Steve Ruben, (The Ruben Law Firm, https://www.rubenlawfirm.com), was my attorney for a divorce…read moreproceeding. It went very badly. I present the following points. (Please note, that if you contact me, I will put you in contact with multiple other individuals who have been wronged by this attorney. I would be happy to save you from throwing your property and perhaps children away).
- Steve Ruben never conveyed to me that he had been sentence to prison and fined for criminal behavior. (United States District Court, "USA vs. Stephen B. Ruben, (Case 88 CR 988)), and banned from practicing law in Illinois). (This has been previously verified by YELP).
- He has had a complaint file with the State Bar of California regarding the dissatisfaction of multiple ex clients, (See Case No. 17-O-03803).
- Steve Ruben failed to have a judge sign documents served to my ex. This alone lead me to tens of thousands of wasted fees. He was chastised by the judge for lack of preparedness in my presence.
- His cost estimate statement to me were constantly understated leading to huge over runs. His final comments to me, (after agreeing to have me foot a huge bill from my ex's attorneys), was, "you can no longer afford to have me litigate.
- He co-wrote and performed a 'ballad' in which his 'troupe' stated among other things, (demonstrating his attitude for family law):
"They lost the castle, and servants twelve
They lost the cash, despite themselves
But in the end both lawyers won***********
They ended up with all the funds"
- An intern at his firm told me separately he was astounded regarding items I was being charged for. (The intern left the company).
- He would rarely return calls, yet would bill me for listening to messages and reading emails. He encouraged me throughout to tell him 'everything' yet used none of the material.
- He told me regularly that my son would be coming back to my home. After months of high fees with nothing to show, he said I had to move from SF to the East Bay to have any chance of being with my son.
- He, unconscionably, regularly stated to me that he was, 'good friends' with the Commission presiding over my case, (Marjorie Slabaugh), stating that they belong to a club together and had a personal relationship. In the end he was ridiculed in court by the Commissioner for lack of preparedness and inappropriate court proceedings including speaking out of turn, not filing the correct motions, etc.
- In the end, I was financially devastated. He noted we had a very good chance of settling favorably in light of a pre-nuptial agreement in place. In the end, he had me state that the stipulation of 'there will be no alimony' was not what I intended, (he said it was not legal). Everything was thrown out and I paid the first mortgage, second mortgage, all home costs and alimony and child support of well over $3,500 / month into bankruptcy.
- While working full time as an officer in a corporation he arranged for me to see my son on one weekday each week, for four hours during the workday. He said this was the only way to show I cared. I lost my job over regular absences.
- My ex never held a job, ever. He stated this would severely work against her. He never even brought this up in Court.
I lost my home, my son was kept from me from the time he was 6 months until around 2 1/2 years, with only periodic visits, was forced into bankruptcy and had to abandon two career positions because of Mr. Rubens failure to have custody re-done.
I don't wish for this to continue to happen to others. (in the end, I prevailed over the custody issue, IN SPITE, of Mr. Ruben).