Leland, Parachini, Steinberg, Matzger & Melnick

Hee Sun Kim («Kim») created my estate planning documentation and portfolio when she was with the Beck Law Group, just prior to joining LPS. While I cannot comment on LPS, I can, without reservation, endorse Kim’s work. She is professional, friendly, understanding, patient, competent, and very efficient. When Kim realized that I was soon leaving on a foreign trip, she rushed completion of my documentation without any sacrifice to thoroughness or quality. She completely explained everything and readily answered questions in addition to offering sound advice. I look forward to continuing my professional relationship with Kim in her new position with LPS – they are most fortunate to have her.

I have worked with Hee Sun Kim («Kim») for over a year now, formerly when she was with the Beck Law Group, and more recently when she joined Leland, Parachini, etal. While I cannot comment on other aspects of the firm, I will say that Kim has done a tremendous job working on my father’s estate and all the documents that are related to that. Estate planning can be very intimidating for non-​professionals, but Kim has helped our family work through the process. She is very professional, sits patiently to explain the complexities of trusts, is very responsive, detail oriented, and even came to my father’s hospital bedside over the weekend so that he could execute documents. I highly recommend Kim to those who are seeking legal support to write, update, or understand estate planning documents. And no, I am not related to her, nor do I work for the legal firm. I am just a satisfied customer. Paul T.

I don’t know where to begin. I know that lawyers over-​charge clients, but Leland et al seemed exorbitant. They did give a nasty little «if you’re poor, don’t retain us clause» in the contract I signed with them – what they failed to state in that contract is that they not only charge over $ 300/​hour, they also charge more hours than would seem remotely reasonable for simple tasks.
I worked with Lisa Rapoport specifically. She charged me SIX hours to review a fairly boiler-​plate contract that the preparing lawyer had billed a mere two hours for creating and, rather than charging the six hours in one chunk, she split the six hours over two bills (billing 2 hours one month then 4 hours the next). I think she expected me not to catch it because, when I called her for clarification as to the continuing «review» of the contract, she became very defensive. She also had a habit of charging 30 minutes for ANY email I sent – even for 2 line emails – when the company policy specifically stated that emails would be charged in 15 minute increments (2 lines does not take more than 15 minutes!).
I followed the appropriate venues to dispute the exorbitant 6 hours charge and was basically told to pay up or be sued. So, I paid because I didn’t have the extra money to hire more lawyers to fight a law suit.
Frankly, Leland et al, and specifically Lisa Rapoport, give lawyers a bad name. I realize they’ve got to make a living, but they need to do so ethically. This firm is not ethical, as can be evidenced by their support of Lisa Rapoport’s unethical handling of her charges to me.