L. Steven Rakowski

I engaged Mr. Rakowski (LSR) in April 2023 to assist with Judgment enforcement matters. In August 2023, he blindsided me by filing a petition to withdraw while demanding that I pay him $7000 to continue representation without having provided me with an invoice of services supporting his demand. T...his was during a time when he was supposed to be cleaning the mess he created by filing a Petition for Rule to Show (Indirect Civil Contempt) without any claimed amount, being able to mention the paragraphs of the Judgment violated, nature of the violation OR present Exhibits and evidence during the hearing to support the petition. That was the beginning of my nightmarish encounters as events spiraled out of control. He would then file several unnecessary and avoidable motions to modify, compel, and clarify, attempting to rectify his errors and failings while racking up legal fees. And then, he demanded $7000 for the work to clean up this mess without providing me with a supporting invoice. He attempted to coerce me into paying him that amount and when I pushed back, he quickly filed his withdrawal and then immediately filed a petition for attorney fees after the withdrawal was granted. Important to point out that none of the matters I engaged him for were resolved by the time he withdrew, including the petition for reimbursement of child expenses that the Court denied without prejudice because of LSR's failure to state any owed amounts. LSR claimed he was working on drafting a new petition for refiling and billed me over $1,000 for that supposed work in the invoice. However, I never saw a draft of that petition prior to his abrupt withdrawal. And he would then have the audacity to file a petition for fees against me because he thinks the law allows it and he would rather leverage what he believes to be law to oppress his client than do what is right. Zero accountability!! Suffice it to say that I am now representing myself Pro Se and had to refile the petition for child expenses reimbursement myself, which the Court conducted a hearing on and ordered the respondent to pay me the amount claimed. In hindsight, I would have been much better off doing this on my own with very little help from the Law Library. The library has all the applicable straightforward forms. The matters were not complicated. It was post-divorce and didn't require any discovery. I have the Judgment. And there were evidence and documentation to support its violation. But LSR made the process and filing so messed up and complicated so that he could then bill me over $11,000 attempting to clean the mess. Engaging LSR is the worst mistake I have made all through my pre-divorce and post-divorce journey. I would have rated him a zero star if I could but unfortunately, the minimum I could give is 1.

Steve has terrific in helping me sell my house in Northbrook. Although it was not his usual family-related case, he showed me he also a full-service attorney, who could handle any legal issue that arose. When I had to drive to the west coast after the moving van left, Steve handled the entire closi...ng without me present. I had so much peace of mind as I was passing through Montanna that Steve was there, looking out for my best interests. He assured everything went off without a hitch even though the buyer of my house was a troublesome person who would have tried the patience of the Pope. Steve took care of everything in my absence, even taking the settlement check down to my broker to put in my investment account. Now that's going the extra mile!

As a single father fighting for 50% parenting allocation of his children, I could not have picked a exceptional lawyer to fight for my rights than Steve Rakowski. Steve was very honest and upfront about the process and what to expect during it. Steve is very knowledgeable and experienced in child c...ustody cases and he uses that knowledgeable and experienced to help you achieve your goals. It’s funny, but he seems to know the opposition lawyers game plan they try to use and he knows how to fight it. One of the best qualities I like in Steve is that he is very matter of fact; he does not try to sugarcoat things or set false expectations. He lays out what the game plan is and the scenarios that could possibly come from it so you are well aware and there are little to no surprises. I would and have recommended Steve to some of my closest friends, and they are as happy as I am with his work

I was going through a horrible divorce where my ex-wife and her team played dirty. Steve with his years of legal service told me we can beat this and knew how to handle it. He was always there to talk and offer guidance. His team worked very hard to get the divorce final with the terms and conditi...ons I wanted!