Craig Law Firm, PLLC

Lawyers
Samuel Barber Craig
Real Estate, Business, Immigration, Bankruptcy,
P.O. Box 1861
Asheville, NC 28802
Reviews

Sometimes life throws some unexpected situations in your lap and you need someone who can help! I am beyond blessed to have been able to use Mr. Craig's help and knowledge! Please don't let the reviews on here discourage you! This man was a genuine " Stress eater" Thanks again!
I went to Sam Craig for representation for an unemployment hearing. I was fortunate to win my case despite Mr. Craig. He originally wanted me to pay him more than 3 times what my case actually cost. When I did the math against his hourly billable rate I told him that was unreasonable and we agreed to a lesser amount which I thought was fair. He blatantly went against my expressed wishes and interviewed my witnesses over the phone (even thought they had given written sworn statements ahead of time) and billed me for those hours. After I discussed this with him and told him again, under no terms was he to call my witnesses, he actually called them AGAIN. He also actually refused to let one of my witnesses even testify during the hearing after he had billed me for talking to her and she was on standby to testify and her testimony corroborated mine. Additionally, my hearing was postponed part of the way through due to inclement weather and even though I had almost 2 hours credit in my account with Mr. Craig he threatened that he would not attend the second portion of my hearing if I did not first send him more money ahead of time. I talked to several other attys who said that even if you OWE them money they are not allowed to not show, much less when you have a credit balance. Considering the fact that I had already retained Mr. Craig for my hearing, I was not allowed to go and hire another atty in his place. I basically consider what he did blackmail. Apparently he needed money worse than an unemployed single mother of 3. In the end, I was refunded my credit balance but I was billed for hours that he spent on the phone that I did NOT agree to and specifically told him not to make those calls. I do not believe he is there to help people but rather to milk it for every penny he can.
This lawyer did a friend of mine very wrong in a huge case and won’t admit fault. He had to make an insurance claim to wiggle his way out of his obligations to his client. If he does you wrong make sure you contact lawyers mutual insurance and be prepared to fight with them too, because they’re also lawyers. Sam will no doubt have a smart retort to this review but the fact is a lawyer should fight for you, not for his mistakes.
I retained Sam Craig for a partnership dispute involving a several real properties and several successful businesses that were taken from me. Sam is probably a good lawyer most of the time, however when I retained him it took him nearly a month to officially notice his representation in the court and during that time opposing council took advantage of my time where I was in between lawyers and served me with requests for admissions that were later deemed admitted because Sam didn't respond on time. When he was called out on his egregious mistake, he threw me under the bus and fired me an hour after I paid the rest of his large bill. He is not a zealous advocate. He will stop at nothing to avoid accountability for his mistakes. Because he didn't notice to the court that he was my attorney despite me paying him a large sum of money and signing a representation agreement, most of my claims were tossed out in summary judgement. I'm still spending tens of thousands of dollars on appeals because of this. When I asked him to rectify this mistake he simply ignored me and told the state bar I'm a liar. I'll be seeking relief in superior court and with the state bar for Sam's gross negligence and malpractice. Responding to his response - While it's true that I made mistakes with my prior business partner, the point of me retaining an attorney was to fix those mistakes. Litigation attorneys wouldn't exist if these problems didn't arise or need a trial to resolve. Ironic that when he makes serious mistakes he won't own up to it. I retained him and he didn't notice up his appearance for a month. That's not disputable. Why he delayed his notice is of no concern to me or any importance. From my perspective I had no gap in my representation. I did not lie to former counsel. We had a difference of opinion on how to move forward with the case and we amicably parted ways. I'm still friends with prior counsel. His story about the phone is a pure concoction to scapegoat his failures as an attorney. Not only did I find the phone, opposing counsel didn't even ask for it. I never said my dog ran off with the phone, that's just ludicrous. Sam manipulated me into paying his bill and a higher retainer. I assumed that he would continue to represent me despite his mistakes. I'm glad I didn't continue to retain him. He didn't explain to me the scope of his egregious mistake at the time, and he didn't even inform the court about his mistake. His response to my review is clear evidence that he just won't up to an honest mistake. In fairness the opposing council pulled a dirty trick, but that doesn't ignore the fact that Sam made a mistake that was easily preventable. His mistake cost me most of the lawsuit against my former partner. That's a fact. The claim filed with the state bar was for his billing practices. More claims for his malpractice are forthcoming to the state bar and superior court.
Just the best in town. We have benign working with him for more of 8 yrs... always honest, smart and straightforward Person that I have know ... always understanding our business needs, always advising best way to be out of trouble. Also he got us out of so many troubles that there is no words to thank him ... Thanks Mr Craig..