Reviews

Elyse Margolin was recommended to me by an attorney who worked for the owner/head of another Beverly Hills firm. He was unable to settle my divorce case (after almost 3 years and more money than I care to admit to spending) and actually went behind his boss's back and recommended that I hire Elyse Margolin. He said she was tough, smart and that she and her team would be my best bet to settle my case. He was right. It took another year but Elyse and Tess Cozine worked tirelessly to get me out of a very dysfunctional marriage and were even willing to work with me so that I could afford them (I'm not wealthy, my ex is). My ex had no less than 6 attorneys during the process and had enough family wealth to continue to battle for as long as she wanted. However...Elyse and Tess were creative and fought ruthlessly on my behalf to settle this crazy case and ensure that I could begin to rebuild my life. A happy marriage and children is something that I wanted very badly and it wasn't going to happen for me until my divorce was settled. They settled it. I picked up the pieces, met the love of my life and started a family. For that, I am deeply grateful for Elyse and Tess and always will be.

My divorce was very complicated and high conflict -- with a protracted legal battle over three years. Elyse was an amazing advocate for me and my children. She is very ethical and passionate about her clients -- and I never felt she was dragging things out to make more money. She has a lot of respect from the judges and she's a very skillful speaker in court. I have recommended her to many people and will continue to.

I was referred to Elyse by an attorney friend of mine. I wanted to file for a divorce but wanted an attorney who cared about me and my boys and our future. I was fighting the fight of my life and for the sake of my boys and I wanted to make sure that I hired the right attorney to represent me. The moment I met Elyse I knew she was the attorney for me. I was going through a very traumatic divorce from my ex-husband of 24 years and my life was flipped upside down from one day to the next. I was not only going through the most difficult time in my life but I had to go through a difficult divorce. Elyse was amazing and was there for me as my attorney and as a friend. I was in a bad place emotionally and I was a complete wreck. I couldn’t think straight and I was constantly calling her, the staff, and her associates and they were always so helpful and calmed my nerves and gave me peace of mind. When I wanted to settle for less she was tough and asked me to trust her and do as she says because she was not satisfied with the settlement that my ex-husband was proposing. We were able to settle and I am beyond happy and grateful with my results and for the representation that I received from Elyse. I received the settlement that I only wished that I could have but I also received full custody of my boys. She cares about her clients and their children and will fight hard for you. She will not give up even if you want throw in the towel and settle for less. I highly recommend Elyse and her firm.

I hired Elyse because she told me what I wanted to hear. Her sales job sounded great. But it was just a sales job. While I do believe she has great ideas, she cannot seem to focus on your case. She never follows through on her ideas because she's either too busy or just doesn't care. As a result, you are constantly disappointed until you've had enough. She doesn't have time to work on your case herself so she hands off the work to various junior attorneys in her office that are not up to speed on the details of your case. It was so frustrating to spend an obnoxious amount of money for Elyse's time and knowledge but then have the output written so poorly and weakly by the other attorneys. I would have to spend hours working and rewriting documents with the attorneys just to get basic facts correct. All the knowledge she has about your case was wasted because the info never got put in the papers. If Elyse had just written the documents herself, they would have been more accurate, would have been done quickly and I wouldn't have been double billed for all the rework. Elyse would always push an issue to go to court instead of just compromising. It wasn't until another lawyer friend of mine pointed out that this is what lawyers do to bill more. If the divorce was amicable or settled quickly, she couldn't bill as much. When Elyse started saying we will have to go to trial when we were just in the discovery phase, I knew something was wrong. She was pushing us to trial instead of settlement so she could bill more. My ex's attorney, was only $55 per hour less but his bill was significantly less than mine, about 20% of my monthly bill! The difference in the amount of the monthly bill was shocking. I would get invoices months late yet I would be bullied by her office manager for payment even though I never got an invoice! No matter how many large checks I would write her, I always seemed to be $80,000 behind. When I ask how this is possible, they don't give you invoices or details, just a comment about how charges are constantly being incurred. I guess the fact they never gave me invoices meant they don't want me to check those charges. She is very nice and charismatic but beware. She will make sure your divorce will cost not less than $350,000. She charges top dollar but gives you junior level work. You will be frustrated and annoyed when you realize how much money you wasted when you go to another firm. I have a new lawyer now and my mind is finally relaxed. The best decision I've ever made in my divorce was firing her firm.