Andrew was super responsive and helped us with a frivolous lawsuit threat online. He didn't even…read morecharge us because he felt so strongly against these scammers preying on whoever will believe them. He wrote them a threatening letter and I haven't heard from them since. If I ever need a litigation lawyer again, I will be sure to contact Andrew.

Andrew is very professional and responsive. He provided clear guidance throughout the process and…read moremade everything straightforward and efficient.

Separation and divorce can be a grief-stricken experience, and navigating the legalese around it…read morewas the last thing I wanted to deal with. My ex and I decided to end our marriage cordially, amicably and with respect. We had a shared goal of preserving our finances for the family's future and keep the legal expenses to an absolute minimum. Sheila is very knowledgeable and accomplished at her craft. She understood our situation and expectations right off the bat. In our very first meeting, she assured us that the process can be as simple, humane and financially efficient as we want it to be, and the truth couldn't be any further. She was very calm and empathetic throughout our engagement. She was prompt, responsive, reasonable and always gave us the space to make decisions. I highly recommend Sheila to anyone that's committed to making their separation peaceful and respectful.

It was great working with Sheila Harrington. She met my goals in every aspect and did so in quick…read moreand efficient fashion! I was referred to her via a mutual acquaintance after having had bad representation elsewhere. I wish I had found Sheila Harrington from the beginning! I'm incredibly grateful and would 100% work with her again without hesitation. Thank you, Sheila Harrington!!

Honest, hard working and knowledgeable. I've used him on 2 separate occasions and highly recommend…read morehim.

If a divorce can ever be a dream, Robert Menache is as close as it ever comes. Yes, a very good…read moredream! Robert Menache is impressively professional, experienced, intelligent, knowledgeable, high integrity, calm, and meticulous. Happily, Robert is gracious and kind too. You might think that you're better off with a mean, aggressive lawyer to represent you. Or a glitzy uptown law firm. Not so. The best, very smart, professional, experienced, focused lawyer gets the best results. And costs way less too. Mr. Menache is indeed the very best. He does what is exactly necessary to get the best fair result, without wasteful drama or grand-standing. He came through for me. Wonderfully! And it was a long hard case. I wouldn't want to go through another divorce. But if I did, I would definitely want Robert Menache to represent me. No question about it! I'd give Mr. Menache 6 stars if I could! Robert Menache actually *is* a dream lawyer. Big appreciations to this top professional.

I worked with Michelle on and off for the last 10 years. She is very competent levelheaded and…read morepatient. She has always been in my corner. Michelle has always been ethical and I know that she stretched my retainer as far as possible without overcharging me. I did end up switching attorneys only because I was up against a shark and I needed someone a bit more aggressive. Overall, I will always have good things to say about Michelle Melen and working with her.

Thank you for helping my partner and I understand the ins and outs of CA family Law! For any…read morereaders looking for good counsel, I'd highly suggest considering Michelle as she provided not only very fair rates, but also intentional perspective on matters which would otherwise feel cold and scary. Michelle helped my partner and I with a last-minute request for a low complexity ask, but with a very tight deadline. Without her, our whole situation would be thrown entirely out of whack, but she squeezed us in regardless. We appreciated her willingness to point out what we actually needed to prioritize, what we didn't need to worry about, and how to think about the cascading impacts of decisions we were about to make (unbeknownst to us). Without her assistance, we might've made poor choices that we'd never wanted in the first place. I highly suggest Michelle for other readers here!

I was working for a third-party gathering quotes and information. She was very informative and…read moreprofessional. If it was my decision, I would have gone with this law group and the legal issues would have been resolved. Based on my interaction with her you are getting a very smart lawyer at reasonable rates for the Bay Area.

I hired them based on the yelp review, but it didn't work for me. I filed DVRO against my ex and…read morethe attorney asked me so many times if it is true. I didn't feel supported at all. In addition, the attorney constantly said there is nothing they can really do about child custody, it is a formula of the incomes and timeshare. I mean what is the point of having a lawyer then! Lastly they issued an invoice without my review then told me to pick up the refund (I fired them) from the office. Very unprofessional they didn't communicate what is charged so far before issuing a refund + I haven't seen them a single time for the case but they make customers to come to the office when they have to refund. Anyways for my peace of mind I fired them already. I would not hire them to represent me again. + I had paid 2200 dollars and nothing progressed. I got a help from a non profit org for free, it took three hours for them to prepare all documents. This people charged me 2k and could not even fill in my name correctly into the form. I am not leaving this comment to complain or get anything, this is one of the businesses that cares about the yelp reviews than the actual work. The representative reached out to me finally once I left this review here but never responded to my email. I have been so surprised by the quality of work done by people at $450/hr rate. I hired them after a very impressive introductory phone call, so don't be fooled. The owner below says they advise based on the facts, but when I had a phone call, they didn't even review my documents but ask many questions with lots of "interesting" comments.

The Law Office of Christiana E Samuels is PHENOMENAL. Christiana and every one of her support…read moremembers is uber competent. This makes working with the team seamlessly efficient.  She has trial experience. This is hard to come by for a family law attorney because only about five percent of divorce cases go to trial. She is cost conscious about the divorce process for her clients. This is also difficult to find. An attorney either becomes thoroughly familiar with trial because she's had enough case loads or she's always looking for a fight to increase her revenue. Christiana is definitely NOT the latter but she will put up a good fight when you need it. My story is a long one but it needs to be told to show the experience I've gained to discover and identify an excellent attorney. It is always best to try and settle matters peacefully without involving the Court. It can become insanely expensive and the overall family loses when you want to fight about every little thing. I was the unfortunate five percent that was trapped in the family court for 13 years. My ex-husband's favorite books were Sun Tzu's, "The Art of War" and Hitler's "Mein Kampf". I was not paying enough attention and stupidly entered that marital contract with him. Almost 10 years and a child later, I finally found the courage to exit from the toxic. Upon service of divorce papers, he went to the bank and seized all of our accounts. He was combative and loved the litigation. He had figured out the defects in the family law court- the penalty for perjury is not enforced. He spun his lies so well, a burnt out judge at the end of 8 years into our case ruled that I was not credible. He got to keep most of our assets and only needed to return the money he had taken from me 8 years earlier- with ZERO interest. True to his abusive nature, he wanted more and continued to legally harass me. He wouldn't move on even after remarrying. He wanted me back in Court while he was defaulting on child support and hadn't returned my money. I had 3 attorneys and a dozen more that I was consulting throughout the 13 years. One let the case drag on for seven years. One was not prepared for trial. The third one pretty much took a retainer and disappeared. I hesitated to hire any attorney for a while. Christiana was the fourth attorney. She was one of the dozen that I was consulting while I gathered evidence. She did not pursue my "business". She was fine being there to help with advice and ready to take the case if he wanted trial. After I discovered that he had tucked away $31,000 of our retirement and hidden it from the division, he insisted we go to trial so he can once again flaunt his flagrant dishonesty. Christiana exposed his lies during trial beginning with his whited out bank documents to not "remembering" he had stolen the $31,000. This should have been fraud but we had a new judge and she was too nice. For the first time in 13 years, the family court had finally delivered some relief for me. He was ordered to return my money WITH interest immediately, pay heavy sanctions, part of it being 90% of my legal costs. I am so grateful to this attorney. She was not there to run up the hours and take my money. She worked collaboratively well through all of my concerns. She stayed through the collection of this 13-year debt. Everyone has to get paid for their work and her office was worth every penny! Not for the win in court or the amount of money I was awarded but for the lesson that this bully needed to learn - his criminal behavior was no longer going to be rewarded. Instead, it is now recorded forever in public records in a judgment. Thanks to the Law Office of Christiana E Samuels.

How interesting: I'm one of the only real reviews on here, and I'm one of the only negative ones…read more Huh, I wonder how you get so many fake (good) reviews..... My honest review: I hired the Law Offices of Christiana Samuels to aid in my divorce. I am not an attorney, nor am I a divorce attorney. However, I believe that I have been mistreated as a client, and I am pursuing recourse through the California State Bar. I spent thousands of dollars, and months of my divorce, trying to work with this firm, and, during that time, I actually moved backwards in my divorce. In fact, my attorney never provided one solution or answer to what my ex was doing/arguing. I've now lost privileges to my child, and I'm facing a much more dire financial situation due to the mistreatment I received here. I never imagined I would hire an attorney who would make things worse--and then ask for more money. So, after over 6 months, thousands of dollars, and feeling like I am now in a WORSE place, I cannot recommend that anyone employ this firm. Our legal troubles are too important to be dismissed like this, which is the treatment I got the most from this firm. They won't want anything to with you... until you need to pay more money, of course. In fact, right in the middle of a very intense battle with my ex, my attorney abruptly STOPPED answering my calls and emails because "the retainer was too low." Can you believe that? You will be abandoned by this firm if you are a little low on the retainer. It doesn't matter if you need your attorney in that moment--money comes first for the Law Offices or Christiana Samuels. Please, learn from my mistake and take your challenging, confusing, and painful legal matters somewhere else. Because, at that made-up firm, you might actually find a lawyer who cares about you. You won't find that here.

Barbara Kuehn isn't just an attorney ; she's someone you can truly trust when it feels like…read moreeveryone else is against you. She has gone above and beyond for me, offering not only legal expertise but genuine compassion and support. Barbara helped me through some of the most difficult times in my life, with my daughter and her school, and later when my partner was dying. She made sure he was protected and that all his legal matters were handled while he was unresponsive. She was there not just as a lawyer, but as a caring human being, offering a hug and a listening ear when I needed it most. If it weren't for her, I don't know where I'd be. This is now my third time turning to Barbara for help, and I can't recommend her enough. Don't try to face things alone in the Bay Area, there's no one better to have on your side than Barbara Kuehn.

Barbara is Fantastic. She gets things done. We had a firm that was dead in the water, so to speak,…read moreand we needed immediate help. We went to Barbara with a very difficult case. Barbara "took the bull by the horns" and started work immediately. Barbara answered ALL of our calls in a very timely way. She even assisted us with other personal matters. We would definitely use Barbara again, if needed, and very highly recommend her. Thank you Barbara, Emil & Marlene

Very good lawyer and is extremely Knowledgeable and…read moreprofessional. She is kind and considerate to a person's needs through these hard and difficult times.

This industry is full of the worse service-providers you can imagine. Crooks, people with agendas,…read morelazy people, and stupid people. Watch the movie Divorce Corp. Valerie is smart, honest, and doesn't churn fees. For best results, work with her on every detail and try to understand both the law and how things really work in the system. Act like her legal assistant. To get out fast is to win. And one last thing: Don't be stupid. Take off your rose-tinted glasses and realize that the system is broken, unfair, and costly to be involved with. Do not allow the ending of a romantic relationship to be adjudicated by these people again. In other words: Don't get married again.

I had a great experience with the Next Legal team putting together a prenuptial agreement. I was…read morechoosing between them and two other firms local to the South Bay Area and they showed up with warmth, a clear start to finish plan, and very reasonable pricing. Once the agreement was drafted, there was a California specific addendum needed on the documents for us to get them notarized. The team quickly added it and corrected the document within the hour. I was able to get a comprehensive prenuptial agreement not only drafted and reviewed, but finalized and notarized within a reasonable amount of time. The attorneys, law clerks, and administrative managers were so kind every step of the way. Thank you all!

I'm not sure how they are getting 5 star ratings, but it definitely fooled me when I hired them…read moreback in May of last year. Let me be clear, the negative reviews seem much more realistic as I experienced identical stuff with them. Long story short, they did nothing for me after I took them as representation and made payment. When I mean nothing, I mean literally anything outside of filing normal paperwork, they simply didn't do. Want a suggestion? Get ready to pay them thousands for a quick meeting. Writing an email to them? Better hope they don't need to go to the bathroom in between because you will pay for that time. Another reviewer states it perfectly : "there team was working on my case, which means everyone needed to be aware of the status, and I was paying each of them". This times a million is so accurate!! Every month I would get a new bill with charges I couldn't make sense of, and half of those charges were one team member discussing with another about my case... like seriously?? In the end, I think I payed close to $15k for the 8 months I had them!! 15k!! And mind you, we never went to court or anything. It was literally just email replies and filing paperwork. I told them from the beginning I was trying to be conservative with funds and wanted to end this asap, and they asked for a $4k retainer acting like that would be all I need. They weren't upfront about future costs or options I could make. How in world did I have to replenish another $11k in addition is beyond me. Straight up scammed by thieves. **edit : one thing I wanted to clarify, their rates look somewhat reasonable, well at least for Palo Alto region standards.. hence why I was suckered. But it's not the rate that's the issue per se, rather, it's how they charge you each month based off these rates (see above note on how they charge discussions between team members). My previous lawyer (worst move ever leaving them for this one) charged me 1/4th of what they did, and we actually went to court. This firm will make you suffer with endless costs and charge you thousands each month when there is NO movement in your case.

Our experience with Mari started out great, but then communication became more and more sparse. We…read morewere SO close to completing paperwork when she simply stopped returning our messages. The last step was for her to send in the completed papers and that was 5 months ago. Very disappointed.

Update: I received…read moreMarizen's private message and her request to edit or remove my review--this request was notably left off her public comment as noted in the screenshot attached. Since the 2 stars (which equates to the "[service] could've been better") were due to the unprofessionalism and inattentiveness shown (not due to her being an LDA), I have no reason to change my rating or delete my review. TL;DR: Marizen is NOT a lawyer. She is a Legal Document Assistant that cannot provide you with legal advice. She is a significantly affordable option for a Living Trust but she is unprofessional and has poor attention to detail-- key characteristics that are paramount to detailing an important document. Details: I left a Living Trust inquiry via her site and Marizen emailed me back within 1 day to "text" her back for a scheduled over-the-phone consult. Upon speaking with Marizen it was clear she did not take the time to review the few questions I had sent her in my initial inquiry as she was confused as to what the consult would primarily be regarding. Her rates were significantly less than what other competing services were offering which raised an orange flag for me. Upon further research, I realized Marizen was NOT a lawyer, but rather a "Legal Document Assistant (LDA)." According to the CA Attorney General, LDAs cannot give legal advice. This was my first encounter with an LDA, which allowed me the opportunity to do the necessary research to make a more educated investment. Had Marizen gotten back to me with the necessary next steps and questionnaire as she had promised (it's been over 1.5 weeks), I may have considered her as a possible option to complete my Living Trust needs. But if you are looking for a more affordable option, perhaps Marizen is a good fit for you.