“My experience with UpCounsel was disappointing. I did not find the support responsive, and there was no practical phone support when I needed help. After I funded escrow for a legal engagement, the attorney requested a separate external engagement letter that had not been clearly disclosed upfront. I did not sign it and cancelled the engagement before any usable work was delivered.
Despite that, I then had to deal with repeated invoice reminders and attempted billing, while my refund requests for the escrow amount went unanswered for a long time. The whole process felt overly automated and billing-driven rather than customer-focused. I would strongly caution anyone using the platform to read the engagement terms very carefully and be prepared for poor support if something goes wrong.
UpCounsel felt less like a professional legal marketplace and more like an automated invoicing system.
I did not receive a usable deliverable and no refund too. Attached are evidences for:
- I am still waiting for escrow refund (see attachment 1)
- The attorney required a separate engagement letter that was not clearly disclosed before hire, and after I cancelled before work really began, I still received repeated billing attempts instead of a timely refund. (see attachment 2)”
“I deeply regret using UpCounsel. My first experience with this platform was an absolute nightmare. The attorney I hired was not only incompetent but also incredibly unprofessional—he dismissed my input, took offense when I provided necessary information, and eventually threw an unfinished document at me and walked away.
When I reached out to UpCounsel for help with a dispute, they were completely useless. Instead of intervening, they let the matter sit, which allowed the incompetent attorney to process an unauthorized charge of over $1,000 for work that was not finished. I ended up having to pay double just to hire a second, qualified attorney to fix the first one's mess.
UpCounsel has zero customer service. You cannot reach them by phone, and they do not respond to emails in a timely or helpful manner. They provide no protection for clients against predatory or incompetent legal providers. This was my first and definitely my last time using this service. If you value your time and money, stay away.”
“As someone who works with attorneys regularly, I decided to try UpCounsel hoping for a fresh perspective and a more agile experience. The platform's pitch was compelling enough, vetted attorneys, responsive service, and a modern approach.
But the reality fell short. Communication from UpCounsel was nearly nonexistent, and getting any meaningful engagement after filing a complaint about their repetitive billing reminders , sent before I even had a chance to review my invoice , was the last straw. That kind of aggressive billing practice, paired with a complete lack of responsive support, left a lot to be desired, and to be clear the text messages and emails were for hundereds of dollars not thousands!
What makes it particularly disappointing is that I thought very highly of my attorney, Maria and still do. She was excellent. Yet UpCounsel's billing culture put her in an impossible position, one where she felt compelled to tell me that discussing billing made her uncomfortable. That moment said more about the platform than any review ever could. Perhaps that arrangement works well for the attorneys on their roster. It does not work for the client.
I'll be dropping their service as of today. I wasn't looking for perfection, just a platform that operates with basic professionalism and respect for the people paying for it. UpCounsel fell short on both counts. I'll be going back to who I know, direct and cut out the middleman.”
“Terrible experience with lawyer and support. Like go get a lawyer in your area to do this stuff lol. Every state/city in the US has hundreds/thousands of lawyers that are specialized.”
“Not good, first two picks never responded, third pick completely avoided our concerns, did not give us plain English explanations, basically cleaned up the contract for the company, we have no idea what these clauses mean and have to find another lawyer elsewhere, would never advise using this platform again or tell my friends to use it. Pure garbage.”
“I hired a legal professional for services, expecting a demand letter to terminate my lease, which was promised to be sent via certified mail. Unfortunately, the letter was never sent as agreed, and there were no follow-up actions taken. Communication was rude, included personal attacks, and lacked professionalism.
To make matters worse, 30 minutes after the final unprofessional message, 911 was called, and police and firefighters arrived at our apartment. While we cannot confirm if the professional was involved, the timing raised safety concerns. We decided to wait until we moved out before pursuing a refund.
Given the failure to meet contractual obligations and the unprofessional conduct, I am requesting a full refund and would recommend that this individual not be allowed to work on this platform in the future.”
“LAW OFFICES OF LEE SACKS
A Professional Corporation
16851 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90272
Telephone: (310) 451-3113 · Facsimile (310) 451-0089 · Email: SacksAPCLaw@aol.com
December 5, 2024
VIA EMAIL
Rochelle Conroy
Re: Lerner & Weiss
Case No.: 24SMCV03632 (the “Litigation”)
Dear Rochelle:
Please provide the attached information to UpCounsel regarding the manner in which
Lerner & Weiss poorly represented Craig and you, in an email from you.
1. An offer was made by the Defendants to settle the matter on terms acceptable to the
clients, but Lerner & Weiss failed to accept the offer. Instead, they proceeded with the
litigation.
2. The Complaint Lerner & Weiss filed failed to state any proper cause of action.
3. Lerner & Weiss recorded a Lis Pendens on Defendant’s property based on an improper
theory of an easement, which could have caused the clients to be sued for defamation of
title to real property.
4. Lerner & Weiss attended a meeting with counsel for Defendants and their respective
experts, at which an agreement was discussed, but Lerner & Weiss failed to document the
agreement.
5. Lerner & Weiss charged the clients exorbitant sums of money, with little or no benefit to
the client.”
“I would never use UpCounsel again. Customer support is non-existent. The reviews for the attorneys on the website are 99% only show good ones and feel like that misrepresents the quality of the attorneys. Hired someone with very good ratings and reviews and ended up with a bad project where I spent $1,000s and a lot of it was not clear. Also its been over 30 days since the project ended and their website doesn't allow me to leave a review as if they prevent people from leaving negative feedback.”
“This was my first experience of Upcounsel and to say that it was attrocious would be the most positive thing I could say.
They do not mention that the client is charged 8% on every invoice from the lawfirm - or if they now do, it is very hard to find. I questioned their first invoice which included a footnote stating:
"† Lawyers offer discounted rates exclusive to UpCounsel. Our fees help maintain the platform and cover critical client benefits such as quality and insurance. The fees amount to 7% of your total invoice."
When I questioned this, they responded (eventually) saying that it was to cover their admin and credit processing fees. Hold on - surely their clients should be paying that- i.e. the Lawfirms?
I wouldn't expect to pay a building trade site to find a plumber, electrician, gardener etc. Would You?
Anyway - their actual invoice included an 8% fee. I questioned that and they simply said, “Yeah sorry, our mistake it's 8% not 7%.”
After terminating the law firm's services, Upcounsel kept trying to take funds from my Debit Card for "outstanding invoices". Invoices had been submitted by the law firm to top up their retainer. I told Upcounsel that I had terminated the law firm and thus was expecting a return of the remaining amount held in the retainer. It fell on deaf ears and they became rather persistent in chasing me for unpaid invoices. Both the lawfirm and Upcounsel ke[pt blaming each other.
It took nearly two months to sort this out. Luckily, I had frozen my Debit card or they would have automatically taken more money. I dread to think how difficult it would have been to recover that!!
My advice - avoid Upcounsel!
They provide no value beyond what a simple Google search does! Their fees do NOT provide any client benefits (such as quality and insurance).”
“I asked a very specific question. I accpeted a proposal from an attorney. I sent him specific information. I verified with him that he knw that I was looking for a specific answer, and he assured me that he knew that and would do so. It tunrs out he knows nothing about greywater systems, but most importantyly, he never answered my question, just made me more uposet and stressed that I need to hire an attorney and an expert and that it owuld cost more than I as asking. When I emailed him after our session, he then told me two things, saying he did discuss these in dt=etail with me, which he did not. Thoses twothingds gave me places to lookonline, but nothiung in detail whiush is whay I hired him. I would like a refund”
“Thomas Demuth was very unresponsive. I chose him to create an LLC on 9/28/2023 with expresited service. The LLC was not created until November 2023 and it’s been a horrible experience. Have yet to receive my articles of organization and has delayed my business plans by 90 days. I would say go to your local lawyers office as Upcounsel most likely does not vet these Lawyers appropriately.”
