Drobenko & Associates, P.C. - Astoria, NY

This review is long overdue, but here it is. We hired Drobenko & Associates, P.C. in January 2020 to represent us in a property fence dispute. We met with attorney Walter Drobenko, signed a retainer agreement, and paid a substantial retainer upfront. While early delays during COVID 19 court closures were understandable, there is no excuse for what followed once the courts reopened. From that point forward, Mr. Drobenko appeared disengaged, unprepared, and largely uninterested in actively representing our case. We received little to no meaningful advocacy, guidance, or initiative from him. Instead, we were forced to handle the majority of the work ourselves, including conducting research, managing discovery, drafting correspondence, and repeatedly following up, while Mr. Drobenko remained largely passive. Because the retainer had already been paid, we felt trapped in the relationship. Aside from the initial “ANSWER” prepared by Mr. Drobenko, his role was mostly limited to acting as a conduit - forwarding emails we wrote to the opposing party. Over more than two years, countless emails were exchanged with almost no progress driven by Mr. Drobenko. The eventual settlement was reached despite his involvement, not because of it. Billing practices were especially troubling. Mr. Drobenko repeatedly failed to provide periodic billing statements as required by the retainer agreement, even after we explicitly requested them multiple times. When we asked about the status of the retainer, he consistently implied that the charges were still within the original amount. That turned out to be completely false. At the conclusion of the case, we were stunned to learn that we had been billed far beyond the retainer - at a flat rate of $400 per hour for nearly everything. This included charging attorney rates for routine emails and phone calls that we initiated simply to get updates, as well as clerical tasks such as trips to the post office. The total charges exceeded the retainer by several multiples. Even more concerning, some charges appear to be for dates or activities that we do not believe ever occurred. Additionally, despite the retainer agreement clearly stating that paralegal work would be billed at $150 per hour, no paralegal rates were ever applied everything was billed at the full attorney rate. Based on our experience, we cannot recommend Walter Drobenko or Drobenko & Associates, P.C. The lack of engagement, poor communication, and highly questionable billing practices made this an extremely frustrating and costly experience. If you are considering this firm, proceed with extreme caution. Do your research, pay close attention to billing terms, demand regular statements, and strongly consider other options before signing a retainer.