To the Oregon State Bar

My reason for seeking David Lowry was to seek information, and retain an attorney if needed, for the purpose of filing for Social Security Disability. David Lowry said that primarily we needed to get together the necessary doctors’ reports to support my claim, and that he could do nothing more until Social Security denied my claim. David Lowry did let me know at the first meeting with him that I would be denied. I filled out the necessary paperwork for David Lowry. David Lowry did call me a few weeks later and told me that he was getting no response from the medical doctor in response to my medical records. I then drove to Washington to get a copy of my records for David Lowry. From this point on until approximately May or June of 2000, the claim was dormant. It was then that I received a message from David Lowry’s paralegal, that it was urgent to come into his office. I went to see the paralegal and we engaged mostly in small talk. He then said that while I was there, David Lowry wanted me to sign some forms. David Lowry was in his office and I was asked to go in and sign the documents. I sat across from his desk and David Lowry said that all he needed was two signatures, but he was in a hurry because another client was on their way in for an appointment. David Lowry handed me two pieces of paper with something printed on them. One form was on top of the second form, but the second form slid downwards to (only so far so see) here I could see both places where he wanted me to sign. David Lowry again stressed that because of his next client we needed to hurry. I signed them, and then he lifted up the first form to reveal the second form that I had signed. David Lowry quickly reached across his desk and took them out of my hands and said, “OK, we are finished for now.” After this, I went back out to the receptionist’s area and talked with the paralegal. At this time, I felt a little uneasy because David Lowry didn’t explain to me about what I was signing, nor would he give me a chance to read it. While talking to the paralegal, the paralegal did guarantee that I would be denied the first time by Social Security. During this 20-minute conversation with the paralegal, I noticed that no client came in to see David Lowry.

Throughout this entire ordeal, David Lowry depicted Social Security as being underhanded, liars, extremely difficult to work with, and that they never approved any benefits without a court battle.

A week or so later, I called my case worker at Disability Determination Services to see how my application was going. It was then that she informed me that I had signed a percentage of my claim over to David Lowry. I told her about signing two forms a week or so prior to this conversation and how David Lowry handled it. She was quiet for a moment and then resumed talking to me about how my claim was going. At this point, I was quite concerned about David Lowry and how he handled that situation, and also to the fact that I never ever received any copies of the records of anything I signed for David Lowry. I kept telling myself that all was okay because both David Lowry and the paralegal both guaranteed I would be denied.

In August 2000, I received another message to call David Lowry’s paralegal, that it was again “urgent”. I called him and he informed me that I had to send them $300.00. I asked him what the money was for and he told me that it was expenses that Dr. Dankers required to send their office a medical report. This really stressed me out for two reasons. First, Dr. Dankers had a very small supporting role regarding my injuries. This didn’t make sense because my multiple surgeries were performed by Dr. Timothy Massey, and they hadn’t even mentioned him. Secondly, this disturbed me because I didn’t have $300.00 and my claim hadn’t even been denied yet. I then asked David Lowry’s paralegal how my claim was going and he told me that it could take another year. I was then transferred back to Carol Lowry on the phone. Although I didn’t know Carol Lowry’s position within the law firm, I did ask her how my claim was going. She replied, “Uh, it’s just been transferred to another court.”

On August 17, 2000, I received something very unexpected in the mail. It was a notice from Social Security that my claim had been accepted (without having to go to Court and without any real work done to convince Social Security that I was disabled). I received this a mere eight days after David Lowry’s paralegal was pressuring me to send them $300.00. It was four days later that I received a check from Social Security in the amount of $10,170. I was then informed that Social Security would hold back a little over $3000 for David Lowry, but if I had any reason as to why he shouldn’t receive that money, I had 30 days to notify them. I wanted to reply to them, but I didn’t as I was concerned it could end up as a lawsuit by David Lowry, thus costing me a great deal in legal expenses. At this point, my anger towards David Lowry and his staff was “sky high.” I felt that I was really duped by all three of these people. It was over four weeks after receiving this notice of my claim acceptance by Social Security that the paralegal called me and told me that they “won” the case for me. The only contact they had was in sending that release that I unknowingly signed, and received two medical evaluations from Social Security. As I said before, Social Security were the ones who notified me of the release. There is absolutely nothing professional that I experienced from David Lowry’s office. These people never worked for me, they only schemed for themselves. Yes, they were definitely over paid, but more importantly, I wanted to bring your attention to their misleading and deceitful tactics.

Thank you for reading this,

Tom T

Click here to return to Oregon State Bar Reporter (found on the internet at www.OregonShyster.com )