Here's my beef with this company- they don't provide a fee until AFTER they've reviewed your…read morefinances. I sat through an introductory consultation where every account and asset I own was provided. I asked the associate upfront what the fee(s) would be to establish a trust. Her response was that Mr. Pierro would be in to provide that. It was pretty stunning to hear $6k and I am sure if I presented with fewer assets the fee would be different, otherwise there would be transparency. I've since established the trust, and that plus a will, power of attorney, and health care proxy were all executed with a different law office, specializing in estate planning for $3k.

beware of Aaron Oconnor. Words cant give justice to how much of a nightmare it was working with…read morehim. He is the The managing partner in Latham. He literally abandoned me 2 weeks before we were due to settle because i didnt feel comfortable with what he negotiated. The negotiations took place off the record without my knowledge and nobody present. He tried bullying me and my younger brother into consenting to the agreement. When i asked for information and documents i was ignored. He was extremely immature, lazy and temperamental. If i was skeptical of anything he would get mad asking me if i was a lawyer. He would attempt to belittle me and lie so blatantly without even attempting to cover the lie up. there was no conversation he would just talk over you. He wants to tell you what hes going to do and what your going to do. He has no sentiment towards anyone at all. Jacob V. who is/was an associate there was assigned to my case originally. No complaints with him. He immediately went to work. Answered our questions. Communicated effectively. He was unwavering the minute we hired him for representation. According to Aaron he is no longer with the firm and thats how i ended up with Aaron. There may be other lawyers in the firm that are competent and wont treat you like a peasant. I dont know. This was my experience and it was nothing but anxiety the moment Aaron took our case. When we went our separate ways there were not any notes, documents, records of anything. He just pretty much winged it i guess who knows.

Stay away. This place feels like a volume operation. They charge you way too much and never follow…read morethrough with reviews and modifications as promised. Every time I called, I felt rushed, like I was bothering them. Terrible place. Find someone else.

We worker with Ettinger Law for a Family Trust. The service was outstanding. Thank you.read more

This has taken me a few months to write after being represented by Dan Rubin of Girvan and…read moreFerlazzo. I could not find the words to express how grateful I am to Dan for giving me my life back but most important was his pursuit for the Justice that was due to us. Dan Rubin, who is a partner in the law firm of Girvan and Ferlazzo takes on giant corporations without a second thought, and wins. He has a compassion for justice and his clients. Dan is a kind, caring, unstoppable and determined attorney. Mr. Rubin peels back every layer to get to the truth and exposes all aspects of wrongdoing. You will NEVER find an attorney who puts his clients FIRST. I trusted Dan with my life "literally" and he delivered well over my expectations. Mr. Rubin achieved what others thought was unfeasible. Girvan and Ferlazzo are now our family attorneys for everything. The Girvan and Ferlazzo team works together to achieve and deliver the utmost results. They work day and night together and are one of the strongest teams. They respond and NEVER leave you hanging-they constantly keep you informed. Dan Rubin has been recognized by other attorneys for the outstanding job, he NEVER backs down and is highly respected amongst his peers and partners. Dan Rubin and Girvan and Ferlazzo are a blessing to have on your side. When the defendant's attorney acknowledges what an excellent job he has done on this case and others, THAT right there says it all! I strongly recommend Dan Rubin and Girvan and Felazzo. Once you have met Dan and his team you realize and understand what a supreme team you have. Mr. Rubin will never back down for his clients, nor settle just to settle. If you are looking for an attorney to deliver justice, fight for what you are entitled to and is highly respected than you need Girvan and Ferlazzo. If it wasn't for Dan Rubin, I know I would not be where I am today. Girvin and Felazzo is the ONLY Law firm I would ever recommend. Mr. Rubin fights to win and delivers! Mr. Dan Rubin is a GIANT and a professional attorney in every aspect.

Excellent firm with extensive experience and knowledge. Our business has worked with Sal Ferlazzo…read moreand his associates for the last few years and they've always delivered on time and above expectations. No project is too big or small and they always provide a personal touch. Truly a one-stop shop for all legal needs; highly recommended.

Edward Sossner has been my lawyer for 38 years. I have owned real estate from Troy to Potsdam and…read moreEd has ALWAYS been thoroughly reliable, creative and tenacious. He has guided me to smarter decisions more times than I can possibly count. I promise that if you engage Ed once, you will want him as your commercial matters lawyer always. Having been in business for 46 years, I cannot possibly recommend Ed more.

Ed is a liar and a thief. It cost me 35k of my mom's estate due to his lies! Don't trust this man…read more He charged me 7k to sell my house! Because I was a first time home seller and I didn't know any better. Just tragic. He's a jerk.

They do their job, and they will be quick to tell you that they did it. But in terms of compassion…read moreand understanding to an individuals situation? No, I can't say they do that. I hired this firm after a domestic dispute in 2021 and I hired them because I was told that they were top rated for both the LGBTQ community and in DV. They post this on their website, and they also campaign for local organizations like the Pride Center and YWCA, so I'm going to assume here that they do this, because.... Well how could they treat someone a certain way, when they give back so much?!?!? I imagine, that they are compassionate, as long as you have an exuberant amount of money to pay them, and can keep the flow of money coming, because its all they care about. I was hesitant to retain and I should have followed my gut. While Kayla did her "job" she sent some emails and filled out a separation document (like the ones you normally see in a divorce), it was the lack of compassion and care. She made me feel like crap on more than one occasion. I don't feel like she listened to my concerns, in fact she argued with me and would tell me how I was wrong (kind of like my marriage). When I would explain how her words and actions were making me FEEL, I was told to get a therapist. When my husband doesn't exercise visitation or pay towards his children, I'm still then told by them that I need to pay them over $5,000.00 and should just take out a personal loan. When an individual is going through a divorce, its hard enough. When theres kids, its another layer, when there is abuse, its ANOTHER added layer and divorce attorneys know this, in fact, they are the experts in it. I really feel as though this firm charges an insane amount of money to do as little work as possible and by that I mean, they will do the basics, and then tell you to be grateful. Find another firm. Also I'm going to note here that I fully anticipate this review either being deleted by them or them replying saying how I'm just a dissatisfied client who is upset I didn't get my way. You're the reviewer, so you decide.

They have been helping myself and my husband through a very difficult process after the passing of…read moremy father. They are thorough, on top of every issue and helpful with recommendations of other professionals that may help the situation. We've used this Law Firm for many years now and have always been treated with kindness, respect and care.

I would suggest if you are looking for an Estate planning attorney, do not hire this attorney. Very…read moreunprofessional including lack of follow up and follow through, multiple grammar and spelling errors throughout documentation provided by this attorney. She also failed to ensure a document was notarized, causing me to pay a new attorney years later to correct the issue after it was discovered. These are just a few of the issues. I would highly recommend seeking an alternative attorney.

Totally ignored our efforts to contact her…read more We went to Kimberly to set up our wills and trusts. There was only one thing left for her to do for us and that was to make an amendment to our will. It was supposed to be done mid August. Late Sept. we realized we never heard from her. I emailed her twice , then I called her twice, I stopped in her office to see if I could catch her in, unfortunately she was out that day. I left my name and phone numbers (it is now early November) still no response. Of course, we paid her in full. We had to hire another attorney and had him look over the documents she created. We had our home put in trust but she never had this recorded with the county we live in nor did she explain that was something we had to do, so the house was not protected. She said Medicaid could not touch our retirement funds, so we thought they were protected, but she never explained that they would have to be spent down before Medicaid would step in. In the end she did us a favor by not returning our call, we found the right attorney who explained all this to us and what we had to do to protect ALL our assets.

LaVelle & Finn were highly recommended to me for all of my estate planning documents. I provided…read morean extremely detailed multi page document with all the specifics needed to create my estate documents. I paid half of their fee upfront ($1000+). I received estate documents FULL of careless errors, sloppy work, incorrect information, misspelled names etc. I was appalled by the pathetic quality of the work. I found another attorney. Gave her the identical document with all my information and for 1/4 of the cost she returned immaculate, accurate, professional, clean precise estate documents. Ironically when I fired Lavelle & Finn I received an email from one of their staff that Marty suggested that I complete my estate docs. No kidding!!!....that was why I went to see them in the first place.

I hired Laura Gulfo to assist with the dissolution of a business partnership, with the intention of…read morebuying out my partner. My partner and I were actively disputing the value of the business, and at no point was I advised to obtain a fair market valuation, something I later learned is a critical step in this type of situation after consulting with another attorney. I ultimately signed paperwork approximately one month before the stated close date without a clear understanding of the implications of signing at that stage. This was not fully explained to me, and I did not feel I was in a position to make an informed decision. Additionally, the retainer agreement did not align with the final billing. I was billed at a rate approximately $75 per hour higher than what I understood from the agreement, $50/hour higher for a senior associate and $25/hour higher for an associate. When I emailed Mackenzie Monaco regarding this discrepancy, I was told that services had already been "discounted." However, I never signed any documentation beyond the retainer agreement indicating any adjustment to rates or discounted billing terms. The second attorney I consulted with reviewed the billing, and agreed there are discrepancies. At this point, my only recourse regarding the billing issue is to submit a complaint to the state board and pursue fee arbitration to dispute my $12,000 bill. As I did not receive what I paid for. Pursuing a malpractice claim is not feasible at this time, as it would require me to pay out of pocket for a business valuation that would no longer be a shared expense, given that I was ultimately left to exit the business by default. There was also a transition involving another attorney on the matter that I was not informed of in advance, which added to the confusion during an already stressful process. Overall, I did not feel adequately guided through a complex situation. Based on my experience, I would not recommend this firm for business buyout matters involving disputed valuation.

From the owner: Our Albany, NY-based law firm is built around an experienced team of attorneys with…read morehighly-specialized skill sets. We tailor our legal services and resources to best fit the needs of each client and always with personalized touch.