Anthony Joseph Catena

Tony represented me in a civil matter where my ex's attorney was seeking a civil harassment restraining order against me to gain advantage over me in our custody dispute. She claimed that I had sent her harassing emails and was showing up to her office. There was a perfectly good explanation for wha...t little truth her allegations carried. All that was needed from Tony was to thoroughly question me on the witness stand. Not pull some legal strategy out of a hat, not destroy their credibility, but to just ask me questions. How hard could that be right? Well, it turned out that Tony has no integrity, and is just a giant sellout who made plans to betray me, to help the other side prevail. Sadly, I didnt realize this until day 2 of our 2-day trial. On day 1, I was called to testify by the other side. As expected, the questions that were posed to me elicited answers favorable to Plaintiff. I thought its OK, the truth will come out when Tony cross-examines me. Instead Tony RESERVED, to combine his cross with his direct examination. When I asked him about it, it was allegedly so we have more time to prep, for both my direct and cross. And we did prep, but as it turned out for no reason. On day 2, Tony was a sweaty mess, dropping things, flipping pages nervously. He seemed completely unprepared, which I knew could not be the case, because we prepped less that 24 hours prior. When I finally took the stand, he asked me the most mundane questions which did not tell my story at all. If I tried to elaborate on something, the judge would say "wait until a question is posed to you" and the question would never come. Even worse, since this was not what we prepped, I was totally confused and caught off guard, so Im sure my body language made me seem like I had something to be nervous about. I realized that Tony had betrayed me when the other side hyper-focused on a line from my email "your client gets caught, but its my fault for recording...." I was talking about video recording our son with my phone once when my ex didn't realize that I was recording and began to snap at and belittle our son, and my phone caught it. In context, that line was clear sarcasm, but the opponent was now presenting it as an admission of wrongdoing. When I nudged Tony to shut it down, he loudly snapped at me "why were you recording if you weren't supposed to?!" Mind you, this was my 11 year old child of whom I had custody. There is no such thing as "not supposed to”. I was so heart broken, I just walked out of the courtroom and left. Later Tony emailed me the restraining order. His email said "I know you wanted to explain yourself, but that DOES NOT GO TO THE HEART OF THE ISSUE” He also said “The fact is that you sent **** a multitude of emails that the court found to be harassing and outside the litigation privilege. The court found that those messages constitute a course of conduct with NO LEGITIMATE PURPOSE". Umm, well my explanation would have provided the legitimacy of my purpose. And how could it not go to the heart of the issue, when its one of the elements a plaintiff must establish in order to prevail? If you are not yet convinced that Tony is a sellout, when Plaintiff had me prosecuted for allegedly violating her bogus protection order, I subpoenaed Tony to testify as my witness. Instead of calling me to discuss the case, he would only talk to the prosecutor. Do your research before hiring this guy. Go to the courts in the counties he allegedly practices and pull his cases. And Im not just talking about the matters on which he was attorney of record. pull his OWN cases, you will learn a lot about him. After he betrayed me and I fired him, Tony continued to pull money out of the trust account for random little tasks. Whats worse is Tony betrayed me knowing that it will definitely ruin my custody case, as it did. Tony knew that he was orphaning my son of a mom, and still went through with it. Damaged man...

I am profoundly disappointed and distressed by the services provided by this law firm during my custody case. Following a paid consultation, I enlisted the assistance of Anthony Joseph (Tony) Catena #292665. However, he promptly delegated my case to an associate with less than a year of experience si...nce being accepted to the CA bar. When I questioned why Tony Catena wasn't representing me in court, I was informed of a supposed conflict on the day of my hearing. Unfortunately, the inexperience of the associate they assigned was strongly evident, resulting in an outcome far worse than anticipated. Despite assurances, the firm failed to execute any of the discussed strategies, leaving crucial tasks such as the discovery call, deposition, and communication with my ex unaddressed. Tony Catena justified these omissions by citing a desire to minimize costs, a justification I find suspicious given the hefty $33,000 fee. Moreover, I was advised against pursuing a restraining order against my ex, effectively casting me as the sole culprit despite enduring relentless harassment and aggression from my ex. This situation has been immensely difficult for both me and my daughter. I implore others not to find themselves in a similar predicament. Seek out attorneys who genuinely prioritize your circumstances and provide robust advocacy rather than simply billing large amounts without delivering meaningful defense. To current clients who may be experiencing warning signs such as excessive billing, communication lapses, and the substitution of associates for the hired attorney, I urge you to cut ties and seek superior representation before it's too late.

Tony was hired by a friend of mine escaping domestic violence and threats to her life. She was taken to court by her ex for custody of their daughter. I helped this friend closely during this process, and was very involved in the court process in addition to all the personal aspects of such a situati...on. Tony was like a grounding pillar during this time of turbulence and fear. He was not only extremely professional, his kindness and patience were so remarkable that at times it brought me to tears. He not only believed my friend, he was exceptionally good at helping to keep her calm and grounded and rational when fear would allow her to get carried away. He fought well for her and her daughter, and went above and beyond to help make the process bearable. The case was won with a better outcome than I even imagined possible (I had no idea abusive parents could be required to prove psychological progress in treatment) and I intend to recommend Tony to anyone I know in need of a kind, compassionate, dedicate attorney.

After meeting with several attorneys about our guardianship case and getting lots of advice & feedback, my wife and I decided to hire Tony. He made us feel very comfortable from our very first meeting. He was well educated in the process of what needed to be done and followed through with the neces...sary preparation to eventually win the case. Tony’s approach and commitment to his practice was a huge factor in our winning the case. He takes on just enough clients to allow himself to give full and proper attention to each case. He is not an attorney that overloads his work schedule. He made us feel like our case was important to him and not just another case. He was always available to answer questions weather it be by phone, text or email. Tony is very detailed and diligent in his work. He developed a plan of action that covered all possible angles so that we were ready and totally prepared for our day in court. He was very inclusive of our input as we discussed certain strategies. Not only was his pre-court work very thorough but he really helped my wife and I feel comfortable during trial. Being in a court room was new for us and Tony prepared us as to what to expect as well as helped us to keep our emotions in check during the actual trial. Our case took four visits in front of the judge before my wife and I were granted permanent guardianship of our niece. It was clear that Tony’s knowledge of law, preparation of our case, presentation of the facts and professional court room demeanor played a huge factor in the judge deciding in our favor. Thank you Tony for helping to keep our family together!

Mr. Catena, is an exceptional lawyer. I am a Pastor and believe that somethings like: integrity, passion, honesty and execution are qualities of God or a higher power. I had the unfortunate experience of having had to sue a large social network company like Über. I felt this particular company did ...not display the qualities I live by, and teach my congregation to uphold. More importantly, the legally failed to keep there stated commitment and service to me. I was devastated and out of thousands of dollars, so I called around for countless lawyers that wanted to charge me retainers that would leave me virtually broke, only for the satisfaction of justice but no guarantee of return of my lost funds. I finally reached Mr. Catena office and he listened intently to my case facts in a free consultation! Told me that this would be a case he would be interested in taking and thought he could certainly present the facts clearly, which would potentially recover my lost. When I asked his price for this justice and was told 500.00 dollars I was amazed at someone so credentialed and busy would offer such a price based on his passion to want to assist a Pastor that didn't have much money. Mr. Catena won my case hands down!!! The judge awarded me my lost and I was never so satisfied to see, my conviction of the bible verse, "the truth shall make your free" personified in everyday life. My name is Rev. Marcus A. Murchinson, Senior Pastor of The Tree of Life Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles, California and I approve this message and Highly RECOMMED ANYHONY CATENA AS YOUR LAWYER and as a conduit God will use to make your free.