James D Calmes III Law Office

Mr. Calmes and his office has never been anything but gracious, kind, and helpful. Mr. Calmes has always been upfront and honest in his fees and he lets me know my options and what the consequences of the options are. The absolute best advice for the money that can be acquired anywhere in the upstate and the mountains. more

I would have responded immediately to this editorial opinion published online and apparently made some months ago had I become aware of this anonymous comment and criticism of my legal representation of the services I had been contracted for by this complainant. \r Even though one cannot be certain L.S. or Luke S. is this past client since he/she declines to identify his/her name, I have reasonable basis to believe that the complaint comes from an out of state client who I have never personally met but had numerous and substantive communications during this brief representation of him/her.\r L.S., who I have reason to believe is a she, requested certain services from my office that included conveyance of a deed of real property between family members. The fee agreed to and services rendered contemplated no unforeseen “complications”. However, “complications” did arise and became known when my law office discovered through a check of public records that the intended conveyance could not take place as anticipated because of the prior and defective transfers of property made earlier by L.S. or Luke S. personally. Therefore, it became clear that the occurrence of complications were caused by the Complainant herself. \r I advised my then client that my fee and services would not change if she decided to cure the defect without further assistance from my law office. I did give her a revised quote if she wanted me to perform additional services to warrant a true and proper conveyance of the subject property.\r I further provided her a detailed and written explanation of the legal problem and defect involved and gave her the procedure to cure the problem.\r I was never told that she intended to get a second legal opinion. If I had known that to be the case, I would not have hesitated in forwarding my legal and title opinion to that attorney for his/her review or opinion.\r What L.S. did not tell you was that she decided to file a grievance against me with two respective commissions of the South Carolina Bar for apparent unethical conduct. The grievances and relief sought were dismissed and denied by those commissions. \r It further came to my attention that the complainant did correct the defective problem and did so consistent with my opinion and recommendation.\r If you have lived as long as I have, then you will meet a person like this who has no reservations to make written and intentional misrepresentations about an event, a transaction or a relationship.\r For those viewers of my response to this complaint that believe character and reputation do matter professionally and personally, I have been in the practice of law for over 40 years and have never been subject to a reprimand of any kind. Any grievance that has ever been made against me for over 40 years can be counted on one hand, excluding the thumb.\r L.S.’s recommendation to avoid me for legal services greatly pales in comparison to protecting and defending my reputation, legal or otherwise.\r I will never allow my reputation be tarnished by a person or persons, known or unknown, and particularly ones who have never personally met me.\r We can only take our integrity and name to the grave. I further intend to leave this earth with my good name intact despite unjust criticisms from anonymous and false dissenters.\r more

I engaged the services of James Calmes to complete a legal matter. When complications occurred, his fee tripled over the initial amount that he had quoted. When I asked for the work that had been performed and that I had already paid for, he and his office did not respond to calls, emails or a registered letter to comply with this request. I wanted to present the information to another attorney to get their opinion and it was information that I had paid him to research and compile. I was unable to do this. I had to terminate the services of James Calmes and hire another attorney without receiving the information that I had paid for months before. Bottom line – I hired a different attorney that charged me less than half of what James Calmes had quoted to complete the job. LIFE IS TOO SHORT to deal with someone like James Calmes. Go elsewhere. more