Randi L. Karmel’s Reviews

If you are lucky enough to retain Randi L Karmel as your attorney, you now have the best of the best working for you. Starting in April of 2006, I went thru an extremely difficult and nasty divorce- orders of protection, supervised visitation with my own children, false imprisonment and even allegations of child abuse just to mention a few of the horrors. Yet, because of the incredible work done by Ms. Karmel I went from NO CUSTODY of my two sons to JOINT CUSTODY and then finally FULL CUSTODY AND MY EX-WIFE PAYS ME CHILD SUPPORT!!! Ms. Karmel truly cared about my case. Every singe call or message I sent (and there were hundreds) was answered or replied to the same day- some were even while she was away at a conference and even a few while on vacation. I will always remember how hard she fought in court for me. I deeply respect Ms. Karmel's professionalism and I trust her with my life and my children's as well. My name is Peter Vavasis. I am an extremely happy client and I am proud to say I know Randi L Karmel.

I hired Randi as my second attorney during my child custody/support case and was very happy with her work. She is honest, caring, moves things forward and is not intimidated nor will she tolerate childish behavior from the opposition. She is kind and warm and makes you feel like her colleague. Having worked for attorneys for 10 years myself, I can tell you that she is not your typical attorney in the best way possible. She takes the reigns and knows what is best. She was very communicative, open, responsive and direct. I wish everyone the blessing I had with her as my attorney.

Before I met Randi I have changed 2 attorneys for various reasons. When Randi agreed to take my (financially overcomplicated) case I felt relieved. From the very beginning, she has shown full commitment and professionalsm. All my e-mails and phone calls were returned within an hour. I have been receiving her e-mails as early as 5 am and as late as midnight, including the weekends.
Randi is honest and straight-forward. She tells her clients excactly what to expect, she won't withhold any information from her clients, and she won't promise anything unreasonable. She won't do any unnecessary work to run up her bills, unlike other attorneys I've dealt with. Randi is knowledgeble and highly competent in her field. She brought in her financial analyst whose finacial reports substantially help the case to settle. I do believe Randi takes each of her cases very seriously and she always fights for her cleints' rights and wishes. Every time we had a court appearance, Randi was always well-prepared and she never felt intimidated by the opponets even though the opponents behaved as they "owned the court" and were on the first-name basis with the judge.

Maybe she is too busy and has too many cases, but my experience wasn't good. She never calls back. I left many messages on her mailbox, not 1 time she called back. She did not send me 1 piece of paper to my address. But the billing was correct, there she does not need tutoring.

Randi Karmel is a great lawyer. She is beyond wonderful, as far as lawyers go. She came into a messy situation, where my ex and I had been fighting post settlement now for 6 years. After brutalizing me financially, my ex had started with DV. I finally stood up to him when he went after our 9 year old. Ex is a big law name partner, previous 5 lawyers were afraid of him, and his counsel. Randi was never intimidated by them. She is thorough and decisive. Within 15 minutes of meeting me she grasped the intricate details of years of fighting, and zeroed in on key points to start with. Randi gives you her full attention. I had heard she likes children, this is so true. When I needed to meet with her and didnt have child care, Randi saw my child in the waiting lounge and made my child feel comfortablet. She developed a rapport in no time, and gave my child time, respect and consideration. I respect her, when caught up in the fight she recenters me to focus on our daughter, and her best interests. Randi has a fun personality and knows many people, an added bonus (i.e., mediators, court therapists etc). My ex, who delights in breaching our stipulations, tries to take all things away from our kid. Randi is always there, fielding calls about refusals to pay for x-rays, camp, school activities, tuition etc. Randi is fiesty, she is willing to use her passion to go to the mat for her clients. Once waiting in the hallway while all the lawyers were in the back with the Judge, I could hear Randi's voice roaring to match the Judge. When we had applied for a new private school last spring, Randi called me no less than 10 times the day (not billable and only out of concern) we were to hear from the admissions office, she really cared about whether our kid was admitted. I like that Randi has an unusual trait for NYC lawyers, she is honest. She always tells me her opinion of when I don't have a chance, she does not blow smoke. Over a year ago I was facing eviction ( pulled all my rent money to pay to pursue a TOP, then defend an OSC and TRO to quash my TOP). I had paid a previous attorney an extraordinary amount of money. I was lucky enough to hire Randi. After knowing me only 3 months, she gave me a post dated check back so I could use it to pay back rent; my ex had offered me a "loan"with terms I couldn't possibly repay. Randi saved my daughter and me from being homeless, deferring her payment unprompted. Shhhhh, Randi Karmel is not only a fighter, but she is kind and caring. You want this woman to represent you, trust me. She is a hidden gem in a nasty field of greed and cottage corruption aka nyc matrimony and divorce law. We always have ongoing conflicts, so this will always say I hired her under one month ago. We are going on two years, only 12 more until my daughter is 21! PS - how I got Randi's name. When I was forced to file for my TOP, I called my ex's old law partner from his firm. I had dealt with that woman when my ex's attorney was on vacation maybe 4 years ago (pro se at the time). I requested attorney names, the woman was very kind and almost apologetic for my ex's actions. Her secretary called with a list of names. I wrote them down, and as an after thought, added "Please tell her this isn't [ex's name] economically screwing me per usual, he went after our kid, this is for DV and a TOP." The partner's secretary called back in 5 minutes and said " call these names, in this order..." Randi was the top name. Unfortunately she was on trial, but I was lucky enough to retain her a couple months later.

Finding the right attorney in New York is very difficult. There are thousands to chose from. I researched and interviewed quite a few. Randi Karmel was the attorney I worked with and I remain thrilled with my choice. She is not a part of a huge law firm so when you call, you actually get her on the phone, When you email, you get a response within the day. And most important of all, she is very smart and very savvy. She went up against attorneys I was very intimidated by and didn't blink an eye. She fought for me and won a very favorable settlement. I can not say enough about her. I recommend her highly for anyone going through divorce/ separation/custody settlements.

We called for some advice on where to even begin with a separation arrangement that would be amicable for both of us. The first consultation was free and when we finally got to it the divorce was seamless and painless. Great experience.