HOUSTON – In a matter of 24 hours, more than two-dozen 5 star reviews have suddenly popped up on the Mostyn Law Facebook page.
The Record reached out to Amber Mostyn, the widow of firm founder Steve Mostyn, but she did not respond to a request for comment.
The bundle of positive posts arrived on the heels of negative comments offered by assumed disgruntled clients claiming the firm either gutted their settlements or, in some cases, delayed payment.
For example, Laura Marks posted a 1-star review on June 23, asserting Mostyn Law took more than half of her $11,000 settlement.
“When the lawyers get more than the person who has the injury, something is very wrong,” Marks wrote. “I ended up with a little over one third of my settlement amount.
“Thanks for nothing.”
Several individuals claiming to be Mostyn Law clients replied to Marks’ comment, including Jolene Nunes-Ramirez, who suggested: “This law firm needs to have complaints posted on the bar association website....(expletive) thieves.”
Freda Strong says she’s been waiting a year for a settlement letter.
“I called the office and they said they would call me back instead I got a letter stating some other company would handle everything,” Strong states in her May 26 post. “Well the letter did not have a phone number or address.
“I feel lied to.”
Although the negative comments go on for some length and detail, many of the recent positive posts consist of only a few words, such as Denise Gonzales’ 5-star review, which simply states: “Great Staff.”
Surpassing Gonzales, Bill Smith Jr. included a total of five words in his 5-star review: “Great place and great people!”
Amber Torres-Milburn took an extra step, submitting a six-word 5-star post: “Great employees. Community oriented. Best service!”
The word “great” is a reoccurring theme in the fresh arrival of 5-star posts:
- Dominique Amador: “Great company!”
- Jessica Collins: “Great law firm!”
- Kerri Hadley-Perez: “GREAT FIRM!”
- Samantha Brooks: “Great law firm! Amazing employees!”
For every “great” 5-star review on Mostyn Law’s Facebook page, there are ample negative ones.
Marilyn Nerren, who made her post last February, wrote, “Fees on top of fees. Claims of fees for liens that are not true. Mostyn law wants 59% of settlement. Turned them in to state bar. Should be disbarred.”
Apparently, sometimes words are insufficient however.
Jennifer Pallanez Mendiola was one of the 25 people who positively reviewed Mostyn Law within the 24-hour span, giving the firm 5 stars but declining words of praise.
Around nine other individuals also submitted wordless 5-star reviews within hours of each other – with two of the nine at least offering emotes in place of an actual written review.
One of the silent nine was Molly Heidenreich Bowen, a Mostyn Law attorney.
Most of the negative reviews seem to be from purported disgruntled vaginal-mesh plaintiffs or those close to them, which is the case of Christopher Bushnell, who made a post last February asserting Mostyn Law has been “slow playing” his girlfriend’s mesh claim.
“They (don’t) care how long she has to wait for her settlement because they sold her case,” Bushnell wrote. “Yeah, they already got their percentage of her claim. Buy selling it at a 25% loss. So they (don’t) give a crap about their clients. They are just cattle to these guys.
“We are writing to the bar to see if they will get some of their fees returned to her. I suggest anybody that has had a similar experience do the same.”
In many of the negative reviews, Amber Mostyn responded directly to the poster, offering reassurances and promises of case review.
“I can assure you and your girlfriend of several things,” Amber Mostyn replied. “We do not treat our clients like cattle or any other commodity … We do not ‘sell out’ our clients nor do we ‘buy’ or ‘sell’ cases. I can assure you that we do everything in our power to get our clients the best outcome possible- sometimes that takes a little longer than the other guys.
“Please have her contact me directly, either via Facebook messenger…”