I engaged Brenda Murdock as my divorce attorney in 1993. It is the best decision I have ever made. I told Brenda about my marriage experience. She expressed her outrage at the treatment I endured at the hands of my then husband. She became angry for me and for my two daughters. She defended me with truth, dignity and the law. She was my voice until I could speak for myself and my daughters. I can never express to her or anyone the depth with which I regard her. A most excellent attorney and beautiful person! read more

The worst attorney I've ever experienced! Every time I met with her, it was a waste of my money and time. She was unprepared for client meetings and asked the same questions she asked in previous appointment. The two meetings I had with her convinced me that she had done nothing on my case just like I suspected when she didn't return my calls; I had no evidence that she and her office had done anything for my case in the few months she was my attorney. She would take personal calls to schedule her lunch meetings with friends who called her during my appointment. I'm paying for that hour meeting at her office, yet she takes personal calls during the appointment? So, I'm paying her to talk to her friends right in front of me? She wasted months of my time and money. Her office never kept me informed; she and her staff did little to nothing! Every time I called, every assistant who answered my call was rude and would not give me an update on my case and said that only Brenda can talk to me. Brenda would never call me back when I left a message with her rude staff. After months, someone from her office called to schedule an appointment which was the appointment mentioned above where she proved again that she had done nothing and asked the same questions as well take personal calls. She wasn't really working on my case but they create fake invoices to show me that they were using my retainer yet no reports on what they actually did! They were only professional until I hired Brenda and paid the retainer. After she receives her retainer, she disappears! After six months and two meaningless appointments, I hired a new lawyer who handled my divorce perfectly; my new lawyer notified Brenda that I fired her and told het to refund the remaining retainer. After you fire Brenda, don't accept her calls to speak with her. I spoke to her for less than 5 minutes because she had the audacity to be upset that I fired her. Later, I learned that she charged me for one hour of that phone call! I only answered her call to be polite and to tell her why I fired her. Yet, she billed me for that last phone call and claimed (lied) that she spoke with me for an hour and provided consultation! She did not provide consultation and it's illegal to provide consultation and bill me after I fired her and she new I had a new lawyer! She is a dishonest attoney and she used up my retainer and barely refunded me $500. The little work she did was not worth over 95% of what I paid her! She should have refunded me over 50% of my retainer. My new attorney cost me twice the amount but he at least did a good job. I couldn't believe she cheated me and used my entire retainer then had the audacity to deduct more of my retainer to call me after I fired her! She did nothing for months other than steal my money! She is lucky I didn't sue her! Then, I had to start over with another divorce lawyer who did a great job! I'm not happy that I wasted time and money by hiring Brenda. If you want a lawyer who bills you for not working and not returning your calls, hire Brenda Murdock. Sorry, an invoice that shows how many hours she worked does not prove she did anything! She doesn't call you back because she hasn't done any work for you and she can't prove it! She loves your money but doesn't earn it; she doesn't treat clients with respect! I hope she gets a taste of her own medicine and people cheat her when she hires someone to work for her! She makes a good first impression but doesn't care about the client as soon she gets hired and receives her retainer. There were no reviews when I hired her over ten years ago. So, I had to pay for two attorneys to finally get a divorce. That cost me over $15,000 to get a divorce after I paid for two attorneys! She wastes your time by not working for months so that she can ask you for another retainer and tell you that it just takes time file your divorce. No, I didn't wait for her to ask for more money! I fired her after a few months of her doing nothing and not returning my calls! That's why I was surprised that she had suddenly used up my retainer. Dishonest Attorney! She is a cheater! I hope she loses her license because she is an awful attorney and not good at her job. I sincerely regret for not suing her and not reporting her to the BAR. She is not good at her job because she is lazy and likes to cheat her clients. She doesn't like to be an attorney other than collecting your money and creating fake invoices to show you how fast she is spending the retainer you gave her. I hired and fired her over 10 years ago when there were no reviews for her back then. I wish I could give her A Zero Rating! I don't know how this woman sleeps at night after screwing her clients. I'm suspicious of any review that claims that Brenda Murdock did a good job as their attorney. She gives lawyers a bad name! read more

Ms. Brenda Murdock was our parenting coordinator. She certainly took her time with our case - promised deadlines came and went without any word, phone calls unanswered for weeks. She was months behind in offering an agreement. I was willing to let that go because I understand that offices can get busy. I found Ms. Murdock to be cold and uncaring. She told me she "didn't want to hear any more" after having already met with my ex-husband and barely allowed me to speak. She allowed me to present evidence I'd brought along only after a heavy and audible sigh. When I asked her if she would like copies of my files, she accepted. She later complained by email that she didn't understand why I had given her so much paperwork and criticized me for not having made copies for my ex-husband, something I would have done had I known I needed to. What is wholly unforgivable however is that she would not accept the diagnosis for my son of autism spectrum disorder. When I showed her the diagnostic report (made by two doctors of clinical psychology at Kaiser), she still continued to express doubt at the diagnosis, playing semantics with the medical jargon of "his behaviors are consistent with a diagnosis of ASD," claiming that "consistent with" did not necessarily mean a diagnosis. I explained that is the way doctors speak, but she ignored me. She also ignored the fact it was a DIAGNOSTIC REPORT and contained prescriptions for therapy at the end. Would a hospital, particularly Kaiser, prescribe therapy for a hypothetical or non-existent diagnosis? She is clearly an idiot who allows personal bias and emotion to heavily sway her fair judgment. She ruled against every one of my requests to allow for my son's prescribed therapy. It is mind-boggling that this individual is allowed to dismiss solid evidence such as a medical diagnosis and wields control over children's futures. Avoid Ms. Murdock like the plague. read more

Brenda was recommended to me by childhood friend of 50 years, who had several of her friends (wives) use her in their divorces. The divorce took 4+ years due to many moving parts-business and other assets, ex-wife changing attorneys after 1 year, and through it all Brenda was even keel and tried to find the best path forward. Her fee was $50 more/hour and her bill was 50% of what ex spent. She uses email efficiently to save costs and outside experts if it will help and even brought in moderator, a former judge, to try to settle instead of going to court. Use friends to talk about emotions/frustrations of divorce and use Brenda for legal part, she will serve you well. read more

After reading her one star or zero star ratings, I got a good laugh. These one star ratings fit her to a T. It has taken me 25 years to stomach writing about Brenda Murdock. She destroyed what I worked for as I had made the business my ex husband and I had ;she let the other attorney run the show. She was the worse attorney, along with her dear husband, I have ever had!!! She took advantage of my emotions as I was left with a 2 year old child!!! She did not protect my son and I . My ex husband was making at least $8000.00 a month, she let him steal the business I made and got us a whopping $400.00 a month in child support!!! I ended up with an $11,000.00 attorney bill. She was arrogant and put my son and I into poverty. I thought by now she would have bitten the dust. Thank-you for destroying many years of our lives and getting paid to do so. Zero stars to this one. Like I said, it took me a long time to not get sick while writing about her. Thanks Ms. Murdock. You can deal with God and go rot. read more

Divorce is never a fun or cheep thing to go through. Everything is super personal and emotional during and after this process. After reading the other reviews I understand how they feel. It is tough, frustrating and down right unfair. But divorce is never fair and that is not the lawyers fault. The hard part of all divorces is that someone is going to take a hit one place or another with finances and custody and such. I am thankful that I had Ms. Murdock there at my time of need. She has a wealth of knowledge and didn't tell me something just because it was what I wanted to hear. She told me the hard truth. That to some people might seem uncaring but I am sure that it is not fun to deliver the news to their client that what they want is not always something they can get. I got some not so great news quite a few times but I know that she was experienced enough and has dealt with many different divorces that I know that she would be the person that would guide me through this ruff part of my life. Thank you Brenda and Roz for your time and help with all my many questions. I appreciate that you were always there when I needed you! On a side note I hope that I don't need any more legal help but if I do I know who to call. read more

NEVER RETAIN BRENDA MURDOCK! She is the worst attorney i have ever known. She has no time for her clients, she doesn't respect or honor what her clients need or ask for. She sends out a monthly bill that claims she has been working on your case, however she hasn't, because she doesn't return phone calls. When submitting things to be filed with the court she copy/paste directly from emails her clients send her. He office staff and her are very unprofessional and rude. She almost ran our custody case into the ground simply because it was too much work for to do what we were asking. instead of fighting for what we wanted she always wanted us to give in to the other side because that made her job easier. BRENDA MURDOCK IS A SCAM. She should be removed from the bar. she took an oath to advocate for her clients, and all she does is misuse her clients money to serve her selfish needs. read more

Lets see my ex wife retained her, judge signed order for the divorce in 2010. I did not receive the divorce paperwork until 2 years later. She obtained a QDRO in June 2012, it was completed in Jun 2012, she has the only copy and was tasked with obtaining signatures and then to file it with the courts, two years after the divorce! Now it's almost three years, count them 3 years later and the paperwork isn't completed. Talk about the carrot at the end of the stick. I'm glad I didn't retain her. So, unless you want to wait over three years to get a simple divorce, I can only say...it's your money. I filed a written complaint with the California Bar association for assistance in getting her to finish the paperwork, I'm not the bitter ex husband, just sick of her unprofessional conduct (FB Friends) request during the divorce. Yes it's true, once I'd say it was a mistake, but this was twice! Plus as the EX HUSBAND I think it's unprofessional and unethical to have to call her and find out why she hasn't filed the QDRO with the Monterey Courts to finish the divorce. Your call, your $$$. This is just what happened to me. read more

Are you looking for the worst lawyer who doesn't do anything but take your retainer? Then, hire Brenda Murdock! She had two appointments with me so that she can charge me for it. At both meetings, she did not seem focused on my case and she asked the same questions as well as take personal calls to schedule social appointments with friends. All they do at this law firm is generate monthly invoices to show you that they are working and spending the money you gave them in advance. If you call their office, Brenda's assistant is unprofessional if you actually speak with her on the phone and she will never call you back if you leave a message. Then, when you fire Brenda, she will call you for the first time and talk with you as long as possible then bill you for it under "consultation" so that she can use up all your retainer. She did absolutely nothing but create billable hours on paper! She is the worst attorney who makes money whether she works for you or not! I wish a ZERO Star Rating was an option! read more