Cape Coral, FL: The Martin Law Firm, PL welcomes Martina Nethery as the newest associate of the firm. Ms. Nethery’s practice focuses on estate planning, probate, estate and gift taxation, asset protection, and civil litigation. She received her BA cum laude from the University of Central Florida, and her JD, LL.M. in Taxation, and Estates and Trusts certificate from the University of Florida, Levin College of Law.

She is a member of the Tax, Real Property, Probate and Trust Law sections of the Florida Bar Association.

Ms. Nethery served as a judicial extern for the Probate Division of the Eighth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida. Exploring her interest in alternative dispute resolution, she also interned for the County Court Mediation Clinic, a special program offered by the University of Florida’s Virgil D. Hawkins Civil Clinic.

With offices in Naples, Cape Coral, Fort Myers, and North Fort Myers, Martin Law Firm provides services in tax law, bankruptcy, personal injury, real estate, family law, estate planning, business services, probate administration and civil litigation.

Cape Coral, FL: The Martin Law Firm, PL welcomes Jon Bierfeld as the newest associate of the firm. Mr. Bierfeld will practice in the firm’s Naples and Cape Coral offices in their Bankruptcy and Civil Litigation divisions. Mr. Bierfeld earned his undergraduate degree in economics and public policy at Duke University. It was his passion for politics and public service that led him to Capitol Hill where he worked for several years both in the office of Senator Elizabeth Dole and the office of congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. He earned his JD at the University of Miami School of Law in Coral Gables. He was soon drawn to the Public Defender’s Office in Miami where he represented indigent clients in defending felony charges. He later worked in private practice on civil and criminal defense and personal injury cases.

He is a member of the Business Law, Criminal Law and General Practice Sections of the Florida Bar Association. Mr. Bierfeld is admitted to practice in the state of Florida and in the Federal Court for the Middle District of Florida.

The Martin Law Firm, with offices in Fort Myers, Naples, Cape Coral and North Fort Myers, offers legal services in Bankruptcy, Personal Injury, Family Law, Corporate and Business Services, Estate Planning, Real Estate and Probate Administration.

Cape Coral, FL: The Martin Law Firm, PL welcomes Michael Bradenham as the newest associate of the firm. Mr. Bradenham will join the practice’s Cape Coral office in their divisions of Family Law and Civil Litigation.

Mr. Bradenham graduated magna cum laude from Randolph-Macon College with dual Bachelors of Arts degrees in history and philosophy with minors in ethics and classical studies. His commitment to scholarship led him to Harvard University, where he earned a Masters of Theological Study from Harvard’s Divinity School.

Mr. Bradenham attended law school at the University of Florida. In addition to his Juris Doctorate degree, he graduated with certificates in both Family Law and Estates & Trusts. At the University of Florida, Mr. Bradenham represented clients in family court and at mediation as a certified legal intern with the Virgil Hawkins Civil Clinic. He was an active member of the University of Florida’s Trial Team, serving as both a competitor and member of the team’s executive committee. During law school, Mr. Bradenham participated in Penn State University’s Capitals of Europe Program, where he studied U.S. Supreme Court history under Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. He is a member of the Family Law and General Practice sections of the Florida Bar and is admitted to practice in the state of Florida.

With offices in Cape Coral, Fort Myers, North Fort Myers and Naples, Martin Law Firm provides services in family law, bankruptcy, estate planning, business services, probate administration and civil litigation.

NBC-2 News

FORT MYERS: A woman moved hundreds of miles away, but her belongings are still in Florida. Officials we spoke to said she should have read between the lines before signing over her possessions.

Kara Livingston and her son Max successfully made the move from Fort Myers to Columbia, Missouri. Unfortunately, their belongings did not.

Their belongings are being held by the moving company until she pays her bill – an amount that is three times what she agreed to.

“What they’re doing is illegal and morally wrong. We have no rights as consumers,” said Kara Livingston.

Livingston signed a contract for 730 cubic feet at $2,600. She originally told Vanlines of America how much stuff she had to move over the phone, but underestimated.

“As you take up more space the price goes up. We went there to pick up 730 cubic feet and she ended up having 2,400 cubic feet,” said Vanlines of America manager Bryan Wright.

And with three times the stuff, Wright says Livingston was charged three times what she was originally quoted.

Livingston found Vanlines of America on the website Relocation.com. Former customers had given them good reviews.

But if she had checked with the Florida attorney General’s Office, she would have found 11 complaints filed against them.

“If you’re going to give somebody your entire life’s possessions, you should probably check with more than one website to see who you’re doing business with,” said Livingston’s lawyer Steven Martin.

The Better Business Bureau says before signing a contract, you need to:

• Get three estimates
• Show the moving company every item you’ll need moved in person
• Know the difference between a binding and non-binding contract. Non-binding is based on the actual weight. Binding means the estimate can be changed if the weight is different than agreed to.
• And look for marked moving vans.

Vanlines of America says Livingston could have avoided this fiasco if she had told them the correct amount of inventory and read the contract more carefully.

Livingston admits she should have been more careful, but says either way she feels mistreated by the company.

“Shame on you. Do you have a mother? Do you have a sister or a daughter? You’ve turned my entire life upside down,” she said.

She is refusing to pay what the company says she owes and has filed suit in the hopes of getting her things back so she can fill up her new home.