Christopher Karlen

Chris was an amazing lawyer during my divorce. I always felt like I could depend on Chris to protect my interests and also be honest with me about what the law said. I felt his fees were never too high and that he charged me for the minimum hours. Practically, he always helped me feel much more co...nfident about the case when I became worried.

Chris Karlen was my third attorney in an extremely contentious and litigious divorce; I wish he had been my first. My first attorney was arrogant, lazy, and incompetent. She played the petty power game of always making me wait at least 10 minutes for her, did not return emails or phone calls, and fai...led check a simple box on a legal form that cost me time with my children. My second attorney was cowered by an aggressive, domineering GAL and was always ready to acquiesce to opposing counsel’s demands. My first meeting with Chris was at 7:00 am; I was five minutes early, he was waiting for me. He doesn’t text, there are very few emails, but he will call you to discuss every detail that is relevant to your case. Additionally, if you need to call him on a Saturday night at 10:00 pm, he will take your call as he is probably still working. To everything there is an art. Paul McCartney would sometimes do eighty takes to perfect a song, Hemingway rewrote “The Old Man and the Sea” thirty-seven times. Chris has a pathological need to work, his father is still working at 90-years old. It sounds a little strange, but doing divorce law is his art. Law, especially divorce litigation, is a very dynamic playing field. In a divorce there may be children, custody issues, parenting concerns and proving allegations, negotiating maintenance, and the variable of going to trial. After thee decades of solely divorce practice, Chris’s genius is in outcome optimization. He does this by analyzing the extant facts, weighing probably outcomes, knowing the vulnerabilities of the opposing side, being mindful of the costs of litigation, and being able to weave a successful course that may be a settlement, may be going to trial, or may even be a combination of negotiation and a trial. Divorce is an excruciatingly difficult time, which unfortunately is often exacerbated by people having to hassle with their own attorney that they are supposedly paying to help them. Hire Chris, be honest with him, and he will navigate you through this difficult passage in you life.

When I met Chris, I did not think I would like him for two reasons. First, he is an attorney, two of my best friends are attorneys, and they are difficult people. Chris is also from Philadelphia. I used to live on the East Coast and found Philly, sports fans to be obnoxious, intolerant, and generall...y not supportive. Chris is a very genuine, kind, and a straight forward individual. The divorce experience was not something I want to relive. I also thought I would dread the interactions with my lawyer. Instead, I looked forward to our meetings and conversations. Chris was "to the point", and he kept me focused, but he also consistently assured me that things would be resolved, and they were. Choosing Chris Karlen as my attorney was one of the best decisions I have made. No one can communicate the ultimate outcome of a divorce or forecast how expensive the fees will be. When the process started, I attempted to budget the attorney's fees. When the divorce was finalized, my fees were about 60 to 65% of my original estimate. I believe this is because Karlen is experienced, extremely efficient and effective. If you are looking for someone to honestly, fairly, and effectively represent you, then your choice should be Christopher Karlen. Dan

Mr. Chris Karlen was the most incompetent lawyer we have ever had to deal with. He fails horribly to communicate with his clients and to provide information and updates concerning case status,. He is self-absorbed with his own grandiose opinion of himself. It was impossible to get Mr. Karlen to ke...ep us informed about our case. He never provided letters with updates, case status, outcome of defendant conversations, results of actions pursued, etc. When he did speak with us he will only speak on the phone so that there is no paper trail. He will promise everything but not follow through. He incorrectly completed and failed to file documents. We had to correct and sometimes generate documents he needed to file and also had to remind him of impending deadlines. When he does talk to clients he is extremely arrogant and talks down to his clients. In our entire one year experience he never performed the single, most important objective of our case, the purpose for which he was hired, to request discovery of documents. When we finally dumped Karlen, and began using another attorney (at 1/3rd the cost), we realized, even more so, what a pathetic job he had done and how refreshing it is to work with a professional attorney. Not an arrogant, jack leg. With our new attorney within weeks we had discovery documents filed, full written communication about what was being done and what was going on with our case. It was Be very careful doing business with this firm. As a client, we found many instances of incompetence and false promises. Demand all communication be done via email/in writing, the attorney makes many false promises and wishes to avoid any type of paper trail. The law firm has no concern for their client’s best interests. If a future client of this attorney is not familiar with the law and does not monitor this law firm closely, I fear they will be terribly exploited. Our overall experience with this attorney and the other firm partners is that they were unprofessional, rude, arrogant, and insulting. 1. Incompetence - Some examples include: 1.1. Most baffling is the fact that after 14 months the attorney had still not requested written discovery (request for production of documents) which was our primary objective and always the very first step to be taken. 2. Communication: 2.1. More often than not, attorney would never reply. When motions were submitted, phone calls made to the defendant, courts, etc. attorney failed to follow-up and tell us what had transpired. We did not receive copies of documents and attorney was uncooperative answering questions and responding to emails. 3. Phone conversations & questionable honesty: 3.1. We had an impossible time staying informed and had horrible experiences trying to get any information about what was occurring or had transpired. We could not get answers to specific questions/issues via phone but instead had some unnecessarily long winded and unproductive discussions. 3.2. Things that were said and agreed upon over the phone were not carried out at all, or in the manner plaintiff had requested. Attorney consistently failed to do what he promised, or would sometimes do the opposite of what was requested. 3.3. Attorney stated in the first meeting that he preferred telephone communications. We though this odd in this day and age, but we complied. We then finally realized this was the attorney’s way of avoiding a paper trail and not getting pinned down on anything he had said or promised. At that point, we requested all communications be done via email. After that request, attorney’s communication became almost non-existent. 4. The Law Firm’s attitude, ethics, and manner: 4.1. Plaintiff was forced to send multiple emails to the other partners of the firm with complaints. Nothing was done and no one ever even responded. We have full supporting documentation to back up all our claims.