Aurelija Fitzpatrick - Chicago, IL

I retained Aurelija Fitzpatrick to represent me in my very contentious divorce. The relationship started out very good, but my proceedings dragged on and on. After over 2 years of this and over $60,000 in legal fees I never did get any court ordered access to my son or any of my personal property. During my divorce Ms. Fitzpatrick went on maternity leave and I was handed over to Jonathan Merel. We only met once and despite several emails and phone calls I was rarely, if ever able to get a hold of Mr. Merel. I received over $10,000 in attorney fees while Ms. Fitzpatrick was on maternity leave despite not being aware of any progress on my case. I requested to discuss this and was told we would discuss it after my divorce was finalized and we should concentrate on that matter. I did not pay for these fees since I was disputing them, and Ms. Fitzpatrick then withdrew as my council. I quickly paid the fees, and the withdrawal was retracted. This also generated another several thousands of dollars in attorney fees. I have asked for detailed billing and an explanation of what generated all the fees while she was gone and never received anything. As my divorce was concluding, I was no longer able to pay my attorney fees and was left with no assets and on disability. Ms. Fitzpatrick again withdrew as my representation, and I was forced to represent myself at my divorce trial which proved to be catastrophic. I am now left with zero assets and no means of income and a remaining balance of legal fees that Ms. Fitzpatrick is pursuing me in court for. The balance remaining is less than 10% of the total billings in excess of $60,000. This was without a doubt one of the most traumatic experiences of my life and I feel that I was treated with a complete disregard and a total lack of compassion. I feel as though I was simply billed, billed, billed and billed until I no longer had an ability to pay and was then abandoned.