I deeply regret retaining JJ MacKenzie as my lawyer.
In the beginning, his nonchalant and confident attitude while facing stressful circumstances was comforting, however I was truly mistaken.
He did not show up for court and didn't follow procedure resulting in costs awarded to the other party in the amount of $1,000, for wasting time. When I brought this up to JJ, he ASSURED me that he had filed the correct documents according to proper court procedure, that it was the courts error and that he would take care of it. He assured me I did not need to pay. Two years later I find myself in arrears of $1,000 plus interest since he did not file anything with the courts and blatantly lied to my face.
After hefty legal fees with not much to show for it, I paid my final bill and proceeding self-represented.JJ did not advise me, or file the proper documents indicating he was no longer my lawyer on file.
The other parties lawyer continued communication with JJ rather than myself, as he was legally unable to contact me personally because JJ was still my lawyer on file. JJ advised me to ignore the other parties lawyer and insisted they were wrong.
I expressed my frustration of this miscommunication to JJ who directed me to simply send an email explaining JJ was not my lawyer; which I did multiple times. This caused serious delays in finalizing an on-going agreement, as I could not receive documents from the other parties lawyer or communicate directly. Since JJ was not my lawyer, I was unable to get documents in a timely manner. This also caused a lot of unnecessary stress and conflict throughout this time with myself and the other party.
When we finally went to court for the second time, the judge confirmed that JJ's actions [or lack of] were unprofessional and not in accordance with proper court procedure, and he should have known better.
This is where I discovered the first cost award of $1,000 which JJ said he would take care of, was in fact outstanding with interest. In addition, there was no court documentation to prove anything JJ claimed. I now owe two years interest on the initial cost award. To add to this, the other party claimed for costs as the case was unnecessarily extended; these costs were against JJ and not myself. The judge was sympathetic to my situation and quite disappointed with JJ's lack of professionalism. Yet, because he was still my lawyer on file, and not present in court, I was left to pay a second cost award to the other party, that was indented for JJ to pay. I was directed to speak with JJ about covering these costs as this was not fair.
I did speak with JJ and he told me that he was not legally obligated to pay, that he had acted in accordance with the law and would not pay for his costs. I am now in the process of filing a complaint against JJ with the Law Society of Ontario with respect to his inability to understand the Rules governing Family Law courts and for costing me thousands of dollars.
I trusted JJ as a law professional and to act as my advocate while dealing with a threatening family law matter involving children.
I sincerely recommend avoiding the MacKenzie Firm for all Family Law matters!