Michael R Magaril

As a practicing attorney, when I asked family attorneys who they respected, Michael's name consistently came up. When I first met with attorneys for consultation, Michael provided far more attention and advice than any other. I retained Michael as counsel for divorce, perhaps the most difficult time ...in my life; however, the key to divorce is to actual follow your attorney's advice. I found Michael's advice to not only be sound, but it saved me much emotional toil and heartbreak. He always had my best interests in mind; not just during the process, but planning for the future. Divorce is just a single event in the journey of life. Michael is there to make sure you can continue your journey. Michael is not simply an attorney performing services for clients - He is an always available friend, with the strength and integrity that others look up to as an example of what a human being ought to be. The facts are what they are. The law is what it is. Michael was there to take me through the whole process, not just as my attorney, and not just as my friend, but as my angel.

I was in an abusive marriage that I needed to get out of quickly. I hired Michael Magaril after interviewing several attorneys. He was extremely professional as well as empathetic. I feared a long drawn out expensive divorce, but miraculously Mr. Magaril was able to grant my divorce in exactly 2 ...months. I attribute this expediency to Mr. Magaril’s knowledge and expertise, as well as the earned respect shown to him during all of our dealings with judges, attorneys and staff in the Union County courthouse. He was always available to me at a moments notice to answer questions and calm my nerves. I am very happy that I was fortunate enough to meet and work with Michael Magaril.

I have dealt with a lot of lawyers and this guy was truly horrible on every level. He was hired to review a prenup. After receiving an absurd $2,500 retainer (he was reccommended by a relatives lawyer or else I wouldn't have done it) I came down to go over the pre-nup that was written by my future h...usband and his attorney. He proceeded to hand me a copy that said in big black letters across every page "draft". The copy, printed out by his talented staff, was unreadable. Meanwhile, a clean copy was also sent in time for him to receive before we got together, but he didn't even realize it. Not to mention if he even cared to look at it before I got there, he had ample time to get a clean copy from the other lawyer. Anyhow, I assumed he had read through it and had bullet points to go over at least. It became pretty clear HE NEVER WENT OVER IT BEFORE I GOT THERE. He took a whopping 3.75 hrs at 300 an hr to confuse, frighten and tell me "I was getting nothing" like it was a will. He said, i hope you have a lot of time because this is going to take a while, insinuating it would be months and months of fleshing out and putting off marriage. I was so sad and disappointed. Finally I left, fatigued and stressed out, I didn't know what to think. I communicated with my future husband and he was stunned at is il-preperation and that it took almost 4 hrs to go over what he and his attornery drafted in under 1.5 hrs! I started to get very worried and looked into him on line the next morning only to find horrible reviews. I was so disgusted I let him go the next day. Having gotten my retainer earler, he pocketed close to 1k. The whole experience was horrible. Not only did he rip me off but he put me under undue stress stating "i was getting nothing". I later found another attorney, who reviewed it , followed up well and worked out a very fair agreement for me. In fact, it was a mostly fair agreement to start with anyhow, yet my lawyer had important changes made and represented well. And I paid a flat 1,000.00. If I had stayed with this Magaril, it would have been a truly expensive, stressful witch hunt to line his pockets and there would have been no telling when it would end. I hope I can help others with this review to steer clear of this man.