Jan Lenore Bernstein

Jan is a superb matrimonial attorney: experienced, thoughtful, objective, confident and hands-on. I also find her to be personable, unpretentious and caring. She represented me in two divorces in Bergen County, over the past 15 years, spanning her time at Riker Danzig and now Sills Cummis & Gross. Th...e work involved all financial matters (alimony, child support, property distribution, retirement plans); custody was not in dispute. Jan coordinated well with other experienced professionals on my behalf, such as my estate planning attorneys (from another law firm) and managers from my employer firm (a private partnership). Jan is currently representing me in seeking a modification of alimony due to retirement, in which she prevailed against another highly respected matrimonial attorney in a hearing on a new interpretational question of law. Jan’s professionalism has been consistent in all of her work with me. It has also been apparent that Jan is held in the utmost high regard by colleagues and judges, including many mentees with whom she maintains positive relationships. She has my trust, confidence, admiration, and friendship.

I was very happy to have found Jan. I started with a different firm with a big-time reputation who had me hire an expensive accounting firm and billed me for work that I was doing myself. Jan respected my intelligence and my pocket book. She is no-nonsense - she was upfront and honest from the start.... She helped me figure out what I needed - not "deserved" - which allowed me to really prioritize. She is well-respected in the legal community, which is an often overlooked quality, but is very important. While I thought I needed more strategy from her, she represented me best when I trusted her. She stood up to my lawyer ex-husband and his TWO attorneys. My case was settled within 11 months of hiring her. I was pleased with the outcome which allowed me to provide a comfortable home for my children in our community and enough financial support to maintain their standard of living. I would recommend Jan to get the job done.

Jan was my counsel as I went through a very, very acrimonious divorce. I found Jan to be hugely knowledgeable. She is very personable, open, frank, and straightforward in her manner of communication and I appreciated that. Where I was unreasonable in my expectations, she and her associate told me so ...in no uncertain terms. And if I challenged them on some of their decisions and recommendations, we had spirited discussions. In a professional I engage on such an important issue, I would expect nothing else. A professional that leads you down the primrose path should be avoided at all costs and Jan and her team is not that. Jan and her associate worked superbly to explain my options, even if to sometimes point out that I didn’t have one, and I appreciated that candor. Their team was there to provide all necessary support in the most courteous way possible. They worked as a well-oiled machine providing virtually round-the-clock support to answer any question I had. I had questions answered at 7am in the morning and at 10pm in the evening; during weekends and weekdays. This helped me greatly given my work commitments. Copious amount of paperwork had to be provided to the other side and the team made it happen. I simply didn’t see how one could have provided this amount of documentation in a more efficient way. I had none of the horrors that another reviewer points out here. No one likes to be told that the outcome sought was not an outcome that was on offer. With some significant effort, I came to appreciate the fact that Jan and her team laid it out for me. As the case progressed, I think I saw first-hand how important it was to level with the client and keep the expectations in sync. The other side suffered significantly as a result of this issue. Lastly, one should be reminded that professional reputation counts as much in the legal profession as it does in any other professional/services. One would like to think that more contested the issues, the more important it is to have reputable counsel. I was impressed by the professional regard with which Jan is held in the legal community. In my case, I felt that Jan and her team helped me achieve very good results through negotiation with the help of the Judge. Certain other aspects of the case was also litigated very well by Jan. For all these reasons, I wholeheartedly recommend Jan and her team.

While Attorney Bernstein came highly recommended by a friend who had used her more than 15 years ago, I found her to be all sizzle and no steak. Her tirades with her staff, her associates and her clients are legend. She does not give you options as to what you your choices are but dictates to you ...as to what she thinks you are entitled to. At best she will get you most (not all) of the low hanging fruit and then try to convince you that's the best deal you are going to get. Without fail she shows up to court late and unprepared. Despite requesting and subpoenaing many financial documents, the records were never reviewed by anyone not even a secretary. This became obvious when crucial documents were missing and it went unnoticed. Nevertheless I was billed tens of thousands of dollars for a financial review by the Hunter Group, the accountants Ms Bernstein uses. Ms Bernstein would have meetings or discussions with my husband's attorney and never bother to inform me when the discussion occurred let alone what they discussed. I only learned of the meetings and discussions when I got the bills from Riker Danzig. Things finally got so bad I quit her in disgust. This despite not having replacement counsel and a looming court date. Since, then I have heard from three friends of friends that have had a nearly identical experience to mine with Ms Bernstein and likewise have all quit her in disgust either before or shortly after talking to me. In the interest of fairness I feel I should explain the low grade I gave Ms Bernstein for knowledge. While I do think she is likely very knowledgeable, it did me no good since she would not share it. It is inconceivable that a lawyer with over 30 years experience could mistakenly provide the bogus legal advice she attempted to foist on me. When confronted with the facts and the law she would go on the offensive with one of her harangues. It was then that I realized that no attorney at all was better than this attorney. It is 8 years since I quit Ms Bernstein and I am still cleaning up the mess she made of my divorce. Ms Bernstein is an adherent of the philosophy that anyone can attain their goals if they set them low enough and she is going to convince you to set them as low as possible while convincing you this is the best you can do. Beware of any attorney that counsels you to accept less than you deserve--you wont get what you settled for.

Was an attorney in my divorce case. Very insistent and overbearing, Did not listen or follow instructions or explain the law or my options or stay in proper touch. A veritable nightmare dealing with her. Kind of person who yells and slams the phone on her own client. A lot of unnecesssary acrimony. ...Did not inform me of or enforce my legal rights, and then I was abandoned.by her. Needless to say, I had to go back to court.