I worked with William Lynn and his paralegal Fabienne Lopez. William was generally fine, but in one area he was lacking. He did not make it clear that we had the option to not accept partial payment and then serve a rent and quit notice. He only mentioned serving a pay or quit notice briefly. The paralegal Fabienne was technically deficient. She prepared a rent increase notice with incorrect numbers, and failed to serve it in time for the first of the month effective date. The firm asked me to check her work, and I found the error. She corrected it. Then FWGC had the incompetence to CHARGE ME for her fixing the error. When I demanded a refund for those services, they did, but they made excuses. read more

Unproductive experience with FWGC. In short, the attorney they matched me with couldn't answer my questions (saying directly that she didn't have experience in my city nor about my situation and that I should email their office for a better attorney fit) -- but they didn't reply to my follow up emails aside from what appeared to be automated invoices. After six weeks I followed up by phone, asking for replies to my questions, and they finally shared: "Yes, FWGC does have experience in this area. ... At this time, we do not have anyone available to assist you with your matter." Sounds like I shouldn't have been matched with an attorney? read more

Mandy, Steve and the FWGC team are highly knowledgeable and thorough professionals, and were solid resources for us in helping understand, navigate and resolve some important needs. read more

This is a great law firm that serve landlords, which is extremely difficult to find...Steve Williams and Matthew Quiring are the best! Their law firm has assisted us with a tenant issue and we had a successful outcome to our case. They're very responsive, knowledgeable, patient and always willing to listen and come up with the best plan of action. We keep them on retainer just in case we have another tenant issue. And if you're a landlord, you know the next tenant issue is just around the corner! I would highly recommend this law firm to any landlord in need of representation. read more

If you are a one-unit landlord fighting a legal battle with, for example, the Berkeley Rent Board, I do not recommend Fried and Williams. This firm perhaps does well defending landlords of apartment buildings or large commercial properties, but their approach is unimaginative, by-the-book, and lead-footed, which proves useless when dealing with the byzantine, corrupt and politicized structure of the Berkeley Rent Board. By the time I realized this I was $5K in the hole with Fried and Williams, which for me was a lot of money. I severed my ties with them and found myself much better off defending myself, achieving results that the Fried and Williams attorney thought were impossible. When I approached them with examples of how they had run up my bill with totally unnecessary and useless expenses, hoping for a partial refund, they were unfazed and defensive. Beware. Postscript: two weeks have gone by since I published the above and lo and behold! As is often the case, the secretary runs the show. Office manager Jane Bellison intervened on my behalf and was able to convince the "partners" to grant me a partial refund. Thanks Jane. read more

I was referred to David Semel at FW&G. I am not a professional landlord (just one SFH in SF which I used to live in and temporarily rent until I can return) and was dealing with a difficult situation. I was able to get an appointment quickly and he advised me on my case and recommended a buy-out which he then proceeded to work on. He handled everything for me, as I was not in a state to be able to do it myself, which did make it more expensive, but it was worth it for my mental health. He was really good, communicated well, put up with myriad questions from me and completed a successful buyout. I would recommend David to any one with serious property issues. read more

The absolute best! I came to Fried, Williams & Grice Conner with an issue regarding rent increases. Alana and her team not only assisted me but I felt like before I could blink everything was completed. I am not only prepared for this year but all of the years following. I am a beginner when it comes to real estate but they were patient and answered all of my questions. Thank you so much! read more

This review is based on my experience with Steve Williams. I found myself in a terrifically difficult situation with my tenants and things escalated during COVID. I was being accused of several things that were untrue and felt unsafe in my own home as I am an owner occupant. Steve helped me through this most difficult time, made feel like I could get through it and the outcome was better than I imagined it would ever be. He worked on strategies and listened to me and made me feel confident that I'd get through it. Thank you Steve! read more

So much I could say about all of the awesome attorneys, paralegals, and employees at Fried & Williams. They have been through a lot with me in my 9 years as a property manager in San Francisco and Oakland. Working with F&W has been like taking a graduate course in property management and the local rent ordinances. They are always the first people I turn to for complicated legal matters. Seasoned RE professionals in SF and Oakland use Fried & Williams. read more

I'm giving Fried & Williams 2 stars instead of 1 because the staff and attorney were cordial and responsive.  However, once i started working with the attorney, things went downhill fast.  She took issue with my insurance, and after a lengthy back and forth with my agent, gave me erroneous information about how to rectify the issue. When I pointed this error out to her, she didn't respond at all.  Very disappointing.  The next problem I had was when she included details from someone else's case on a legal document I was due to sign.  At this point I was done and when I told her I was going to go with a different attorney and that I had had issues with how the process had gone, she didn't ask me to elaborate. I was out $500 and what I had to show for it were mistakes and errors, and not much concern when they were pointed out. Definitely spend your money elsewhere, with an attorney you can trust to keep track of their cases, care about customer service and just do a better job than this group. Amazing timing for me to change the review to one star. Ten minutes after I posted this review I got a bill from them. This more than a week after they returned the balance of my retainer, 11 days after I told the attorney I was done. So not only did they give me erroneous information and the rest of it, they don't have their act together as far as billing and invoicing. Avoid at all costs. read more

I will just give the two stars for the secretary/admin person who always answer phone calls. I need legal help to generate a rent increase letter. I did consultation with an real estate attorney (M. Q.) in the firm and learned that he had experiences in Richmond. I was told that it is a straight forward case. i was looking for to work with the attorney directly and get the one page letter in timely manner. In fact, they will overcharge you based on the time used for the matter. Although the rate they used is the same as they told you upfront (and the hourly rate is average comparing to others). but the number of hours they billed you was more than you can take, i.e. they charged the time they get familiar with the local ordinance/rental rules, they did not tell you that some work will be assign to an assistant. The billing composed of time the attorney spent, time the legal assistant spent to learn the city rules etc, so some matter was charged twice because attorney and his assistant both will need to read the same information. They charged you any time you chat with them (i.e. a call about one piece of information I sent etc). They charged me over 1k only to draft a change of the terms of tenancy letter by the assistant. I only get a draft letter from the assistant (after many calls to ask for a copy for viewing). And the turn-around time is slow too. They billed the hours including the assistant and attorney go through the paper work, web-research, draft the letter (I felt that I paid the assistant to learn the process, didn't they have a template for it?), then go back to attorney for prove-reading (But they charged the client for all the hours!). I decide not to continue working with them because I am not sure if the letter from the assistant will go to attorney for review (bill client more hours), or the attorney do have a template but he still want to charge client hours by saying the assistant preparing for the letter. I recommend that you choose a provider who has the grace to provide a few minutes of brief conversation when they receive a document from you. Or a provider clearly telling you what work will the assistant do. read more

I was really looking forward to working with Fried and Williams and was very disappointed in the quality of my experience. While the individual I worked with was professional, I did not feel that this person took a proactive approach in advocating for my needs in the way I would expect from an attorney. If I knew in advance what the quality of my experience would be I would have sought out another firm to represent me. This individual was quite passive and conflict avoidant in communicating on my behalf which feels problematic in this field of work. Wish I were able to write a more positive review. read more

I worked with Alana Conner as my attorney for a tenant eviction case. Her approach was very costly, unnecessarily lengthy and in general did not make sense given the situation. Thousands of dollars later, I decided to throw out her work and switch to a lawyer at a different firm, who was able to propose a logical solution and get the job done expeditiously for a fair fee. Based on my experience with the attorney I worked with, I would not recommend Fried & Williams. read more

I needed help with the Rent Board and met with one of the named partners. I was assigned to a senior associate. Although the firm is referred by EBRHA, I was not impressed. I wanted to know how to handle my Rent Board issue (tenant filed a baseless claim with Oakland Rent Board) and I wasn't provided a list of options of what to do. I hired another law firm who is more proactive. read more

After previously being a client and coming back to seek assistance I wouldn't have expect bad service. Jane was rude and inconsistent made me second guess myself to why return to look for assistance or guidance never returning again. read more

Despite the great reviews and recommendations received from multiple Landlords, I found it difficult getting the scheduler to return a call. Maybe next time!!! read more

As a real estate Broker, I have worked with Clifford Fried for most of my 20-year career. He and his partner, Steven Williams are by far the most approachable Landlord/Tenant attorneys in the area. My clients have received exceptional advice and competent, quick and affordable service. Clifford and Steven always take my call, advise me when I need quick advice to pass on to my clients, and have represented many of my clients who have raved about their creative approach to their issues. Clifford doesn't try to figure out a way to make the most money for himself, he actually figures out a way to save the most money. I have never been more impressed with attorneys - and I've worked with many over the years - as I am with Clifford and Steve. I highly recommend these honest, hard-working lawyers. read more