and had no experience with a civil matter involving three parties. Even this attorney had very limited interaction with me, making less than five calls during JBP’s six-month involvement. Mr. Athey had made zero calls and did not return any of my calls during this time. Almost all communications between myself and this law firm were handled by a paralegal member, who seemed to take the role as a de facto attorney. Within three months of JBP’s representation, I realized that JBP was not interested in pursuing my litigation as they claimed at the beginning. Although I was concerned that they required a client to set up a credit card autopay for monthly billing, I didn’t object to this unusual billing process until I found numerous billing entries that were not substantiated or explained. JBP was eager to charge for legal expenses but was not willing to pursue the litigation as I had instructed from the initial meeting when I retained the firm. This was evident in the law firm’s failure to complete essential discovery, or at least try to file motions for the court to dismiss frivolous claims made by the opposing parties. Instead, JBP had only acted to resolve the litigation with a settlement, and one that did not favor their client. This was attempted at a mediation in 2019. To cover their intentions, JBP failed to respond to my emails or communicate their actions to cancel depositions and allow for the discovery deadline to pass. In other words, this law firm wanted to create a situation where I would have no choice but to sign the plaintiff’s settlement. Still, I did not sign the settlement and later realized that JBP had already fallaciously informed the opposing parties that I had agreed to the settlement. Rather than rectify his mistake, the firm tried to pressure me to sign the plaintiff's settlement over the next three months. I asked to speak to someone in the firm that would perhaps try to resolve the situation, and I provided a letter detailing my concerns. JBP responded by informing me that they were withdrawing as my counsel. Although a withdrawal must be approved by the court, JBP abandoned my litigation without this approval. The attorneys failed to object to reckless motions, failed to ask for an extension of time allowing me to find another law firm, and failed to respond to motions in the interest of their client. What should have been a reasonable settlement became a litigation nightmare, due to JBP’s failure to communicate and act in the best interests of their client. JBP committed negligence, breach of fiduciary duties, concealment and misrepresentation that resulted in a botched mediation and 4 unnecessary years of costly litigation. And certainly, JBP had the opportunity to resolve this matter if they had the courage to discuss my concerns. The resulting legal malpractice claims (8th District Court case 2021CV30214) are ongoing and can be viewed for more information. From my experience with Jorgensen, Brownell and Pepin, I would certainly not recommend this law firm for any legal representation.