Chatham Gilder Howell Pittman PLLC

I had an initial consultation with Pittman from this firm for $150. The fee covered up to a 30-minute consultation. I know this because he reminded me five times (yes, I counted) during the "consultation." The entire time I was in his office he was in a hurry trying to get me out so he could cash in on the money. I was in a dispute with another company and when I asked for advice as to what to expect if I took a specific action, I was told "I don't know. I don't have a crystal ball." Yes, it came across just as condescending as it sounds. I wasn't asking the guy to project the future. I was asking for him to communicate advise based on his experience. Problem is...I don't think he has any solid experience. Then, after giving me his email address, he failed to respond to 3 different emails and did not return my calls. This guy is only after your $$$. Save yourself the trouble; this isn't the firm you're looking for.

I visited this firm (specifically Pittman) for legal advice on how to proceed in a civil dispute. I called prior to visiting to find out how much experience the firm had with cases such as mine, but they were very protective of sharing any information about their organization on the phone whatsoever. There was no free initial consultation--$150 instead. I didn't mind this as long as I am getting good legal advice.



Once I arrived and began to talk about my case, it became clear that Pittman didn't have any experience with cases such as mine. In addition, he continually kept talking about how any advice outside of the initial consultation would cost an extra $200 per hr. and would not be included in cost of the initial consultation. In fact, this was all he seemed to want to focus on. I asked a couple of 'what if' questions so I could plan my steps and his reply was "I don't know...I don't have a crystal ball so I'm not going to advise you on that." What exactly was I paying for again?



Pittman kept pushing the conversation along to get me out of the room and get my credit card swiped so he could move on to other things. I felt hurried the entire time I was there and wound up getting 20 minutes of a supposedly 30-minute consultation. I asked for his email address and got his business card, but he didn't reply to two separate email attempts--even after three weeks passed, no reply.



I would suggest using Baskin, McCarroll, McCaskill & Cambell in Southaven instead. McCaskill sat down w/ me for an hour on two occasions to talk about another case and didn't ask for money one time. I ended up paying above his hourly rate anyway just out of gratitude because I respected that business approach and his professionalism. Unfortunately, I couldn't use this firm this time around because of a conflict of interests.