Lauren Riesenfeld

I am glad I waited until my case was almost complete before leaving a review, in spite of regular requests mid-process from Lauren to leave a review earlier. I needed to see how she did throughout the whole cycle of the process in order to be able to give an accurate review since the quality of work ...she provided in the beginning was not maintained through to the very end. When I first met Lauren she definitely gave me the impression that she cared for my situation and she would individualize my care. But it soon became clear that her primary concerns were her own interests and her own income. Lauren clearly struggles with balancing heavy case loads for multiple clients at the same time. There were a number of instances when literally the morning of the day of trial, she would tell me I needed to produce documents that could take days or weeks to gather, having been silent in the days leading up to trial. She also had a tendency during these stressful pre-trial hours to open up discussion about her fees and gave the impression that she was prioritizing her income over my interests in the case. Lauren’s billing and invoicing system is clumsy and confusing. Whenever I asked her for clarity she became irritable and sent either passive aggressive or just plain aggressive email responses. In addition Lauren was careless at times. On more than one occasion, she incorrectly invoiced me, then invoiced me for work carried out on behalf of one of her other clients. She regularly requested documentation that I had already provided her. Lauren also has a credibility issue and failed to follow through on a number of promises she made. These include fee waivers that she promised but then billed for anyway and acceptance of a payment plan that she would suddenly change her mind on and add expected retainers to. Without notice she required pre-payment of these amounts and essentially threatened to no longer represent me and not perform any more work until they were paid, in spite of the fact that all payments under the payment plan were being made on time. To be clear, I would totally understand if paying her a larger lump sum was agreed upon or discussed in advance and as a client I defaulted - but that was never the case. I made all of my payments on time and when she demanded more I gave. Over the course of about six months, I paid Lauren nearly $40,000. This was for a case where the parties were not married and there was no division of assets required. Simply custody and child support for one child. In the seventh month I asked to enter a payment plan that I could afford and I found out five minutes before trial that she did not accept it. Imagine how I felt during trial at such an already low point in my life. She then demanded a further large payment in order for her to work on a related time-sensitive matter. I feel that Lauren used my situation and need for her expertise against me. When I mentioned to her that the ballooning bills were creating cash flow problems for me, her only suggestion was for me to “borrow money or open another credit card”. When I realized that I could no longer continue to afford her, I asked 3 times to represent myself in my child support case (the other party was representing himself) and each time she refused to allow this Sadly, I fell for the reasons she gave and continued struggling to pay her. In general, Lauren failed to treat our relationship as one where I was hiring her to act in my interests. She talked down to me, became annoyed when I asked questions and sometimes acted unilaterally without consulting me or even informing me until after the event on important issues like issuing subpoenas to the other party. My recommendation is to stay on top of her. Specifically ask well in advance of any trial dates whether she has everything she needs already, don’t let her spring stuff on you on the day of, like she did with me. And keep a very, very close eye on your billing.

In December of 2015 my once perfect world came crashing down on me. I had asked my wiife for a divorce in February of 2013 which she denied me. I sought a mediator and to no avial would my wife attend. Finally in November of 2015 I lost my Mother my best friend. Not even two weeks after her passing w...as I served with divorce papers seeking full custody of our two year old daughter and our four year old daughter. Plus child support and a slew of other things. My friend recommended, the Meyers Law Group. Best choice I have ever made!! Natasha Meyers started my case and not only represented me she also advised me. Unreal, she knows the law inside and out! But also would not allow me to waste my money on unwarranted litigation. What should have been a fairly easy divorce, escalated to World War IIIII withIn a year. After endless attempts to come up with a fair parenting arraignment, Natasha's Associate Lauren Riesenfeld took on my case solely. Which at this time I was extremely disgusted with our judicial system regarding a Father's rights to the point I was depressed and financially drained!!! And ready to give up!! But Lauren Riesenfeld would change all that. Under her advise and guideness my hopes would turn around in days!!! Her knowledge of the law, and passion to argue, what is fair with her heart and soul is remarkable! Not to mention her professionalism and her attention to details. I was once able to sleep again knowing she was not only representing me but what was also seeking what was best for our daughters. For those of you going through this most challaging time in your lives you know what I mean. Lauren has given me the confidence once again not only in what is fair in life but also restored my faith and respect for our judicial system. I am currently still in litigation over custody of our daughters. But in the mean time I have 50/50 joint custody and a fair schedule with our children. But most of all I am confident that because of Lauren who is tremendous advocate of what is fair and what is in the best interest for our children I am extremely confident that the Judge will listen to my concerns and agree with us. Still because of Lauren Riesenfeld and the Meyers Law Group despite whatever the outcome is, I will know that I had the best attorney and can lay my head down at night knowing I did the best and left no stone unturned to secure, protect and give our children the best for them. Thank you Lauren!!!