Brian K Pearlstein

I hired Mr. Pearlstein after a thorough research and careful consideration. His AVVO reviews were raving and he appeared knowledgeable and well-respected. Once the attorney was retained, my case was without my consent passed on to a junior attorney with Mr. Pearlstein only overviewing their work. At ...several important hearings, Mr. Pearlsten was not present and passed my Court representation to one of the partners, unfamiliar with my case, which resulted in poor outcomes. I received conflicting information and advice from the junior attorney that differed from that of Mr. Pearlstein. There seemed to be no orderly flow in the way the case was being prepared for and some of the important strategies were omitted and short cuts taken. The ball was dropped on the case "homework" that was not completed in a timely manner and as a result, important expert witness testimony was omitted from the trial. What started out as a no brainer of a family law case that Mr. Pearlstein indicated he felt very confident about, ended up as a pitiful defeat, for which Mr. Pearlstein accepted no responsibility. If you are looking for strong representation in a family case, don't count on this firm. At the end of the day, you will be left with a sky high bill and a lost case. Once the case is done, you become no more then a billing number.

"In my opinion divorce is one of the lowest points in one's life, much like death. Faced with divorce, emotions are heightened, there is anger, resentment and the list goes on and one loses the ability to think clearly and rationally. The wrong attorney uses these emotions and feeds it to build bi...llable hours. The wrong attorney promises things that most often they know they can't deliver, again, just to build billable hours. At the end of last October my marriage started to unravel and suddenly within one weeks it came to an end. I was faced with having to hire an attorney. I always do lots of research before doing anything but time was not on my side. I studied the web, looked up many attorneys, read their bios, and read reviews as much as I could. I narrowed the field down to seven attorneys and tried to talk with them or to meet with them. Several of them never returned my call. I made an appointment with five. I had the good fortune to meet with Mr. Pearlstein as my second appointment and after leaving his office I cancelled all other appointments. He was and is amazing. He listened to me attentively, he never gave me false promises. What I really appreciated was that he did not take the position of let's fry the other side, and let's do this and that. As we worked together I began to realize just how fortunate I was. He knew exactly how to calm me down, how to communicate with the other side, he knew exactly what to do. He knows the law, what is the right thing to do and all along I knew that his most important focus was the best outcome for me and absolutely, definitely not building billable hours. I have developed such respect and appreciation for this man and I am so grateful for finding him. I am not much for writing reviews but if you are in the position of needing a family lawyer I would definitely say that he is in my opinion absolutely the best. During a divorce one stands to lose much with the wrong lawyer and to end up with an astronomical legal fee on top of the losses is not something that one recovers from. I believe that Mr. Pearlstein delivers the best outcome as he has done for me."

My experience is similar to the other one star rating. I was blindsided with a protective order that was the opening salvo in a nasty divorce and contacted Mr. Pearlstein as a result of glowing testimonials. With the PO I needed immediate representation and, to be fair, he said he had schedule confli...cts with existing cases but eventually said he represent me. I was contacted by a junior attorney who brushed aside questions about experience and strategy, including my desire for a continuation of the case for better preparation and why she was wasting resources attempting to serve a subpoena on my spouse when we were due in court the following day (the charge came for that folly was about $700 as I recall). Cut to the chase, my desire for a continuance was brushed off; the junior attorney had poor trial skills, including a complete inability to cross-examine; a 1 year PO w/3 hrs a week of supervised visitation was imposed, despite my spouse's; and I was hit with an additional $800 bill. The junior attorney stopped responding to my calls and I turned to MY SPOUSE'S ATTORNEY for recommendations on visitation supervisors, which turned out to be the best advice I received in my divorce, as the supervisor became my best witness. My eventual attorney couldn't understand the rationale for the decisions that were made at this important event, which set the acrimonious tone and put me in an unnecessary hole, which was eventually mitigated but never overcome. I'm sure that Mr. Pearlstein is an excellent attorney; I've heard more than one person rave about him. Unfortunately one can only shower him with accolades if one receives his representation, not that of a less competent surrogate.

Mr. Pearlstein represented me in a difficult child support modification case. From the beginning he explained where I stood from a legal standpoint, counseled me with patience and understanding through the difficult phases of the case and in the end, negotiated a result that was better than I ever d...reamed! Mr. Pearlstein is the consummate professional. He always had my best interests in mind as well as my children and was willing to fight hard for me when I didn't think I had any fight left.. I always knew I could trust his advice (which is saying a lot as many people I know have changed divorce lawyers numerous times). I never for one second thought I was fighting this battle alone. And through it all, Mr. Pearlstein was able to stay objective for me when I wasn't. As far as family law lawyers go, Mr. Pearlstein is simply the best. I highly recommend him. I would never use anyone else.