Bruce Howard Guttman

Bruce Howard Guttman

4.3
Rating: 8.2

Licensed for 36 years

Divorce and separation Lawyer at Melville, NY
Practice Areas: Divorce & Separation, Family

555 Broadhollow Road, Suite 102b, Melville, NY

About Bruce

Biography

Practice Areas

2

Practice Areas

Divorce and Separation 50%

Licensed to practice Matrimonial and Family law in New York State.

36 years

50%
Family 50%

Licensed to practice Matrimonial and Family law in New York State.

36 years

50%

Fees and Rates

We have not found any cost information for this lawyer


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Licenses

Licensed in New York for 36 years

State: New York

Acquired: 1990

Currently Registered

No misconduct found

Location

Guttman & Guttman Attorneys

555 Broadhollow Road, Suite 102b, Melville, NY, 11747

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Bruce Howard Guttman's Reviews

Avvo Review Score

4.3 /5.0

28 Client Reviews

Filter Avvo Reviews (28) Refine reviews to match your needs. Use the filters to quickly surface reviews that align with your case or priorities.

Showing 11 - 15 of 17 reviews | Divorce & Separation

Posted by Holger | June 02, 2014 | Divorce & Separation

Bruce Howard Guttman review

During a very difficult divorce process, Bruce was always available to answer my questions, and concerns. Extremely knowledgeable, professional, and caring. His knowledge, and his Witt was reassuring at a time that was very uncertain for me. He was able to advocate for me, and obtain the results I de...sperately needed. He was very honest with me from day one, and for all these reasons I would recommend him to anyone in need of legal assistance. Thank you Bruce!!!!

Posted by anonymous | April 28, 2014 | Divorce & Separation

Keep searching and stay away from the Guttmans

Bruce and his wife handled my divorce and for the first year, I was impressed. He is a smooth talker and exudes confidence. My ex took the approach that once the divorce wasn't working out to his advantage, he was generally uncooperative. He stalled and didn't show up for court and that's when Bruce... began to disappoint me. He never acted in a way where he tried to expedite the process. In hindsight, Bruce faciliated the stall tactics of my ex because it drove up his bill and when I got another and another and another in a series of delays, Bruce would shrug his shoulders and blame "the system". To be more specific, for the first 4 months of my separation, my ex and i went to a mediator. The mediator got about 70% through the process of writing the stipulation of settlement when my ex stopped meeting with the mediator. By the time I retained Bruce, I handed him the work in process stip and Bruce used this to complete my divorce over the next 2 years. But the stip I gave him placed our divorce in State Supreme Court and not in Family Court so when my ex wouldn't pay child support, I went to Family Court where they said "this court just not have jurisdiction on your case". They were right. I went to Bruce to explain and he said "we mistakenly copied your stip word for word from your mediator and it had a mistake we missed but we will correct it-sorry". And to his credit, their office did fix it over the next 6 months and as they did, they admitted it was their mistake so imagine my shock when they tried to bill me $4000 for correcting their error! Bottom line- I don't trust him and was never impressed by his court behavior. My belief was that his ultimate priority was his billable hours. Stay away and find another attorney.

Posted by Kevin | April 02, 2014 | Divorce & Separation

Bruce Guttman, charming man, horrible divorce attorney

Bruce Guttman is a partner in a small husband and wife law firm. My expierience with him is difficult to summarize, but the short version is that he was my divorce attorney for three years. After three years time and 80K spent, I am not one step closer to being divorced than I was when I first retain...ed him. Our first day in court he had to reply to the judge to give my name and other basic preliminary information. He got my name, income and place of business totally incorrect as he mixed me up with another client. Shame on me for not realizing on that first day that it was a precursor for the next three years. I have a pattern of incidents where Bruce Guttman has shown that his sole objective is billable hours and not results. Yet when he talks about his courtroom behavior he describes himself as a tiger. It's baseless and laughable. Every setback and negative result is seen by him as nothing more than a "flaw in the system". I found most revolting a consistent pattern of making confident predictions that were each and every time not inaccurate, but the polar opposite of what truly happened. Every meeting where we prepped for the next round of court he would bait me by telling me what good thing was going to happen in court next but that I first had to get my balance down to zero, which I did. And every court appearance resulted in a 2-3 month adjournment where nothing progressed, except emptying my bank account further. If you challenge his tactics, he will schmooze and charm, but it is the equivalent of getting a back rub while someone is stabbing you in the back. My comments are not spiteful, but spoken as someone who was truly scammed by an incompetent and negligible attorney. My distatse for his behavior is not due to his failure to win my divorce, because it wasnt about winning it, it was about ending it, and he did neither. Yet today as he was telling me that my balance is too high for him to continue representing me, he actually spoke with confidence as he told me "i wouldnt have done one thing differrently". During several conversations he explained to me that the high cost that he charges is for his representation, not for his results. So if you want results, avoid this law firm.

Posted by anonymous | February 21, 2014 | Divorce & Separation

Bruce Guttman

I would say I'm very please with the handling of my case for divorce and the issues I had with child support with my ex husband . My ex husband had tried to reduce his child support after non paying child support for several months . Bruce clearly explained the laws and potential outcomes with going... to court . We had receive a favorable outcome with the court. Bruce Guttman and his staff are very knowledgable and responsive to my questions and needs .

Posted by Christina | April 23, 2012 | Divorce & Separation

DAMN GOOD LAWYER!!

I asked them to help me get divorced promptly and that is exactly what they did. They were very available for any issues. Bruce and Robin are compassionate (they really cared)and worked toward the greater good for all involved. I'd like to thank Abbey as well for all her help and hard work. Efficien...cy at it's best!

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Bruce Howard Guttman's Lawyer Endorsements

Endorse Bruce
Somair Syed Alam headshot
Somair Alam

Family lawyer | Feb 13

Relationship: Fellow lawyer in community

"Very knowledgeable family law attorney, dedicated to his clients' success."

Christian K. Lassen II headshot
Christian Lassen

Unknown lawyer | Jan 07

Relationship: Fellow lawyer in community

"Top-notch attorney. Highly respected in the legal community."

Byron A. Divins Jr. headshot
Byron Divins

Family lawyer | Nov 04

Relationship: Fellow lawyer in community

"Bruce is the consummate professional, practicing the law the way it was meant to be practiced. Always well prepared and a knowledge of the law second to none. I have had the opportunity to see Bruce work first hand. A tenacious lawyer for his client yet fair and reasonable. He was a pleasure to work with and against--I highly endorse this lawyer without reservation."

View All Endorsements

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Experience

Rating:  8.2 (Excellent)

Honors

2015

Lead Attorney, Thompson Reuters West

2015

Top Contributor, AVVO

2014

Pro Bono Award, Suffolk County Bar Association

2013

Top Legal Eagle, Long Island Pulse Magazine

N/A

Juris Prudence, Touro Law School

Work Experience

1990 - Present

Partner, Guttman and Guttman Attorneys At Law

Associations

2015 - Present

Thomson Reuters West

Lead Counsel

2015 - Present

Volunteers For Vets

Participating Matrimonial Attorney

2012 - Present

Suffolk County Matrimonial Bar Association

Member

2012 - Present

Touro Law School

Moot Court Judge

2012 - Present

Jacob Fuchsberg Law Center

Competition Adviser

New York State Bar Association

Member

Nassau County Bar Association

Member

Suffolk County Bar Association

Member

Suffolk Family Court Committee

Member

Education

1989

Touro College - Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center

JD - Juris Doctor

1974

City University of New York, Hunter College

BA - Bachelor of Arts

Languages

English

Activity

Avvo Rating

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