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07 Sep, 2021 by Anonymous
My initial impression upon consultation was positive, so I hired Mrs Sokolich. Unfortunately, covid happened and things were moving slow. Too slow. It seemed as though Mrs Sokolich put me on a back burner. Further, for court dates, she failed to tell the judge some critical health information about me that would potentially save me thousands of dollars. The straw that broke the camels back is when she didn't put up an argument or resistance to outrageous demands from the opposition. Instead she told me nonchalantly that this is what they want and will probably get.
There was no fight in her. I felt like she was not on my side. I immediately consulted 5 separate attorneys (3 recommendations from friends and 2 from Avvo) and they all told me that I was correct about the demands being outrageous and even assured me that the demands would not stand up if my case went to trial. Further, they agreed that if Mrs Sokilich had first told the judge about my health issues that the pendulum would have surely swung in my favor. I ultimately hired an ace of an attorney off of Avvo and dismissed Mrs Sokolich.
I am not bashing Mrs Sokolich. She is a very nice person and I am sure she has and will serve many people well, but she is not the right attorney for me.
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06 Mar, 2024 by A1997951
Takes forever to do anything and charges a boatload of money. Very nice guy and will talk for hours on end. Not aware of certain laws in NYS that could have negatively impacted the outcome of our case. Always on vacation.
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20 Oct, 2016 by Matt
Overcharged for my case. Did not return unused retainer. Never returns calls
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20 Jan, 2016 by Denise
He handled my divorce and did a great job. He worked hard and discounted my bill in the end. When I called he did not charge me for status updates. I would recommend him.
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26 Jan, 2015 by Anonymous
He represented me in a family court proceeding. Never returned my calls, double billed me and missed court deadlines. Every time I called the office he was always "unavailable"but NEVER returned my calls. I finally had to fire him and get a new attorney.
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05 Aug, 2017 by Anonymous
Awful. Actually what is worse than awful. Never met him. His associate dealt with everything and she was just as curt as he was in emails. Felt like we were treated at the bottom of the barrel even though we were paying them a fee to close on a home. We always had to make the first contact, and felt like we were burdening them everytime we had a question about anything. Everything they did was last minute and inaccurate and I constantly had to check on their numbers and work. Do not waste your money. You can get a cheaper, nicer, and more respectful lawyer than the ones at this office.
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24 Jun, 2015 by Anonymous
Used this attorney on recommendation of the real estate broker. At no time in the course of the closing process have we ever met him. Not once would he come on the phone. He would occasionally answer emails, but occasionally not. Issues that arose at the closing which might have been anticipated and elucidated in the contract were not, making the closing painful. Finally, we paid 3 days extra interest to the bank because he didn't WIRE the buyer's funds to our bank to pay off the mortgage. Total of $700 lost.
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19 Feb, 2018 by James
Phillip Peter Nikolis did such a poor job representing my family, fighting for financial relief after a family tragedy that concluded with a loss-of-life, so poor that I must question how he is licensed in the state of New York. His general communications with us are the worst that I have ever seen or experienced from anyone in the legal field in 50 years, just for starters.
You will chase Phillip Peter Nikolis to actually DO work for you post-hiring; you will chase him to find our what exactly he is doing; you will chase him for your settlement.
He continually (almost strategically) makes excuses on getting your settlement money like I have never seen or heard. He will exasperate most people, I am sure with his low-energy/poor communication style of representation.
Phillip Peter Nikolis also seemed to me to work for the interests of the County in the end, while claiming to our faces that he represented our interests. He had zero ambition or desire to make a fight of it and subtly pushed for us to make a settlement based on what the County was directing, with little consideration of our prior directives or expectations of him. Beware if you are going against the County. Those seem to be all of his friends, not yours!
Phillip Peter Nikolis is an incompetent lawyer, in my opinion. After having the experience of dealing with him for quite a few years on our case, I feel that Phillip Peter Nikolis, based in Long Island, NY, should have his licence revoked or should get out of the business of claiming that he does legal work representing people. It's appalling work, combined with a shoddy representation, nearly ensuring a low-settlement.
Lastly, this individual also has 'no shame' in his sub-par game. He does it all with a smile.
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30 Dec, 2012 by Anonymous
Please consult with other law firms out there. This law firm is definitely lacking but it's up to you if you want to take the chance and deal with them. I do not recommend.
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03 Oct, 2012 by Anonymous
He has good wInning record and settled lawsuits but most of the settled are so low that the defendant cant refuse and we poor immigrants that clients of this esquire that we were convinced to settle by him . It seem that he work for the otherside ...poor book keeping sending wrong files.
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27 Sep, 2017 by Heidi
This is not a lawyer you want to employ if you don't have a fortune to spend on fees - she charged me almost $30,000 during the worst year and a half of my life - I ended up with $78 a month in alimony and am actually having to pay "credits" to a scumbag who makes almost twice what I do...they lost my "discovery" documents, made innumerable mistakes in financial calculations and correspondence (they are a "cut and paste" operation - one statement had some other person's name in my records) - just overall awful results - I am now bound to an agreement that in no way favors me...she is washed up and all talk, no results. Don't make the mistake I did!
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06 Nov, 2013 by Anonymous
Always late, never speaks up for her own client, uses e-mail for everything, only calls for money, and that is constantly, very expensive for little to show if anything. She tells you how great you are and then couldn't care less if you exist or not, and 2 years later and still no divorce but 24,000 in the hole before I dumped her. Thanks Joan
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06 Feb, 2013 by Carmen
Joan was always late to court. Did not show up twice, made me sit there for 2 hours and never called. I was on the phone with her office, who told me she was in the court house. I even texted her phone with no response. She billed me for things she did not do, or try to do. She also hired another attorney. I was her first divorce case, and was losing due to her giving in. I did fire the firm and went somewhere else whiched help me out. It seemed the only time the firm called was for payment. The bill got to almost $10,000 with no sight of getting divorced. Example of one case is I asked Joan for my Exs financial, she said it was not filed as of 11/10. My new attorney asked for it for my Exs financials from her lawyer and received it 10/10.
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02 Mar, 2024 by K
Nancy Gianakos failed to provide proper service for my case. She bullied me into a deal that resulted in me paying two thousand dollars a month for 12 years of spousal support. (I make $53,000 a year.) When one does the math, I was left with NOTHING after taxes. I trusted her to do the right thing and she destroyed me.
A few years later, I consulted with another attorney and he explained to me that the payments Gianakos arranged were beyond outrageous. and should never have happened. I had to pay a second attorney to re-negotiate terms so that I am now just barely able to survive.
Nancy Gianakos is not a good divorce attorney.
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19 Jan, 2023 by Anonymous
Was very disappointed. Nancy never followed up with opposing lawyer. I found her emails repetitive which wasted my money. Seems she was dragging her feet to make more money and not do the job right.
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29 Nov, 2022 by Anonymous
I was disappointed with this attorney, hired because of her self proclaimed negotiation skills. Her negotiation style seemed to be trying to talk me into agreeing with anything opposing side presented. She displayed a distinct lack of critical thinking on strategy and was unprepared at times. I should have found a new attorney.
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28 Sep, 2022 by Anonymous
I hired Dana to handle my divorce case too. I agree totally with the other review of her. She promised a lot and then backtracks from it later on. I paid her well into the six figure range when she told me it was only going to be 10 to $20,000. She was a little off I would say.
The opposing attorney was trying to settle my case but Dana told me it wasn’t time yet so I had another year of expenses that I paid to her. She didn’t seem very eager to try and settle the case for me.
As the other reviewer said, there came a point where I didn’t trust her either. I felt that she was using what I said against me.
I would search out another attorney. I do not recommend her at all.
Why is it she’s been an attorney for thirty years and she doesn’t have any reviews either????
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25 Mar, 2017 by Alan lee
This lawyer is 20 years over his prime, he does not know how to read email and does not respond to calls. All his work is by phone call and he does not keep written record of correspondence about your case.
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19 Feb, 2009 by Anonymous
We all hire a lawyer with the intention of getting what we deserve in the end. Ms. Finkelstein charges alot of money for services provided as well as unprovided. Just like every other lawyer, everything is promised to you in the beginning and you end up with nothing but a huge bill in the end. She eventually worked against me instead of for me. I would not recommend her and people had warned me but only when it was too late.
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04 Jan, 2017 by John
At first i thought that i was doing the right thing by hiring him, but it was a mistake. It took him 3 months to actually submit my divorce papers. This was and uncontested cased with no children. He never returned my phone calls. I cant believe how long it took 1 year and 4 months. Oh yes. by the way he never sent the copies of my divorcce that he promised to send my ex wife. and when we tried calling him, it always goes to voice mail. but i already expected that. The best advice i can give someone is. DONT pay this guy upfront.
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31 Jan, 2013 by Anonymous
Not satisfied with service and outcome. Unprepared for court and never on time. Never returns phone calls. Almost two years in the system all he does is prolongs your case. I had to go behind his back and make appointment for mediation and that's how I settled my case. I was my own attorney. He's great at making the bill larger and that's the only thing he's good for. Does not fight for you at court just sits there and let the other attorney take charge. Never did the things he was suppose to do but charges for it. Even when you bring the bill to his attention gets angry and doesn't want to speak about it. If you get behind on payments he goes after you worse than a loan shark. Finally I had to terminate his services or shall I say lack of services. Horrible Attorney! Please do not retain.. Go to mediation. Saves so much money and time.....
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21 Nov, 2014 by Anonymous
I fired this attorney as soon as I realized that he was there only to bill me rather than counsel through the resolution of the case. His bills were ridden with errors and inconsistent with the understanding between us. He would communicate reluctantly and always with an extensive delay.
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07 Nov, 2013 by Anonymous
This is the lawyer I first came to when I decided a divorce was needed. Initially he promised the moon and stars, and when we would get to court, he would not deliver based on the fact that he was promising scenarios that were not backed up with actual laws, but more what I wanted to hear. He advised I file a petition with Family Court that took 6 hours of my day and on the day of the hearing I was humiliated when Family Court judge ruled it was out of his jurisdiction when a divorce was already filed and pending with the Supreme Court...a scenario this lawyer could have anticipated and brought to my attention beforehand to save me time and money. I wasted thousand of dollars on this man to continuously be ignored by him and not receive not one call from him for two weeks. His assistant and all other members of the administration team in his office apparently do not have email addresses , so I had no choice but to constantly call his office. Very aggravating to work with this man.
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19 Jan, 2023 by Anonymous
Bad advice, makes typos, cost client a lot of money with no resolution. Nearly half a million in legal fees and nothing to show for it. Linda does not fight for her clients and causes major distress while continuing to charge and then threatens to “ lay down their pens” when the bill approaches $50,000 mark again. Forget the fact that $400,000 was already paid. This woman should be dis barred for incompetence and price gouging. Lets her opponent walk all over her. Guess lawyers are all about billable hours. We have to get together to get her out of this parasitic profession
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04 Aug, 2016 by Anonymous
I hired this Linda for my divorce case, I had to fire her and went to a different lawyer.
Looking back, I noticed how unprofessional she was. She took advantage of my situation: I was in shock and desparate. She not only did not help me, but also gave ill advices to me and cause me dearly on my divorce case. She did not really do anything. The paper she filed for me had typos and I had to go back to her to have the errors corrected. (of course, I still had to pay the time she "correct" her own msitakes that I spotted).
After I fired her, my new lawyer immediately made "sound" decision and took and "quick" actions and made the situation much better. The advise she gave me was proven totally "wrong".
Still, she charged me the time she was not doing anything. She represents the worst of lawyers.
Do not go to her. I will file a complaint at Bar Association. This type of lawyer is the shame of the law community!
Do not use her!
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14 Aug, 2014 by Anonymous
Had a complicated case involving civil fraud. Mr. Macy too often would be unresponsive, would make inadequate progress, and would put us on the back burner. This is a seven figure case, difficult, but dissatisfied with Mr. Macy's handling of it. He is spreading himself too thin, and does nothing to change.
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06 Mar, 2017 by Anonymous
If you are looking for a lawyer who is impersonal, extremely difficult to reach, condescending and keeps you in the dark in your most vulnerable state of divorce, passive, defensive and certainly not proactive, greedy, and ultimately inflexibly overpriced - this is your man. Although very cordial at first, you will find that when he told you he would be present in all court appearances for you, that meant an associate of his would actually be representing you in court and he would theoretically only be present during a trial if that ever happens. Otherwise, don't expect even a nod from him when you happen to see him in court with his other clients. Everything I heard about him and his reputation was unfortunately far from reality during the time his firm was representing me, stay away.
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28 Mar, 2017 by Anonymous
I hired him to collect from my ex, I thought he was experienced and would be effective. However, I realized he was not used to using computer and conducted most of his correspondence with phone. The worst part was he became friends with my ex's lawyer. Did not know what he did but my ex stopped paying even more two months after I hired him. He did not respond to my phone calls and emails after my ex stopped paying. I have to advance thousands of dollars.
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31 Jan, 2024 by Anonymous
He was late, he seemed confused, he kept calling me by the wrong name. I should have gone with someone younger.
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08 Apr, 2024 by Carla
Avoid this attorney. I retained her to protect my interests and she failed miserably. She was retained for a simple residential closing and missed a significant component of the purchase; namely that I was to have beach access rights. This valuable right was clearly mentioned in the contract of sale as well as the title report - which she clearly didnt bother to read. As a result, the access rights were left off the deed. I now have to retain new counsel to amend the deed. As a further insult, when this was brought to her attention, she saw fit to attempt to charge me an additional $700.00 to correct her mistake.
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16 Jul, 2014 by Anonymous
This woman was an absolute horror show during my divorce. I don't think she means harm but she has no sensitivity to the stress of going through a divorce, she actively yelled at me at least twice for giving answers she didn't like. Even though she knew I was a victim of, among other things, verbal abuse from my spouse. She made me cry at least three times for things no client should be made to cry over . I was traumatized by my experience with her, she is completely insensitive to what it is like being someone going through a divorce. It got to the point where it was more stressful being with her than the husband I was trying to divorce so in an act of desperation I settled with him just so I would not have to see her anymore.
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21 Oct, 2023 by Rose
Worse dovorce
attorney ever. Did not care about his client's case. He might have as well represented the opposing party. He let the opposing counsel an attorney with very bad reviews run circles around him. He is a disgrace to the legal profession.
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27 Oct, 2023 by Anonymous
I feel she is prejudiced against people with a prior mental health issue, and will justify any vicious action against them.
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20 Jul, 2013 by Anonymous
I was represented by Laurie Sayevich Horz for a litigation matter. Ms. Horz not only went days and sometimes weeks without responding to calls or emails, but she also did nothing to rectify any problems with the case. She over-billed me on numerous occasions, and she even billed me for services after I informed her that she was no longer representing me on the case.
In addition to not responding to my calls or emails and the over-billing, I was even given false information about the case by Ms. Horz.
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27 Oct, 2014 by Anonymous
The worst decision I ever made in my life was to hire Paul Miklus to represent me. My spouses lawyer ran circles around him. He handed most work over to his assistant & spent most of his time golfing. Paul made sure to stretch my case out as long a he could & so collect the maximum fees. To say he was incompetent is being kind. I actually believe he was completely self serving & greedy. He did all he could to maximize his fees.
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08 Sep, 2024 by Anonymous
Mr Jeniffer Shenker I will never recommend her to anyone she doesn’t takes her clients seriously She only cares about money She doesn’t listen to her client and she doesn’t address anything to the judge. They all sitting in a court and getting paid from clients big amount money ! When we are emotionally stressed waiting for the court date hoping this will be resolved on that date ! Jenifer has no time for her client she is too busy looking at the Burberry bags on her phone I will never recommend To anyone They should take her license away
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25 Mar, 2017 by Alan lee
This lawyer is 20 years over his prime, he does not know how to read email and does not respond to calls. All his work is by phone call and he does not keep written record of correspondence about your case.
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25 Mar, 2017 by Alan lee
This lawyer is 20 years over his prime, he does not know how to read email and does not respond to calls. All his work is by phone call and he does not keep written record of correspondence about your case.
Read more
25 Mar, 2017 by Alan lee
This lawyer is 20 years over his prime, he does not know how to read email and does not respond to calls. All his work is by phone call and he does not keep written record of correspondence about your case.
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