Stay away from this law firm. They primary interest is to collect money for clients they know have no real standing. See my Demand Letter below: You did not acknowledge receipt of the prior email and Demand Letter. But I am a reasonable person, so here is your new demand letter. Please acknowledge receipt of this email. October 9, 2025 Helen Hopkins, President Victoria Troost, Treasurer Bonnie Varner and Jason Orth, Legal Counsel East Side Lofts Re: Demand for Refund of Assessments Paid by Non-Owner Dear Ms. Hopkins, Ms. Troost, and Ms. Varner: I write to demand an immediate refund of all regular and special assessments paid by me to East Side Lofts from August 2003 through January 2025. As confirmed in your counsel's recent correspondence, I have "no rights as an owner" because XXXi holds title to Unit ###. This means the Association has been collecting assessments from a party with no legal obligation to pay them. Under Illinois law, assessments are the obligation of the unit owner (765 ILCS 605/9(a)). The Association cannot retain payments collected from a non-owner while the actual owner remains unbilled. Basic principles of unjust enrichment and restitution require the return of these funds. Demand: Within 14 days: Calculate total regular and special assessments collected from me (per Association records) Issue a refund check for this amount, plus statutory prejudgment interest at 9% per annum (735 ILCS 5/2-1303) Confirm in writing that future assessments will be billed to XXX as the title owner. I note that the Association has complete records of all payments I made. This is a simple accounting exercise. If the Association fails to respond within 14 days, I will: - File a complaint with the Illinois DFPR Common Interest Community Ombudsperson - Initiate circuit court proceedings for restitution, plus Consumer - - Fraud Act violations for knowingly accepting payments from a non-obligor over 22 years I prefer an amicable resolution. Please confirm receipt and provide a timeline for compliance. Sincerely, Pavan Mahtani read more

It looks like Bonnie is trying to do an "asset search" on me, as if I display my wealth for everyone to see. She likely spent an extra $17k just to get that same amount from me. What a completely ineffective and emotionally volatile lawyer. Good luck, Bonnie--this game could drag on for another six years. read more

Kovitz Shifrin Nesbit - Bonnie the Cronie asking for $$$ and pleading with me to remove negative reviews against them and I'm just LMAO. - Estate Planning Law Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Our association engaged this law firm through our management company to review and update existing Rules & Regulations--clarifying an existing rental-cap policy by adding 1 additional unit to the cap, adding a 12-month hardship clause in the event of hardship, and including advisory language on gutter extensions as in best practices to avoid erosion to the foundation. Basic things.... Within only a few days of correspondence--roughly twenty emails exchanged--it became clear that the assigned attorney (Sarah A. Hopkins) did not fully grasp the purpose of our community's Rules & Regulations or how they interact with the Declaration and Bylaws. The feedback was written in vague, repetitive language that ignored specific citations I had provided from our governing documents. Responses often restated the same generic cautions instead of addressing the actual sections or producing the requested draft. The supervising attorney (Michael G. Kreibich) later stepped in, but the substance remained unchanged: the firm continued recommending a full Declaration amendment--an expensive, unnecessary, and complicated process--rather than providing the straightforward draft update that was requested. The tone of the correspondence was formal but dismissive, and it appeared that our documents and even my responses were not being reviewed carefully. After roughly twenty emails and several days of unproductive exchanges, I terminated our contract with the firm due to the lack of deliverables. In my experience, this firm produces lengthy commentary but struggles to deliver practical, timely, and solution-oriented work. Based on my experience, I would not recommend this firm to any HOA or board seeking clear, efficient, and results-driven legal support. read more

I read through these reviews and I think the positive reviews are correct and the negative reviews are equally correct. Because this appears to be a sizable law firm, it's a roll of the dice who you get. I interacted with this law firm from 2020 to 2022 and had a high-high experience and a low-low experience. Communication (pros): From my PERSONAL experience, the Single File Representative Raquel and the Collection Department Supervisor Adam were really nice to me, always responsive, friendly and patient. They were quick to respond to anything I asked. Robert B. Kogen was responsive too. Communication (cons): I've worked for three law firms (for marketing, editing and technical needs) so I've seen the other side of responsiveness for law firms. This is where Kovitz Shifrin Nesbit's lawyers could be better. They are really bad at keeping you informed of court dates, the results from court dates and will send bills for work you didn't know they did. This is something I hope they've corrected over the past couple of years. I did complain about it, and our condo association was given a credit for one fee I had no idea we were being charged for. I thought that was honorable, even though the case was drawn out due to COVID-19 and courts being closed. The latter would normally make me leave a lower review. However, the reason my star rating is right in the middle is because Kovitz will read condo bylaws with a fine-toothed comb. When I was asked to contact them again as a prior condo board president and condo board treasurer, it didn't take more than a day before they realized an "extraordinary/special" meeting that was held with a few owners was lazily done, didn't follow ANY of the bylaws and the attorney who was hired to defend this meeting didn't read one word from our bylaws. Their letter detailed all the flaws in that meeting. I respect that. Going back to the three law firms I've worked for (no longer work for one, still work with the other two), they are also sticklers for dissecting every word as credible attorneys SHOULD. It bothers me when law firms will take your money to haphazardly breeze through something. Kovitz is the exact opposite. You may actually pay more because they'll get a team of attorneys to read the same doc to make sure their decision is correct before replying to a client. This can be expensive! This law firm was far from perfect, but I also didn't have a one-star or two-star experience with them. So I thought three was a safe rating. The rates are definitely high and will make you just want to settle, but I could say the same for other law firms too. But when I left the board, I didn't leave with a negative experience overall. Plus, I also like their blog. They were the first law firm to announce the "Community Association Manager" change in Illinois law. I think their blog speaks in laymen terms, and it comes in handy for people who don't speak legalese. read more

Our association hired KSN to represent us in a small claims court case. One of our contractors did not deliver upon a project and then tried to bill us. When we denied the invoice he filed suit, which is his right. Being that we are volunteer Board Members, and not lawyers, we hired KSN to defend us. We had a solid case and we knew we could win. KSN validated we would probably will... but it would cost more than the suit. We were fine with winning at a cost. We don't pay when contracts are not delivered upon. We spent thousands on knowledge transfer to KSN lawyers and court dates. At each court date our KSN lawyer did not appear to defend us, just delay, postpone, and push us to settle. After months of trying to get KSN to step up and fight we gave up. We decided to settle with the contractor simply because we lost trust in KSN. We figured out they were not defending us. Just apparently trying to manage us. It cost us a great deal of money to learn this lesson. We ended up paying that contractor the full amount. Plus numerous times that in legal fees. Which we could have done at no cost by ourselves. All I can say is at least that contractor who sued us...at least he tried. More than I can say for KSN. We have now paid 2 vendors who didn't deliver any value. Once our contract is up we will be exploring other options. read more

Can you share the review, Can you share the review, this is the worst company that I've ever had the pleasure of having an account with they have paralegals that work, pretending to be attorneys they never see the case through. They always trying to get someone removed from their property. They don't do any research on payment history they block you from the courts so that you can't show your legal documents. They were very rude and they came to court on numerous occasion. Why charging the people that hired them once they lost the case for trying to do a forcible on homeowners they do a affordable on you. They add attorney fees, court fees, late fees, and none of them apply to the owner. This is the worst company I have ever seen. They're very rude. Their rating should be zero and they are very selective as to who they help never take your business there if you are not the same race as the major majority of the attorneys and they always try to take you to Court outside of yourdistrict read more

I called KSN law firm in Boca Raton, Florida. I spoke with a receptionist and she scheduled a phone conversation with an attorney for 10:00am. The time came and went and he never called me as planned. No call to me explaining why he missed my phone consultation. I will never reach out to them again! read more

I wish I could not give any star at all! they don't deserve even one! We have a legal case (very severe hoarder) in our condo building. Our KSN lawyer does not have the power to win the case. The lawyer and the judge at the court have post ponded the case to another court and another court, since six months ago for no good reason, but to get more money!! Our fee is near 25000$ while the lawyer will lose the case! read more

KSN has denied my request for an ESA even though my Mental Health Provided has provided a through letter that meets all the requirements of HUD and the Illinois Animal Integration Act. They will not provide an explanation of what is missing from their standpoint and will not respond to my phone calls or email to speak directly with them. Not only is this not professional, it is causing me stress because I have an upcoming visit to my property and they are not responsive. This is unprofessional and not how a law firm should represent themselves. Based on the reviewers on YELP, I can see the problems with this firm existed long before my incident. I am going to pursue this even if I have to take them to court. This is unacceptable. read more

KSN Law worked with management company the Building Group to manipulate and force owners to sell at a discount in HOA deconversions. Years later, we still have not received our full payment. Our requests to inspect the ballots were denied. read more

The GREED is outrageous! Mom is 84 and has to go without A/C in FLORIDA to pay for them. They all should be ashamed of themselves. We wouldn't be in this situation if they called back after 6 attempts to litigate! They do prey on the elderly!!!!!!!! BEWARE I will keep posting every month on how my mom is struggling to make ends meet, especially during these hard financial times!!!!! read more

A rating of one is far too much. I have worked in law firms for 25 years. The "attorneys" here are the lowest form of scum and unprofessionalism. They hide behind a law degree, thinking it will intimidate the average person. These are attorneys who can't get work anywhere else, so it's the easy job of harassing people on behalf of homeowner associations. I have dealt with this BS firm a couple times and so have some of my colleagues. They are a running joke. Have you seen the office they reside in? Bars on the windows, ghetto building, which matches their "services." read more

KSN law after several requests for invoice on hours billed refuse to provide documentation with a date and time when hours occurred. If a simple time card with date and time that even a 1st could write how much do they really know about the law? read more

KSN was hired by our HOA. The HOA sent us to collections after one month passed that we were late with paying our HOA dues of $400. By then, the collections agency within KSN wanted $1064. I also felt disrespected by this collections agent, he was rude and condescending and would not listen to reason so I told him to stop communicating with me. By December, our legal fees are up to $2700 and they have an eviction judgment against us by default. We were never served the summons because they could not locate us (?) but they did a public posting, I was told. We have lived in this house for 21 years, never missed a payment and no back taxes. We religiously paid HOA dues for 20 years and the first time we missed as a complete oversight, the HOA board members and the management company was quick to sue us through KSN. Unfortunately, the regular Joe does not have a lawyer retained and would rather pay and avoid the hassle. I think that it is terribly wrong, for a law firm to take anyone's hard earned money by charging exorbitant fees. How do you go about a class action lawsuit? If there is enough of us, we should fight back. read more

I came across KSN by a referral from another property owner. Actually after contacting a few different owners, the referral advice kept repeating back to KSN. They are known for works in the suburbs. Additionally, they offer workshops throughout the year for new and current owners. Helpful advice for legal, property taxes and more. KSN has had property tax attorneys provide free information at Chicago area conferences as well. One can find information about these through KSN's website or Googling Chicago events or via Eventbrite. After making contact with KSN's suburban office they referred me to Wendy Durbin because of her extensive knowledge with landlord/tenant counsel in Chicago. Although the case I was working on, would be tried in the suburbs, she was able to provide me with counsel and actionable information. Every call or email provided me with thorough information. Along the way she was available and willing to give the time to explain the possible ways forward. This is important in choosing /retaining lawyers services. (Side note: Over the years I've worked with other lawyers. I always remember my first. Ugh, a time before Yelp or Internet review sites existed. Although that gent was referred by word of mouth, he was the type that always wanted to win cases regardless of the outcome to the client. Never gave me the full picture, only his procedure to move forward. I lost money with that fool. But it was someone that was comfortable with the family and they gave him high regards. My instinct at the time was to find a new lawyer but in the days pre-Internet one had to rely on word of mouth or take the time to go watch someone at court..) Back to my case and counsel by Wendy; it took time but my case reached a favorable decision. I could have worked the case solo (and have before) but having a knowledgeable lawyer to fall back on gave me the solid footing I needed to feel I was in the right. Plus, when you have a skillful lawyer (albeit a little cocky) that is fully informed of laws and is backed by a professional, known firm. One can expect "smooth sailing." read more

if your HOA attorney has threatened you with extortion through unwarranted fines, coerced you , attempted to silence you, intimidated you, etc , please report this to the IL Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission . If your HOA attorney has done any of the above in response to a request to review documents, contracts, financial records, etc , as allowed per the IL Condominium Property Act , please report them here as well : https://www.iardc.org/Files/Request_For__Investigation.pdf Please share ! read more

Perhaps one of the worst law firms out there. They are clearly in way over their head in a condo deconversion. Communication to owners is poor at best, their updates are information less. When you demand answers - they 'thank you for your feedback'. Whoever is working here clearly are the bottom the barrel from a skill set level. read more

if there is any rating below the 1 star I would have chosen that. this is the worst law firm anyone can deal with, avoid at all costs, they will never return your call if you leave a VM, if you get lucky and get someone to answer they want to screen you as if you're applying for an entry to the White House, either way you'll not get a call back for days and by then you're in violation. these guys are in bed with Realmanage (nothIng so real about them ) and must pay someone on the board to use them, I hope you all get investigated one day soon. if you look at all reviews on this law firm, you'll notice they use the same answer to reply to the review. Don't know how they are able to sleep knowing what they do is................ read more

Update: Our attorney resigned and didn't want to answer the questions I have listed. KSN law has never reached out to me to get to the heart of the matter. In a quest to be a fiduciary responsible board member this law firm still needs to answer for the deceptive practices that was occurring. Since they will not comply with phone call requests I submitted this today to the ARDC. It give me no pleasure to continue to search for what the truth is on this matter. "Mr. $%^&&-Thank you for your email. Pursuant to the Association's governing documents (Article 5, Section 5.09) and the Illinois condominium property act, the Association cannot indemnify, hold harmless or reimburse a board member for attorney's fees and expenses incurred by the unit owner/board member associated with one or more civil order of protection cases wherein neither the Association nor the Board of Directors in general was a party. These cases arose outside the scope of your responsibilities or capacity as a board member and were an ongoing issue between you and another individual unit owner (or their partner) who also happens to be a board member. This is equally applicable to the other board member involved and their attorneys fees and costs incurred by them in these cases. Nevertheless, we have advised the Board accordingly and your request is respectfully denied. We understand and respect your right to disagree with our opinion. If your legal counsel wishes to discuss this issue with us, please have him or her contact us. Thank you." The narrative he sites is the same narrative that he advised the other board member on (although he is not supposed to). The judge threw the matter out of court, yet he still cites this claim to advise our tribunal. This is highly deceptive. I have reached out to KSN attorney for clarification dozens of times over three years that I have been harassed by this other board member. KSN attorney never returns any of my calls, however he responds to the other board members phone calls and emails. KSN attorney says to call him anytime we need legitimate assistance. The other board member in question has harassed me for years and spouse has threatened to kill me and KSN attorney protects the other side while slandering me to my own tribunal, thus refusing to allow my minority voice to be heard. He has no evidence to support this, "opinion." I've had to spend $3000 of my own money to defend myself against KSN attorneys' deceptive practice. That a judge said had no merit. I brought this to the attention of KSN law that they needed to get another set of eyes on this situation several weeks ago and the attorney terminated his employment with us. KSN law does not want to discuss this matter. I have tried to resolve this matter because the seriousness of these forty nine ethical violations I am bringing to your attention from this one email is astounding. I'm not making the news, I'm merely reporting the news. On this attempt with ARDC I won't list all forty nine. KSN attorneys email reveals these disturbing deceptive attributes that I am requesting clarity from KSN. They are listed in numerical order. 1.7 Conflict of Interests 1.8 Conflict of Interests 1.13 Organization as Client 2.1 Advisor 3.1 Meritorious Claims 3.3 Candor to the tribunal 4.1 Truthfulness in statement 5.1 Lack of Responsibility KSN Law Firm 5.3 Responsibility KSN Law Firm 8.3 Reporting Professional Misconduct KSN Law Firm Please contact me with your questions. I'm on a condo board and am going to sue our KSN attorney. I reached out to Terrence Scott (executive director) of KSN on Monday 3/28 who was originally shocked by what I told her about the attorney in question. I have yet to hear back from her. I told her I am trying to prevent a lawsuit. Not only will I sue attorney, but due to the attorney's lack of compliance to the Surpeme Court rules of Illinois on basic attorney responsibilities, will also be filing an ARDC complaint. https://www.illinoiscourts.gov/rules/supreme-court-rules?a=viii If you don't know who they are, they are the group who oversees attorneys and will hand out consequences. So far I'm sitting at 24 ethical violations from KSN attorney as I write the complaints to my attorney. You had your chance KSN Here are my complaints and concerns: Team KSN Law Please feel free to reach out to me to help guide any misunderstandings I might have on the following laws and ethical code violations I will be filing against KSN attorney and your organization. I have seven complaints in the suit and have finalized most of it as of 3/31/2022. They vary from slander, not allowing my minority voice to be heard, and deceptive practice towards a tribunal that has negatively impacted my family and myself. What's worse is the nonsensical cover up from the KSN attorney to protect the former board president who brought in the KSN brand. The KSN attorney has protected one board member (the former pre read more

Many condo associations use KSN and they get others to hire them based on reputation. My experience with them as a Board member is bad to where we are about to switch our registered agent to a different firm. They do a lot of collections and there appears to be an issue with serving the owners when the association files a lawsuit against someone. I'm aware of 3 cases where someone who has a pending case against them didn't know they were being sued. KSN claims they can't find them. Yet as soon as I told 2 of these owners, they showed up right away in court. 3rd one I got involved after they found out they were being sued. An association is supposed to act in the best interest of its owners including the delinquent ones. KSN treats the delinquent owners as the enemy which they aren't. More often than not, they are just people with a financial hardship. They are also condescending as some of the other reviewers state. Their fees are also pretty high. read more

KSN sold the condo building I had a unit in. The firm has not been responsive and unit owners are not getting updates about receiving final payments after closing. I have contacted the company by phone and email over 10 times without a response. I would suggest that unit owners not sign closing documents until they get all the information about when they will receive payment for assessments and any other outstanding balances. read more

This practice participates in frivolous delays to increase their legal fees. They do not respond nor try to resolve matter in any effective manner. They create unnecessary delays that have adverse financial impacts on the individuals working with them. They appear to court unprepared without necessary information to create further delays and financial hardships. Clearly taking advantage of their role. Their are ineffective and the poor rating they have should keep any consumer from hiring them. This is the type of group that nobody should ever hire or work with. read more

Incompetent, and pretty useless. Their communication with our association has been pretty lousy and their ability to win in court has been nothing short of pathetic. I would not recommend using their services at all. read more

They deserve a negative star rating for their predatory and unethical behavior. We used them for a lawsuit in our condo. They assured the issue was simple and we would prevail as well as get our legal costs covered. Well, 100k later, they told us the party we were suing had no assets and we are wasting our time. The board was stunned that they didn't check that out before taking all our money. Stay far away from them. I can't be sure of this, but the way management companies recommend them, I suspect KSN pays these firms for referrals. read more

I wish I could leave them negative stars. My HOA hired this company to represent them. The lawyer I work with David Savitt is rude, misleading and seems to be making up his own rules against real laws. He / the company are using the fact that they can bill the HOA which passes their fees to the homeowners, so they keep milking everyone for money with absolutely no regard to laws or fact. Do not use them as they just don't care and will end up billing you one way or another without regards to the truth. read more

This law firm is trying to pull off a Deconversion at the 2 East Oak Condo association. We have made multiple attepte to communicate with the Attorney about questions we have. Attorney Kelly Elmore is unaccessible. We voted on June 5th by mail and fax and email. We received a call that our vote was lost. The folks working at this firm are using the Property Manager at 2 East Oak to complete tasks ad answer questions for them. The entire Deconversion Process is an embarrassment to the 2 East Board of Directors. They each need to own up to the fact that they continue to hide critical information. This is the most unprofessional firm I have encountered. VOTE NO TO KOVIN SHIFRIN NESBITT AND ELMORE. read more

Had to work with this office due to an issue with my townhome association. Charged a ridiculous fee in the hundreds to send one letter. Very unresponsive lawyers- needed to send multiple emails to get a reply. If you want compassionate and understanding lawyers do NOT come here. read more

Yelp should really provide a negative star rating. Long story short: Communication is unprofessional and terrible, attorneys must come from the lowest-tiered reject schools, and of course, their bills are padded beyond belief. They aren't lawyers, they are debt collectors. Not one soul that works there knows the actual law they are supposed to be practicing. Waited an hour and a half in court for an attorney to show up; I find out why-because she was scrambling to put together a case and a list of attorney fees (for work they had not done). Be smart, research around, pay a little more for competent attorneys (I call them "attorneys" sarcastically). Just awful and smarmy, inside and out: Neja Attorney i never met or spoke to, but who billed me $1,400: Ryan Something Some other lady who I never met, but attended court, tried to settle in a side room, knowing absolutely nothing about my case: Omesha SomethingORother Thanks for viewing! Would love to answer questions if you have any. Planning on joining the class action pending against them for their scummy practices. Besides the class action, there are over 20 lawsuits pending against them. read more

KSN has been great to work with over this past year. Our THOA works directly with KSN and we've had only a positive experience so far. Specifically with Omar. He is very knowledgeable, responsive, and very patient throughout our first year as an association. I highly recommend working with KSN. read more

Awful. Our association is using them, and we were given incorrect advices on a numerous occasions. Now they are trying to steer us to deconversion since this is their bread and butter. Their advices usually assume the action will not be challenged in a court of law. For example, they claim that paying to some owners extra money to vote yes on a chapter 15 sale (a bulk sale of the whole building) to reach desired 75% of vote is perfectly legal. They also billed us for a phone call they scheduled to correct a wrong advice they have given to us earlier. They also billed us for some things that should have been covered by retainer. If you are looking to hire this company, better stay away. Otherwise, you may find yourself in court by following their advice. read more

We have used KSN for our condo association, I have to say that they were the most effective attorneys that we ever used. Communication was great, they were very expensive but we worked with them to maintain the standards and bylaws of our community, that is all I will say. And it HELPED! read more

My condo association board (I am a member) has used KSN for a handful of issues over the past decade and we have always been pleased. We were introduced to KSN through our management, Connected Management, but I know that they are a large firm so any board could use them. If your association has delinquency issues, which we have over the years, having a strong legal partner is a must. I would confidently recommend them to any condo building. We were able to have a conference call with one of their attorneys, at no cost, to discuss various topics before we agreed to hire them. Based upon that they are easy for a board to interview. read more

I am a condo owner and these lawyers represent my management company and association. I have been forced to communicate my issues and concerns through these lawyers but I have no confidence that they are passing on my communications to the board. The lawyer that communicates with me is very rude and won't even allow for me to schedule a hearing with the board. Keep in mind that I pay association dues each month and have a right to be heard by the board that ultimately decides issues that arise at or around my condo. I have owned this condo for some 9 years and this is my first request for a hearing. I am not an overbearing owner and just want a certain issue resolved. I feel misrepresented and am convinced of a fraudulent relationship between these lawyers and the management company. I would advise strongly against hiring this firm. read more

Well I can see from all the other 1 star ratings that I'm not the only one that realizes what a bunch of phony crooks this law firm is. Absolutely terrible and I will be reporting them to the ARDC. They are partnered with Associa (which is just as bad by the way) to charge ridiculously inflated fees to homeowners of the association. read more

I used KSN for my first eviction in Cook county and I must say that I am very dissatisfied with the service I got. KSN knew from the beginning that my tenant is self employed so why wait months to tell me that even if we get the money judgment collecting that money from a self employed person is very unlikely? Everything after getting possession was a complete waste of my time and my money. I also feel that there is not nearly enough attention to detail, like the time when I emailed them of my tenant abandoning the property and KSN still going on with possession case for another month or so. One thing KSN does excel at is selling your services. I remember talking to my lawyer before we got going with all of this. She had a very positive and encouraging attitude.I was told I have a very strong lease, how we will go after the money he owes me. Sounded very promising.We knew from the beginning this guy is self employed. I just wish KSN was honest with me from the beginning about what makes and what doesn't make sense doing, KSN knows the law, I don't. They are very unprofessional. Even the basic email communication is a problem. There's been instances where they wouldn't reply at emails for weeks. Poor attention to detail. Terrible legal advice. Not looking for client's best interest. I felt like I needed another lawyer just to talk to my lawyers at KSN. They sure were focused when it came to billing me for their services.. Even tried over billing me.. Overall, I probably spent over half a work week over one lousy eviction case. Huge waste of time when working with KSN. From what I've experienced and heard so far, our judiciary system is pretty much a joke.. Anybody with half a brain can avoid paying his bills just by avoiding service or being self employed for example. On the other hand you have people that are clearly innocent rotting in jail. Good luck out there getting anything that resembles justice in our justice system. read more

Our condo association used this firm to appeal a property tax bill. This really should have been a straight forward process. However we were nickeled and dimed from these guys. They do everything in their power to bill and over bill and then still no results. Communication is so unprofessional. And be very careful when you do ask for results. You will be told that they are still waiting. And then you get another bill. I think these guys are a bunch of phony's. I finally went over to the county building treasurers office and got the answer I have been waiting for.(and paid for) I have zero confidence in any of the 6 different lawyers I got a bill from. Don't trust them with anything. I feel they are 100% incompetent. read more

I would give zero if I have option. I dealt with this company twice and they handles collections for HOA. Would any home owner be able to get away with HOA payment, no way! Even if owners forclosure house, banks still pay it. But, HOA give cases to attorneys so the process became very harsh. Homeowner just had to pay whatever attorney wants them to pay. No email, no phone call, no contact, no negotiation. A lot time HOA could give make a phone call to home owner to see what happend and most time it's just online payment issues. But, HOA would not call, they rather let attorney handle it. KSN would make this a big deal so they can charge attorney fee. What a shame to be attorney like this read more

Had to deal with them after we went through a hard time financially... our HOA is $185 a year. We ended up paying them over $900 because the assessment was 2 months late. The particular paralegal I dealt with is clearly a miserable person who gets off on other peoples struggles. I under stand collections and why it's necessary but there's no need to be a b**** for no reason when someone is trying to settle their debts. There are plenty of collection agencies out there that don't treat people like s***, take your business elsewhere! read more

Absolutely professionally incompetent lawyers, who operate collection mills in many HOAs harassing the same residents over and over again with fabricated debts, specially targeting most vulnerable and elderly people, with bogus collections to extort possession of premises. Once extorted these units are rented by HOAs and their managers for personal gain and KSN advise Boards how to keep possession as long as possible. Proof available. KSN lawyers don't even know how to file basic collections in accordance with Fair Debt Collection practices Act and Rules of Procedures, but bill hefty fees for their useless services. KSN is swamped with legal cases filed against them in Federal and Circuit Court, for fraud, breach of fiduciary duties. conspiracy with Boards and wrongful collections, also known as extortion racket. Examples are plentiful. I observe the same predatory and unprofessional practices in many associations represented by KSN lawyers. Stay away from KSN lawyers and look for a professional and educated legal advisors. read more

My wife and I hired Kovitz Shifrin Nesbit in 2014 to help evict a Chicago tenant who had not paid rent in six months. We worked with Wendy Durbin, an evictions specialist with the Firm. The primary problem that I had with working with Ms. Durbin was the quality of her legal advice and the secondary problem that I had with her was her terrible communication skills. On the former, Ms. Durbin led my wife and I believe that we were better off not contacting the tenant at all after we began eviction proceedings. However, we were not on bad terms with the tenant and have had no prior problems reaching them. Nevertheless, we took her advice and cut off all communications with the tenant. This turned out to be a major problem. Cook County is abysmally slow at processing evictions (I'm talking up to six months to process an eviction) and, in my experience, it was well worth it to communicate with the tenant. When Ms. Durbin's advice appeared to be groundless and somewhat paranoid, I asked for a second opinion from another experienced real estate attorney. They advised me that I could contact the tenant and that I should simply be aware of the laws surrounding tenant landlord communications. After working with these tenants for a couple of weeks and encouraging them to find a new place to live, they left voluntarily. Had my wife and I continued to listen to Ms. Durbin, we would still be living in a motel while these delinquent tenants bankrupted us. On the latter problem-our attorney's communication style-I found her to be a dreadful communicator. Primarily, she was rude and extremely condescending. I have a Master's degree and am a somewhat intelligent person. While working with this firm, our attorney talked down to me like I was an absolute moron. While I remained focused on obtaining a solution to our problem, I certainly took note that this person was one of the most dreadful and unsavory professionals with whom I've ever come into contact. I have to say that our attorney's assistant was very kind. It seems that she knew about the difficulties of working with her firm and worked hard to be a personable, reasonable partner in a difficult legal process such as the one we experienced. When she went out of her way to be kind to us, she was "slapped on the wrist" by her boss for being too accommodating. I found this to be characteristic of the culture of our relationship with this firm and a sure sign that I would never work with them again nor recommend that anyone else do so. If I could leave negative stars, I would. Reasons: poor performance, dreadful communication practices, lack of respect for other people. read more