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20 Jan, 2014 by Anonymous
Mr. Rosenberg showed up to court late and in sweat pants. He threatened me forcing me to take a plea. If I would have been stronger, I would have requested a jury. I had photo evidence of a domestic assault being self defense. His lack of effort shows that he only cares for non state appointed clients.
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11 Apr, 2018 by Katherine masel
When Susan Rosen was "handed" my cases after I was passed around with the law offices of Beatrice Snider, on our first phone call she YELLED at me and told me that "she was the one to do the talking "(?!?!?) . She was so rude, not even well spoken and bossy. When I told B. Snider this, to her credit, she apologized and recognized Rosen's inappropriateness. I was hoping Rosen would be a bull dog against my high powered husband, but instead, she bullied me. She could not answer questions about my case and was not up to date. I was to pay her to "catch up" on all that already transpired. It was when Rosen has my case that I fired her because the firm dragged the divorce out and made excuses and encouraged hostility between my and my x to be. Susan Rosen was particularly rude. She sets the standard for bad attorneys and gives them all a bad reputation.
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09 Dec, 2020 by Anonymous
called this older lady for a consultation she was very nasty and rude she didn't even give me a chance to tell her the facts of my case before interrupting repeadly. Obviously someone who is working from home on a budget from the background loud atmosphere she was in
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11 Jun, 2019 by Sivan
Unfortunately I had my worst experience with Ani Avetisyan for my divorce case. She is NOT an experienced attorney as she claims and charges for. Not only I lost all my rights with her, I was being overcharged by Ani Avetisyan; for writing hundred of pages to RFO's (as an essay fees) and charging over 20 hours to prepare a declaration, and talking too much. Yet she couldn't even make the judge hear her. After firing her, she still came to my hearings sat for full day, I believe she doesn't have lots of clients since she can invest all her day siting in the courthouse for a full day for someone (case) who she doesn't even represent. Her office in the Granda Hills was her house garage converted to office. Afterwards I went to LACBA Arbitration with her, And I won the case and confirmed that she did overcharged me with huge amount of $17,552 within two and a half months. She charged me before taking my case; now she's facing a violation of business and Professions code 6148 beside the other violations. She purposely called me to talk on the phone for hours, yet she writes hundred of pages just to charge you. Also she disclosed my private case documents including my settlement to the arbitrator. Still today she didn't refund me my overcharged fees and she's trying to vacate the LACBA's judgment. This shows how unethical attorney she is. It's so sad that I trusted her yet she takes an advantage of my vulnerable situation. Be Very Cautious before you hire her!!
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02 May, 2013 by Daniel
on september 30 .2011 i terminated legal services from storobin&spodeck group which they accepted and was confirmed VIA email. on october 4, 2011 Lidia Dorota Sykisz the day of my custody trial comes in with a custody agreement which i clearly told her i was not interested in, to make matters Lidia Dorota Sykisz was not even supposed to represent me because i fired the law firm . she pressured me with bad advice and had Me sign the agreement. since 2011 i have not seen or heard from my children nor am i able to appeal my case because of this attorney betrayal.
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13 Jun, 2014 by Anonymous
AFTER BEING ASSIGNED TO MY CASE AS MY PRO BONO ATTORNEY. IT BACAME APPARENT TO ME VERY EARLY ON THAT SARAH MILLAN LACKED THE EXPERIENCE OR LEGAL KNOWLEDGE NECESSARY FOR ME TO OBTAIN A RESTRAINING ORDER AGAINST MY CHILDS FATHER IN MY DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CASE (WITH PRIOR HISTORY, POLICE REPORTS & PHOTOS, AND A COOPERATING WITNESS). DUE TO HER LEGAL ADVICE OR LACK THEREOF I CAME OUT WAAYYY WORSE THAN I WENT IN. I WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER OFF PRO PER. NOW IM LEFT CLEANING UP THE MESS LEFT BEHIND. MAYBE AFTER A COUPLE YEARS OF PRACTICE AND IF SHE IS WILLING TO LISTEN TO HER CLIENTS CONCERNS SHE MAY LEARN TO BUILD STRONGER/BETTER CASES AND BECOME A GOOD LEGAL REP. UNFORTUNATELY I FEEL LIKE MY CASE WAS TREATED AS A PRACTICE RUN.THEY SAY MONEY TALKS SO THAT MIGHT EXPLAIN WHY I RARELY HEARD ANY OBJECTIONS TO THE FALSE, SLANDEROUS, IRRELEVANT STATEMENTS MADE BY THE DEFENDANTS SIDE...I GUESS I GOT WHAT I "PAID FOR".
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02 May, 2017 by Anonymous
Called to find out if they can help me but, the secretary did not want even to listen to me unless I send her the ARAG form! I just wanted to explain but she was rude and did not even let me finish! I hope that the lawyer is not like her!!!
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18 Nov, 2014 by Estherjurasek
This attorney actually instructed me to write a letter to the judge. It was eight pages long and took me a long time to compile. His lead attorney told me that it should never have been written. That the judge would never read it etc... I got charged for all of this wasted time and communication. He refused to listen to me when I tried to follow the counselors suggestion to me. This is the counselor that he suggested I go to. He in my opinion did not communicate well with his lead. He neglected to inform me of the judges final ruling but for about three weeks insisted that he had. Once he discovered the mistake he emailed me saying, " Upon further review of your file we have discovered that we have not sent you the judges final ruling after all." They did however find the time at my expense to send it to my ex husband.
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23 Mar, 2018 by Linda
Just spoke to the Atty for Child Support services who over saw our case today. She told me it was my Atty John Ireland who made our case take over 2 years because he kept asking for continuances. She said it was because of my atty and my ex’s husbands atty that nothing happened for over 2 years! So much money paid to John for NOTHING. The Child Support Atty told me, “it was your Atty who screwed you”, and I had a feeling. He was so weak in the courtroom I was embarrassed for him. He seems timid, sweet and quiet but he sucks as an Atty. My Father’s Atty recommended Mr. Ireland and after my father told his Atty of the incompetent way Ireland handled my case, his Atty promised he’d never refer John Ireland to anyone else. If you’re looking for a family lawyer, don’t bother, just do it yourself. I prevailed majorly on my own once I dropped the dead weight of an Atty. I found the behind the scenes info from the Child Support services Atty to be very insightful and exactly what I suspected was happening. Crooked Ireland can’t be trusted. This was supposed to be an easy case. He told me he was confident he’d get my Atty fees covered. He didn’t. His argument was weak at best to the judge. The only thing he did is find ways to keep us in the system so he could keep getting paid to do nothing. John would ask me to come into his office before we would go into court so he could, “prepare me“, for trial. Every time I would pay him to go into his office to, “prepare me“, I realized I was actually there to prepare him because he had no idea what was going on with our case. This happened several times and I got to pay for our time together. John also misunderstood orders & told me child-support could be retro dated back to the day that I filed, 2 years ago, he was wrong. John should’ve seen by the way the documents were filed that the court would not be able to go back and retro date. That’s huge he should know that. Horrible experience with this attorney. Having this attorney was very frustrating. Dealing with this attorney and the frustration he caused was the worst part of this whole ordeal that he was supposed to make easy. I will leave a bad review every on every site I can possibly find. If they get deleted, I will simply repost. My goal is to hopefully make him lose enough business to where he’s lost as much money as he’s swindled out of me .
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28 Oct, 2016 by Anonymous
During a consult she rushed me and interrupted me several times. A couple times she asked me questions over, could've been avoided had she been professional and patient. A 30 min consult was in approx 12 min. She rushed me off.
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07 Jun, 2023 by D
The Firm is only looking out for their own best interest $$$$. Complaining of the work they are being paid to do. Unable to meet deadlines, numerous errors, bad discovery, no depositions, late filing, missed deadlines. These failures ultimately were the firms need to withdraw from my case after three years and after receiving over $100,000 of my hard earned money. Their unexplained, inconsistent, excessive and unreasonable billing was the excuse used to abandon my case and place blame on their client for non-payment....yes after they already billed and were paid over $100,000....my money and time wasted. You are only $$ in their eyes. Don't make the same mistake I did....they will only succeed in making your situation worse, leaving you to pick up the pieces with no remorse!!
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04 Sep, 2019 by Mario
Paid retainer and hired lawyer. Used lawyer's services for a few months, but was not happy, due to her lack of skills and knowledge within the family court system.
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23 Apr, 2022 by Anonymous
John Barr: This attorney has ten counts of misconduct. Please be careful in giving your business to this attorney. Get a real description of his license .
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27 Jul, 2016 by Laura morgan
I am HIGHLY dissatisfied with the services I received from Mr. Turner. He was paid to take care of two counties and only took care of one of them, which he did a poor job of. He failed to show up to court on the first court date and was extremely late on the second date. As well his secretary is unprofessional and always has a rude attitude.
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15 Feb, 2014 by Lisa
I referred this attorney to my friend but now I am ashamed of referring him. This attorney likes to take all the money upfront and after that he will not help his client at all. Don't even know if he can handle more than traffic ticket issues Watch out everyone...............do not pay him money before getting services
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18 Jul, 2014 by Anonymous
Prior to hiring Alan Plott, I had already won custody of my children, but was trying to make sure I kept custody of them. Mr. Plott took the case, but never seemed very interested in it. He never met with me to discuss it and never took the time to help me fill out paperwork. I wrote all of my own Declarations, filed my own paperwork with the court, and had to show up randomly to his office to get any help or replies to the numerous e-mails and phone calls I made. When we finally went to court, Mr. Plott misquoted facts, mispronounced names, and stood there and did not defend me against anything my ex said, even though he had more than sufficient evidence to do so. I ended up firing Mr. Plott and winning the case on my own, again. However, even though he only appeared in court once and never did any paperwork, I somehow used up $3500 worth of a retainer fee that his office claims is only used on work that they do. Mr. Plott is perfect if you're just looking for a Lawyer to stand there and look baffled.
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28 Jan, 2016 by Anonymous
I hired tyler for my lawyer for divorce and they said 60 days until it would be complete it now has almost been 90 days. I would not recommend this lawyer to anyone. Also the secretary was rude when I called and asked about it!!!
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21 Jan, 2021 by Anonymous
If you want to lose a case then hire her . You gives about 10 percent to case. Don’t waste your money
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12 Nov, 2015 by Anonymous
Stan Smith represented me in a custody battle. On the the day of my court date Stan contacted me and told me that i would not need to appear, because he had a doctors appointment in Hattiesburg and had gotten a continuance. However there was not a continuance and by me not showing my ex was given temporary full custody. I have tried contacting Stan many times and have spoken to his secretary Betty many times. At first Betty assured me they would fix their mistake. After weeks of waiting for them to fix it i tried contactung Stan many times without an answer or return call. It has now been 8 months and Stan Smith still has yet to fix his mistake and i have went this entire time with no rights of my daughter. I would hire another attorney if i could afford it. I would represent myself before hiring Stan Smith again!
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07 Aug, 2014 by Jane
Mr. Nolan was ill prepared and did not appear to be aware of all the facets of the law to properly assist me. He did not keep his promises to me; and did not respond in a timely manner. Thus I paid more than I needed to for his work.
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17 Sep, 2014 by Anonymous
Never had been to court before, and I trusted her. She said I didn't need evidence that I told her I think we should have. She told me we would get if we needed it but that my testomany and pictures would be enough. That my case was an open and close case and that she knew the judge and it would be fine. I was redivided on the Stand for not having evidence and my case and I lost because of it. She gave me the impression the the opposing party was going to consent to the charges, right up to the day of the trial and it didn't go that way so we had to have a trial in which she was not prepared for.
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23 Aug, 2023 by Kel
Hartley does NOT have his clients best interest at heart I would NEVER recommend him for a criminal case
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23 Aug, 2021 by Anonymous
We hired DeAnne to guide us through child support revision. Consult was great and we felt good about it, then covid hit and courts were delayed for over a year. DeAnne disappeared and the case was given to Mr. Farris. The Ball was totally dropped and I felt like I could have represented myself better. He never called to discuss my case until an hour before our Zoom call. And I still have not heard anything from them regarding my case and its been over a month.
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25 Apr, 2024 by Cody
We paid him good money and he didn’t even show up to my family member’s final court hearing, and they had to redo much of the case bc of his unplanned absence. He lost an important file before that to, which could not be recovered. Totally unacceptable. We want our money back…
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11 Mar, 2021 by Anonymous
He was appointed to me on an over a year long case involving my children. He was never prepared to defend my side and it felt like he didn't have my best interests or my children's at heart. He was very accusatory and was never able to voice my concerns even though my caseplan was done and completed he never seemed to be able to produce evidence to support my behalf. Do not allow this lawyer to demean you.
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01 Aug, 2021 by Anonymous
I paid $ 150 for appointment lawyer Jared Jaskot he's very overpriced and he has the 0 communication skills with customer during my appointment I was not comfortable because lawyer Jared Jaskot he made me rush but I paid for my appointment which is 30 minutes and he finished our appointment in 15 minutes and he said he will call me and I never received a call from him I would not recommend this office to anyone. Pagué $ 150 por la cita con el abogado Jared Jaskot, es muy caro y tiene 0 habilidades de comunicación con el cliente durante mi cita.No me sentí cómodo porque el abogado Jared Jaskot me hizo apurarme, pero pagué por mi cita, que es de 30 minutos y terminó nuestra cita. cita en 15 minutos y dijo que me llamaría y nunca recibí una llamada de él. No recomendaría esta oficina a nadie.
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16 Dec, 2021 by Anonymous
This man stole my money without earning it. He is egotistical, condescending and apathetic about his clients. Your money is all he wants. He's even been disciplined by the Office of Disciplinary Counsel for not paying taxes just 10 short years ago when he was in his late 50s. Imagine that???
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11 Feb, 2021 by Anonymous
She failed to explain to me what agreeing to a family issue meant in the long. Seems to me now that she was helping my extra wife. She was intimidated by the other older more experienced woman lawyer. Wait ten years and maybe she might be good
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11 May, 2023 by Anonymous
Does dirty, shady work. Is never compassionate. Does not send proper notification, never mails statements, goes behind your back. Don't hire, don't patronize his business.
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26 Jan, 2015 by Kevin
I hired David to meet with my client about a will. He talked a good game until i gave him authority to contact the client. When he arrived at the retirement community he refused to get on the elevator because he weighed too much. He pressured her into giving him a check for $850.00.. He demanded a 90 year old widow talk about her private information in a public restaurant that all her neighbors eat at. He wrote down her name and her beneficiaries grab the check and took off. She asked how are you going to do a will if you haven't talked to the guy who handles my financial accounts. He said this is a very simple will. She felt like she got scammed. When I called the office to talk about the unfortunate event that happened he asked me "who I was" I responded by saying I am the one that hired you for $150.00 to meet with my client and you pressured her into giving you a check for $850.00 he said I don't talk about my clients personal affairs and hung up. After calling him for 2 weeks he finally returned the widow's call. She instructed him to speak with me and to apologize for being rude. He disappeared again for many days. When he did call her back he said he had the will done and he was not going to work with the man that hired him. She told him she was seeking other representation and he intimidated her to tears. He called her until we told him every time she calls us crying about him we are recording the calls he finally stopped. We still have not seen the money returned. Beware of this guy he prayed on the elderly and he wanted to charge her $850 to write down her name and her beneficiaries.
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Top Questions to Ask a Lawyer

When meeting with a lawyer for the first time, it's important to ask the right questions to understand their expertise and determine if they're the right fit for your legal needs. Here are some top questions to consider:

  1. What experience do you have with cases similar to mine?
    Ensure the lawyer has relevant experience in the specific area of law pertaining to your case.
  2. How do you charge for your services, and what are the estimated costs?
    Understand the fee structure, including hourly rates, flat fees, retainer fees, and any additional expenses.
  3. What potential outcomes can I expect from my case?
    While no lawyer can guarantee results, they can provide an assessment of possible scenarios based on their experience.
  4. What is your approach to handling cases like mine?
    Learn about their strategy, whether they prefer negotiation, mediation, or litigation.
  5. Who will be working on my case?
    Find out if the lawyer will handle your case personally or delegate tasks to other attorneys or paralegals.
  6. How will you communicate with me throughout the process?
    Establish expectations for updates, preferred communication methods, and response times.
  7. What is the likely timeline for resolving my case?
    Get an estimate of how long the process may take from start to finish.
  8. Do you have references from past clients?
    Testimonials or references can provide insight into the lawyer's professionalism and effectiveness.
  9. What are the strengths and weaknesses of my case?
    Understanding potential challenges helps you prepare and sets realistic expectations.
  10. Are there alternative ways to solve my legal problem?
    Discuss options like mediation, arbitration, or settlement to resolve the issue efficiently.

How to Check the Credibility of a Lawyer

Before hiring a lawyer, it's crucial to verify their credibility and ensure they're qualified to handle your case:

  1. Verify Their License:
    Check with your state's bar association to confirm the lawyer is licensed and in good standing.
  2. Experience and Specialization:
    Ensure the lawyer specializes in the area of law relevant to your case.
  3. Disciplinary Record:
    Look up any history of disciplinary actions or complaints through the state bar association.
  4. Client Reviews and Testimonials:
    Read reviews on legal directories like Avvo, Martindale-Hubbell, or Google to gauge client satisfaction.
  5. Professional Memberships:
    Membership in professional organizations or specialty bar associations can indicate a commitment to their field.
  6. Awards and Recognitions:
    Honors from reputable organizations reflect expertise and a positive reputation.
  7. Consultation Assessment:
    Use the initial consultation to evaluate their communication skills, responsiveness, and willingness to address your concerns.
  8. Ask for References:
    A credible lawyer should be willing to provide references from past clients.

What Should I Prepare for My First Consultation?

To make the most of your initial meeting with a lawyer, come prepared with:

  1. Relevant Documents:
    Bring all documents related to your case, such as contracts, correspondence, legal notices, court papers, or evidence.
  2. Written Summary:
    Prepare a concise written summary of your situation, including key dates, events, and involved parties.
  3. List of Questions:
    Write down any questions you have about your case, the legal process, or the lawyer's experience.
  4. Financial Information:
    If applicable, bring financial documents like pay stubs, tax returns, or bank statements.
  5. Contact Information:
    Provide details of any witnesses or other parties relevant to your case.
  6. Personal Identification:
    Bring a valid ID for verification purposes.
  7. Pen and Notebook:
    Take notes during the consultation to remember important points.
  8. Budget Constraints:
    Be ready to discuss your budget and any financial limitations.

How Much Does a Lawyer Cost?

The cost of hiring a lawyer varies widely based on several factors:

  • Fee Structures:
    • Hourly Rate:
      Lawyers may charge anywhere from $150 to $500 or more per hour, depending on experience and location.
    • Flat Fee:
      For routine legal services like drafting a will or handling an uncontested divorce, lawyers might offer a flat fee.
    • Retainer Fee:
      An upfront payment against which the lawyer bills hourly fees.
    • Contingency Fee:
      Common in personal injury cases; the lawyer receives a percentage (typically 25% to 40%) of any settlement or award.
    • Monthly Retainer:
      For ongoing services, businesses might pay a monthly fee for a set number of hours or services.
  • Factors Affecting Cost:
    • Complexity of the Case:
      More complex cases require more time and resources, increasing costs.
    • Lawyer's Experience:
      Highly experienced lawyers may charge higher fees.
    • Geographic Location:
      Legal fees can vary significantly by region or city.
    • Additional Expenses:
      Court filing fees, expert witness fees, travel expenses, and administrative costs may be extra.
  • Estimating Total Costs:
    Request a detailed fee agreement outlining all potential costs.
    Discuss any additional expenses that may arise during the case.
  • Negotiating Fees:
    Some lawyers may be willing to negotiate fees or offer payment plans, especially for clients with financial constraints.
  • Pro Bono Services:
    For those who cannot afford legal services, some lawyers or legal aid organizations offer services at reduced rates or for free.
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