Daniel Ross Levine

I trusted Daniel R. Levine of Padula Bernardo Levine, LLP on two cases to fight for justice on my behalf, but my experience with him has been nothing short of a nightmare. Mr. Levine mainly represents employers and I wasn’t aware of this when I hired him. He sided with them during my case and did ...not advocate for me. He has a fragile ego and thinks he’s in command, not the client. He also wants to “drive the bus”, so if a client advocates for his/herself, he will lash out in anger and use the retainer to coerce you to take a quick settlement for a quick payout or risk withdrawing from the case. As an attorney, his role should have been to stand up for me and hold companies accountable for retaliation and wrongdoing. Instead, he betrayed my trust, abandoned my cases-not once, but twice. He showed that he is more interested in quick settlements, his own convenience, and ego-rather than truly advocating for his clients. My case is against an airport contractor which involved OSHA retaliation after I reported serious safety concerns. This wasn’t a minor issue—it was about standing up to a company that retaliated against me for standing up for justice. Initially, Dan took my case, but his true intentions quickly became clear. His focus was not on fighting for justice, but on pressuring me into accepting a low-ball settlement offer to end the case and move on to the next client. Dan crafted his retainer agreement in a way that makes it easy for him to abandon his clients if they refuse to settle on terms he finds acceptable for himself. The agreement contains provisions allowing him to withdraw if a client refuses to accept a settlement offer he deems ‘reasonable,’ effectively coercing clients into taking low-ball offers. When I made it clear that I wasn’t willing to undervalue my case and accept an unfair offer, Dan Levine used his retainer as a way out. He withdrew from my case right at the beginning of settlement negotiations, leaving me completely defenseless. His actions weren’t just unethical—they were calculated. He created a way to prioritize his own convenience over his clients’ rights. What’s worse, Dan Levine treated opposing counsel with far more kindness and deference than he ever showed me, his own client. He was soft and appeasing with them, but when it came to me, he turned into an aggressive litigator—not to fight for me, but to fight against me. He applied more pressure on me, the employee, than on the very same employer who had wronged me. This wasn’t the first time Dan let me down. I also trusted him with another case after firing another law firm, and he failed me there too. He promised to take action, but instead, he delayed for days, crafted a weak demand letter that showed no real commitment to fighting, and then abandoned me when he realized it wasn’t an easy win. Needless to say, another attorney took the case, saw what he did not, and is fighting the case diligently. Dan’s repeated failures have proven to me that he isn’t in this business to fight for employees—he’s in it for himself and quick, easy settlements. If you’re considering Daniel R. Levine, I strongly urge you to think twice. My experience with him has been one of: betrayal, abandonment, and frustration. He is not the aggressive advocate he may claim to be. Instead, he prioritizes his own convenience, crafts retainers to give himself an easy way out, and will turn on the employee faster than he will stand up to the employer. No one should have to go through what I’ve endured—being wronged by a company and then wronged again by the very attorney I trusted to fight for me. His actions are a betrayal of what an attorney should stand for, and I feel it is my responsibility to warn others. If you are seeking representation, I urge you to choose your attorney carefully. Someone like Dan Levine might leave you worse off than where you started.