Kanu & Associates, P.C.

My experience working with Kanu was very poor. He was rude and unprofessional. Over a year ago my husband and I paid a $ 1200 retainer to have him do the first part of our application process for immigration. I was very uncomfortable with the advice he gave — which had we followed it could have put is very much in a bad position. My decision to stop working with him followed a 20 minute phone call with him where he actually screamed at me on the phone, saying I was wasting his time. I had some very valid concerns about the way he wanted to do things and he didn’t like being questioned. It was appalling. The next day I called to cancel our contract with his office. Although his office never submitted our application, I never received any portion of a refund not did I ever receive an invoice from his office for the work that they had done. I feel they should have at least sent an invoice. In the end, the new counsel we found gave us better advice and was simply much more friendly and helpful and happy to answer my questions. An expensive lesson indeed.

This is a review of what happened to us:
1. During Nov, 2011 (I know this has been a while because my husband and I have a crazy working schedule), I set up an initial 30 minutes consultation which I paid 75 dollars. I needed a immigration attorney because it was time for me to remove a temporary condition on my green-​card. This is a very simple step, however, because we are so busy, we decided to hire an attorney to take care the paper work.
2. On the day of our consultation, we were waiting in the waiting room. Kanu came out, so my husband stood up and tried to greet him. He was very impatient and he did not even want to shake his hands. This was a big red flag for us. My husband looked at me and asked whether we should just leave and find a different attorney. I hesitated and said:” we already paid, and since we are already here, let’s just stay.” I really wished I would have listened to my husband.
3. Kanu was OK during the 30 minuets meeting. He found out that we just have a routine removing the temporary condition procedure. He only spent very few minutes asking about our information. Then he found out that I came from a country that his sister was trying to do business with. He start asking me if I can provide him with contacts, asking me about how to download iphone translation app for the language. This was 2^nd red flag for me because it was unprofessional. The 3^rd red flag was his attitude how he summoned his assistant to bring him his iphone so he can down load the translation app.
4. With all these red flags, I still signed the retainer agreement. Because I was so busy with my work, and I thought this was such an easy procedure that I probably only need to correspond with him very few times.
5. However, the very next morning, I did not feel good about my decision from yesterday afternoon. I kept thinking we work hard to earn our money, why should I retain some attorney that I did not feel comfortable with. Just because I am busy and did not want to take more time to look for another attorney. So I picked up the phone, called the office, and informed them that I would like to cancel the agreement.
6. The assistant told me since I no longer needed their service, they will have to charge me according to Kanu’s hourly rates. She would call me back after she talked to Kanu. So in my mind, I already paid for the 30 minutes consultation. I had the consultation late in the afternoon, and I called very early in the next morning so it should not be a lot of fees.
7. It turns out that Kanu already spent 2 hours on my case. So they kept 1200 dollars out of 2000 dollars. I was very surprised and I asked them to provide me with information on he spent 2 hours already. They never did and we were so busy, so we thought to let it go and let this be an expansive lesson for us.
8. I finally decided to write what happened to us so that any one else can learn from our lesson. I also learned that Model Rule 1.5:
Client-​Lawyer Relationship
Rule 1.5 Fees
(a) A lawyer shall not make an agreement for, charge, or collect an unreasonable fee or an unreasonable amount for expenses. The factors to be considered in determining the reasonableness of a fee include the following:
(1) the time and labor required, the novelty and difficulty of the questions involved, and the skill requisite to perform the legal service properly;

We had a meeting with this firm for 30 mins. The associate was helpful but not too knowledgeable. The senior partner Kanu is a good lawyer (probably), but just wasted our time regaling stories about his experience and college. He is very friendly and personable though. We did get some of the answers clarified, but the time was up pretty fast. So at the end of it, we still had some lingering questions/​concerns.
So all in all, I DO NOT feel that it was worth the money or the time. There are better ones out there.