1 /5 Diana Thurman: My experience with James Kole spanned from Sept. 2018 through the end of Jan. 2020. I wanted a local firm that specifically worked with SSA cases and went with Proctor & Kole as I was impressed with their initial responsiveness. I regret, however, not following my gut instinct from my initial meeting with Mr. Kole and sought legal assistance elsewhere. As others have stated, he is arrogant, callous and wants to be the only one talking. My case was handled very poorly from the first meeting to when I finally shut it down. I closed out my case for the single reason that because my attorney and his staff did not work with me, at all, he was wasting my time while my life was going down the drain. He thought my case was a slam dunk and, technically, I should have had a solid case; but, you NEVER leave even a sliver of opportunity for the judge, or anyone involved in the process, to find anything to deny your case. Mr. Kole should know this since hes been practicing for 26 years, which he will tell you over and over. I have a solid decade of working in compliance and enforcement in environmental law against a vast array of industries across the State of FL, so I am experienced in building and pursing legal cases. My disability case was ridiculously simple in comparison. Because Mr. Kole did not work with me AND did not let me see my case file prior to my hearing, we went to the hearing with a case file that was missing well over 100 pages of records, including a statement from my treating physician (which the state had requested); and, there were a number of incorrect statements on my medical records. The judge pounced on every single conflicting/ incorrect record and used them to deny my case. The judge asked Mr. Kole at the hearing if "his client" had reviewed the case file to which he replied, "Yes", which was a lie. I asked him prior to the hearing if I had the tough judge (which I suspected I did based on my own research). He said, "No", until after the hearing when he said that I did. If you know you are going before the toughest judge, wouldnt you do everything to ensure your clients case file is complete, correct and air tight? How can you defend your client if you dont work with your client? When I asked him why he told the judge I had seen my file when I hadnt, he replied that it was his job to take care of that. How would he know what is correct, incorrect or missing from my file?? This is the very definition of gross negligence. If I had known he was not going to go over my case file with me prior to the hearing, I would have gotten my file from the SSA and I would not have gone to my hearing until my records were complete and correct. I am frankly stunned at how badly this was handled. I trusted Mr. Kole. That will never happen, again.
