I contacted Robert Yeager regarding a wrongful dismissal action I wanted to get advice on my case and start legal action. Yeager charged a very hefty retainer and consumed all that money and more besides simply to read my case information and a 1 page summary letter designed to convince me to spend more money. His charges, like any other lawyer I guess, are astronomical for the simplest of work. Ultimately his advice was to pursue a letter writing campaign which he said would cause most employers to cave in and pay the settlement. Ultimately it cost me over $5, 000 for him to write a couple angry letters to my former employer, which I am sure he laughingly threw in the garbage. Yeager knows what works: charge a lot of money for worthless threatening letters which any savvy businessperson knows to toss away and ignore. With this strategy he virtually never has to go to court, and maximizes his billable hours while delivering the least possible value. The guy is a complete operator. When he wouldn't (couldn't?) do what I wanted, which was simply prepare a case and file in court and lets get some action, he retorted that he would never represent me again. Keep in mind I don't live in Vancouver, my entire communication with this guy was via email and letters and was perfectly cordial the entire time, but come on guy do you ever actually do any work? No he does not. He has a slick website and pays a lot of money for google ranking so you get drawn into his trap of paying and paying until you are broke, then he tells you "now I don't want to hear from you ever again". There's a change to the small court rules in British Columbia so the maximum award is now $25, 000. I successfully sued my ex-boss by myself and won $12, 000 damages. Thanks for nothing Yeager you crook. Bottom line: never trust a lawyer. Only go to one for your free 1/2 hour of advice, then walk away. They put on a convincing show that the law is too complicated for you to understand, but the bottom line is YOU are the one with the complaint and YOU have to give your testimony. In complex cases yes I agree, you may need help from a lawyer; but just keep your nose clean and you can live your whole life without ever experiencing one of these assholes. I got into a similar bind with another law office in Vernon BC, I got off the hook from those jerks by making a complaint with the Better Business Bureau (BBB). So whatever you do, do NOT get involved with a law firm that is not registered with the BBB, and if you do get a BBB-affiliated firm then crow like hell when the over-billing commences which it most definitely will. In the end, I got ALL my money back from the group in Vernon and also got to give them a piece of my mind, personally and verbally, and they had to stand for it lest they get booted out of the BBB.
As for Yeager: by all means bring your information to this guy, in person if you can, maximize your free half hour (and confirm, doubly and verbally and hopefully record it on a personal recorder, that he is giving you a free opinion and not going to try to sock you with a bill later). Get in, get your advice, get out and get AWAY. Because lets say that my award could only have been $12, 000. The way this guy charges, when the trial comes to its conclusion, he is going to probably take ALL of that award and more besides. Can a lawyer argue for a higher award than you can? Probably, possibly... but the fact is, what good is it to get a $25, 000 judgment and then have the lawyer take the entire award and demand more cash besides? It's no good at all. Unless you make like a million $ per year, then come to the realization: you CANNOT AFFORD a wrongful dismissal lawyer. If he tries to tell you different, he is LYING. How can you tell if a lawyer is lying? Because his lips are moving?
Yeager is a lying lawyer. Do not EVER get into a verbal contract with this snake.
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