Reviews

Brian, took on my case knowing full well he had no background in the legal area I was requesting. I was assured many times by Brian that he was " a great attorney", but I never saw it. Brian made one mistake after the next and then when he made a mistake he would never own up to it. The real issue is that he put me in a horrible position with his lack of experience as it relates to my case. Beware Brian has a huge ego and will not tell you no.

My case is many years old and an ugly, non-stop custody battle. Michelle his paralegel and Brian Sobel at McGrann & Shea have been wonderful to work with. Brian was and is, unflappable! Aggressive when necessary, and seeks the truth. He is kind and compassionate about the importance of the parent/child bond and will advocate for that. He has a BA in psychology and was on the Cornerstone board and brings that knowledge and experience to the case. Alienating tactics of parties will not be tolerated on his watch. My friend Carrie K. recommended Brian Sobel to me when my ex maneuvered through fabricated events "temporary custody." Brian Sobel is methodical in his approach. It takes a long time to move through the family court process but I can sit back now and relax. A highly skilled professional will argue the law and fight for me to see my kids. I highly recommend Brian Sobel for contentious custody cases especially when opposing counsel is outrageous.

After Brian negotiated my divorce settlement, my ex-husband, surprisingly, delivered the highest compliment, stating "Brian was brilliant."

I worked with Brian in a high conflict post divorce litigation re. parenting time and support. Brian was efficient, respectful, knowledgable, personable and wonderful. As the other side tried to drown us in correspondence, Brian naviagated beautifully through the sea of obsacles and hostility. There is a lot to be said about attourneys efficency as they walk a fine line between over responding and not responding enough. I believe Brian has mastered efficiency as close as possible to an art form, not resonding to items that are not important in the big picture and being right there when something was crucial. His sense of humour, confidence, intelligence, warmth, high sense of ethics and efficiency completely contradict negative stereotype of lawyers (speaking from expericence); he made the process of the ordeal as good as it could have been, including the outcome. I would recommend Brian to anyone, who wants an exceptional professional and advocate to represent them in a legal natter and who through deep experience can help anticipate and protect from some of the unpleasant possibilities.

Brian has guided my wife and I, plus extended family members, through some challenging times. He does so with patience, understanding and a sense of calm that helps ease what can sometimes be overwhelming tension and stress. His knowledge in a variety of legal aspects is unparalleled. We feel fortunate to have his representation.

Brian was the 2nd lawyer I had in a high-conflict child custody case. i was frustrated that my 1st lawyer seemed to barely know the case after > 1 yr and dragged things out w/ repeated hearings requested by the other side in which my case lost ground w/ every hearing (mostly because my lawyer knew next to nothing about my case and just went along w/ everything). Especially compared to my 1st lawyer, Brian listened to me and helped me submit an affidavit and request for hearing that finally got the case moving forward. He took time to read it over/edit/make suggestions and do his own additional research on the issues I brought up. Brian knew the details of my case very quickly after taking me on as a client. He took the time to talk to other family law attys re their experience w/ some of the some odd particulars of my case and shared the info he gathered w/ me. He passionately argued my points in court hearing and had crafted a very detailed template for custody agreement, which he worked with me to adjust to the issues in my case. I found it very convenient that Brian likes email and, eg, we could go back and forth editing the proposed custody agreement via email. I learned going through this that courts really do NOT want to make a ruling or go to trial on child custody. Courts push the parents to come to an agreement likely because it is more apt to "stick". The judge was very impressed with Brian's custody agreement template and asked him for a copy of the template version of it (ie not the version particular to my case) to use in other cases. I should mention that "template" is probably an understatement - it was very detailed and covered things that I hadn't thought of. It's an unfortunate fact that most of the time neither side is going to be 100% happy w/ the outcome of these cases. I wasn't, but I felt in the end that my children had a doable outcome and their interests and welfare were well protected. The only negative I could say about my experience with Brian was that an issue came up several months after our case was settled and my file had been moved to off-site storage. I was charged for them to try to locate it and get it back. But overall, I did not feel like every time a piece of mail went through Brian's or his assts' hands, I was charged. He was very efficient and I felt like I got what I paid for (w/ the exception of the file location). The reason I gave him a few "4"s instead of "5"s is because he had a lot of cases and I would have to sometimes try several times to contact him. But unlike my previous lawyer, I wasn't charged every time I simply called and asked to speak to Brian. Overall, he was responsive and efficient. I would recommend Brian to a friend who had the misfortune of going through a child custody case.

During the past three years Brian helped me through a bitterly contested family law matter. It was tough, but Brian met all of my expectations. Plus we ended up being friends.