Frank Giovanni Cortese

Chose Cortese over a couple other lawyers I was considering and met to review all docs and possibly file same day. He would not give me a quote, but most hadn't so I did not think twice. When we finished consult, he asked me to sign and wait an hour for him to put paperwork together to file that day.... I was floored when he said the fee would be double what the average is in Chicago, but there was a payment plan. I had to think it over and he was fine with that. We scheduled a second meeting. He wanted the initial payment in cash at our next meeting. I went home to evaluate my finances and realized I cannot afford to take that cash out and asked to reschedule. He informed me he "will not be able to accept" my case because he cannot allow for rescheduling due to his inability to be flexible. His office is a rented space in one of those multi-company temp office spaces and he walked in as I was arriving the first afternoon. He sure did not appear to have people busting his door down where my reschedule would cause that much of a kink. Definitely would not recommend him as his prices is outrageous and he obviously has enough on his plate.

I was in a chapter 13 Bankruptcy which I was paying for a solid 2 years. I decided that it would be much more beneficial for me to do a conversion from a 13 to a 7. I had given Frank all of the information requested, paid all of the fees for a successful conversation. I had fully disclosed that in my... past I had already filed a chapter 7 and it needed to be exactly 8 years before we could file. He filed the conversion too early resulting in a dismissal of my request. Now that the time has passed and it is truly with-in the time frame he wants me to pay more attorney fees and another court filing fee. I feel that it was his mistake and oversight in the error which caused the dismissal. I requested a refund for the fees that I had paid and was told no that they are nonrefundable. At the very least a refund should have been given so I could have used that for the refiling fee and attorney fees re requested.

I hired frank Cortese and he is very rude. He does not like to be questioned nor does he like to answer any of your questions. Any debt that you were aware of rather it’s real debt it estimated he expects you to pay. He does not fight for his clients. I referred four people to him but that was before... I realized who he was. As long as you don’t have any questions about your case he’s great but thr moment you question him his response is “Don’t question me I’m the best in Illinois” as if his services are free and after doing a little research he is not the best in Illinois. He has no compassion at all. He can text your phone and if you text him back his response is “per your contract please do not text me” as if he didn’t just text you but again that’s only when you’re questioning something. He has a “I don’t care attitude” and thinks just because you’re financial situation is the way it is that he can talk to you any kind of way but if I didn’t have my debt he wouldn’t have a job. I would never refer anyone to him again and have asked him to withdraw from my attorney.