Joe E Strauss

I was a client of Joe Strauss for a brief period during a d.u.i. case, before moving on to a qualified lawyer. I am writing this review not for the purpose of bashing him, but to prevent others from making the mistake of hiring him. I should have listened to my instincts and moved on earlier than ...I did, but I gave him a few chances before learning my lesson. Strauss is unprofessional in the way he conducts business and constantly disheveled. During our meetings, he would forget most of the facts about my case and I would spend much time repeating them and reminding him. When it came time for a court date, he actually made a deal with the prosecutor for me so that I would receive only a 3 month license suspension. The awful part about that deal was that I was being charged with a second dui and he had mistaken it for my first. Maybe if he had spent less time hitting on my wife and more time at least attempting to do his job, he may have gotten what I was being charged with correct. I had never met anyone quite as inadequate as Strauss. The fact that he remains in business, is frightening.

I retained Joe Strauss to help with my child custody case. He is forgetful, slow, takes two hour meetings to discuss what should need 1 hour, then loses the notes and magnetic tapes he used to gather the information which he can't remember himself. And you are charged for the time he needs for you to... repeat yourself. Then I lost my job - I called to end the relationship which I could no longer afford. He persuaded me to use up the rest of the retainer, and agreed to not charge me more than that and that we'd stop consulting when it ran out. He did not do this, didn't inform me when it ran out, continued to assure me there was room, then gave me a nearly $2000 bill at the end of the month. Which I don't have the money to pay and he is now threatening legal action over. On top of this, multiple invites to dinner, interrupting me and failing to listen to my opinions, continually referring to case assets incorrectly (such as calling my Marriage Settlement Agreement a Property Agreement), advice that was poor and caused me more problems... I could not possibly recommend this person and in fact recommend he retire before he causes damage to more than someones wallet. In the end, I resolved my case on my own through mediation, having sunk $7k with Strauss for absolutely no value at all.