Paul Stanko

I’ve noticed that Paul responds to negative reviews by denying that the reviewer was his client. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if he did the same to me. Surely, we are all just lying. If you read the negative reviews, you’ll see that a common theme is LACK OF COMMUNICATION. This is absolutely true! I h...ired Paul for a case in December 2017. He kept postponing my court dates despite me asking him that I would like to get the case over with ASAP (I have screenshots of me texting him this with no responses from him btw). Well, after postponing my court dates for OVER A YEAR, I was finally able to START my pretrial diversion program in April 2019. The program lasts a year so my case could have been dismissed by now if he had not postponed my case for over a year. It’s 2020 and I still have a few more months of pretrial diversion for a case from 2017!!! I recently consulted with 3 other lawyers about this and they were all appalled at how long my case took and said that if they had been my lawyer, the goal would have been to get me on pretrial diversion ASAP. I cannot stress enough how poorly he communicates. He does not have a receptionist so you always get sent to voicemail, which for the past two years that I’ve been his client has ALWAYS been full so you can’t even leave a message. I’ve also tried to reach him through email and text. Out of the dozens of texts I’ve sent, he’s rarely replied. He’s also given me erroneous information regarding the pretrial program, which leads me to believe he lacks the knowledge and competence to handle such cases. I wish I would have hired a good lawyer instead, but I unfortunately paid him in full at the very beginning and could not afford to switch to another lawyer. I hope he tries to deny that I’m his client, because I’d gladly take screenshots of the dozens of emails, phone calls, and texts I’ve sent him over the past 2 years so you can see for yourself to just how many he’s replied (I’m pretty sure I can figure out how to upload photos of screenshots along with my review).

From the first day that I called Mr. Stanko, in need of his services, he was very quick to respond. He was direct about his fees and the expectations of the process of my case. When I had to go to court, Mr. Stanko was at my side and knew exactly what the score was. He made sure that everything ha...ppened promptly, in fact, on one occasion, he even got me out of the courthouse 5 minutes before I was set to appear. Overall, I was very satisfied with my involvement with Mr. Stanko.

Mr. Stanko was my attorney for an owi. Innitally he was very convincing that I needed his services. He promptly returned my calls. After paying Mr. Stanko through his website he quit returning my calls and only responded sporadically via text. He literally spent more time in smalltalk w...ith the prosecuting attorney prior to the judge arriving to court than he did with me from start to finish for my entire owi. He never discussed with me questioning that took place in court that I should have been prepared for. I had no idea what my options were throughout the case. When I would call him he would not answer, and I know he got my calls because he would sometimes accidentally pocket dial me back. Voicmails went unanswered for months. He often changed my court dates due to his scheduling conflicts, lengthening the process. It was horrible not knowing if he was even working on my case or not. I wish I hadn't retained this attorney

I was a client or Mr.Stanko for ac second offense owi in Starke co. Indiana. I found him b from a web search and was impressed with his website. I called him and left a message and he returned my call early the next morning. After speaking I decided to take him on as my attorney and paid him $3,000.... Via debit card, upfront. From then on, Mr. Stanko was virtually unreachable by phone, text, or email. From my initial hearing to the probationary stage I was virtually in the dark about my case. I showed up for court one day only to receive a text from him saying "no court today" 20 minutes before we were due. We pled down my case with an agreement with the prosecutor, I was completely unprepared for court or any of the judges questioning. There was no prep with me. When I had reasonable questions about my requirements I could never reach this attorney by phone. I left over 30 voicmails with no reply. I finally called him from another number posing as a new client, he promptly returned my call, and explained that his computer had crashed and so he didnt get my voicemails. After probation was successfully completed he was supposed to make an appearance to have my sentence reduced from felony to misdemeanor by June or the agreement would expire. He was again, unreachable fro the entire month of may and June prior to my reduction hearing. Finally in August it was reduced after he made the appearance. Mr. Stanko was very knowledgeable but I do not recommend this attorney.

Being arrested and spending the night in jail could never be a pleasant experience, but Judge Stanko helped me make the best of a horrible time in my life, and I’m happy to share my experience to help others who get into trouble. I was arrested at Notre Dame on a Saturday night, and I started lookin...g for a lawyer as soon as I bonded out Sunday morning. I called Judge Stanko because of his great reviews, but I never expected him to answer his phone on a Sunday. He asked me if he could call me back later (he was on his way home from church), and I didn’t know if he would or not, but an hour later he called me back! The first thing I liked was how much he really seemed to care about my situation. He gave me lots of useful information before we even talked about fees. When he did quote a fee, he was very specific and didn’t try to con me into paying by the hour (he only charges flat fees, which my parents really liked). The other lawyers I talked to before him quoted lower fees, but then told me it would cost more if I actually had them DO something! All they would do for their lower fee was plead me guilty, which I could do myself! I went to his web site and paid his fee online, and as promised, he met me in court before my appointed time. You should know that court in South Bend starts at 8:00, but if you have a lawyer, he gets you past the long lines of people and gets you in and out before anyone else. I was back in my car going to class by 8:15! When I went to court, Judge Stanko had the magistrate sign an order letting me drive with an ignition interlock, instead of taking my license. Not everybody can get this, but my breath test was pretty low. The next time I went to court, after I finished my counseling and interlock, I pleaded guilty to public intoxication, my drunk driving case was dismissed, and I didn’t even get probation! You have a lot of lawyers to choose from, but the cheap lawyers are just going to plead you guilty. You should call Judge Stanko and let him help you.