Ebert Bruce W, PHD, JD

I’m a psychologist. Mr. Ebert was referred by a friend who found him competent. I was being inrterviewed by some high-​powered out of town lawyers. I retained him to be there and to look out for me during the interview. He was well over an hour late without explanation.
He was competent during the interviews.
Following the interviews, I repeatedly tried to get him to send me files and research that he said he’d done and that he billed me for. No response. The pattern was: multiple unanswered requests. Then an apology and a promise of a response. Then no response. Numerous emails and phone calls, then he responds and says he’ll get right to it, then no response. And it goes on and on and on. Often he justified his lack of responsiveness by referring to how consumed he gets by his cases and how successful he is.
His lack of availability and responsiveness began to bother me more and more. Then, recently, he informed me that he had lost a very important file. I’d been asking for it for 3 months and he repeatedly promised it to me and failed to deliver. Only to find that he’d, in fact, lost it.
Then I hired another attorney and attempted to collect from Ebert the unused portion of the retainer that he clearly had not used or earned. He informed me that, gee, it was unfortunate I was firing him because he was just about to send me a bill that stated that not only was there NO balance due me but that, by the way, I owed HIM several more thousand dollars. Fortunately, he said, he’d generously waive that.
Then he promised, but failed, to turn over records to my new attorney, despite repeated promises to do so.