Elyse Peck Margolin

Elyse Margolin is simply amazing. I WILL NOT go to court without her by my side. She is worth every penny. This woman is a shark in the courtroom, but a sweetheart to her clients. She advises me truthfully, even if it's not going looking good for me. She'll tell me what I can TRULY expect as the... outcome. She comes up with strategies that blindside my ex and his attorney. I had a bad prior experience with another attorney and Elyse had to pick up the pieces and still won in court for me. This was 10 years ago. I've been out of the courtroom for many years now, but she still picked up the phone when I called her just recently for advice on something current. Trust me, you NEED Elyse Margolin in the courtroom on your side!!

I hired Elyse because she told me what I wanted to hear. Her sales job sounded great. But it was just a sales job. While I do believe she has great ideas, she cannot seem to focus on your case. She never follows through on her ideas because she's either too busy or just doesn't care. As a result, yo...u are constantly disappointed until you've had enough. She doesn't have time to work on your case herself so she hands off the work to various junior attorneys in her office that are not up to speed on the details of your case. It was so frustrating to spend an obnoxious amount of money for Elyse's time and knowledge but then have the output written so poorly and weakly by the other attorneys. I would have to spend hours working and rewriting documents with the attorneys just to get basic facts correct. All the knowledge she has about your case was wasted because the info never got put in the papers. If Elyse had just written the documents herself, they would have been more accurate, would have been done quickly and I wouldn't have been double billed for all the rework. Elyse would always push an issue to go to court instead of just compromising. It wasn't until another lawyer friend of mine pointed out that this is what lawyers do to bill more. If the divorce was amicable or settled quickly, she couldn't bill as much. When Elyse started saying we will have to go to trial when we were just in the discovery phase, I knew something was wrong. She was pushing us to trial instead of settlement so she could bill more. My ex's attorney, was only $55 per hour less but his bill was significantly less than mine, about 20% of my monthly bill! The difference in the amount of the monthly bill was shocking. I would get invoices months late yet I would be bullied by her office manager for payment even though I never got an invoice! No matter how many large checks I would write her, I always seemed to be $80,000 behind. When I ask how this is possible, they don't give you invoices or details, just a comment about how charges are constantly being incurred. I guess the fact they never gave me invoices meant they don't want me to check those charges. She is very nice and charismatic but beware. She will make sure your divorce will cost not less than $350,000. She charges top dollar but gives you junior level work. You will be frustrated and annoyed when you realize how much money you wasted when you go to another firm. I have a new lawyer now and my mind is finally relaxed. The best decision I've ever made in my divorce was firing her firm.

Elyse has been my lawyer for 4 or so years. She has supported and navigated me through a nasty, complicated divorce and custody battle. She was a blessing to find. She has been very effective and achieved what I wanted. She is so kind and is always available to me!! This has been the hardest fight... of my life and she has really been there for me to ease the pain. She explains everything and is very proactive. Her team is very nice and has welcomed me in and handled my case very well. They look out for me like family and have helped me out so much not only legally , but mentally and emotionally. They are intelligent and will fight for you!

My divorce from my ex-husband became unnecessarily nasty and challenging as I was the income-earner and he wanted EVERYTHING from me -- both financially and emotionally. The divorce laws in California were a complete shock to me. Elyse patiently walked me through her expertly thought-out strategy an...d astutely answered every question always keeping her eye on the goal – which was to mitigate my potential damages. Elyse not only did her job amazingly well, but her fees were more than reasonable. As a matter of fact, I would repeatedly thank her for not charging me for numerous things including when I e-mailed or even called with a quick question. The firm staff is equally accommodating, knowledgeable and clearly know what they are doing. When it finally came time to go to court, I was thoroughly impressed with her presentation of my case and it was apparent that the judge felt the same way. Elyse got the job done better than I expected. I can't thank Elyse enough for her expertise, professionalism and deep knowledge of family/divorce law -- all wrapped in compassion and understanding.

Elyse Margolin represented my (now) husband during the 3 years of his extremely rancorous, bitter divorce. She was unfailingly sharp and attentive to the many twists and turns of this complex matter, made even more difficult by the endless- and endlessly nasty -machinations of the (now) ex-wife and... her legal team. Elyse' advice to us was always timely, well-considered, and thoughtful. I will say further that Elyse showed patience and kindness to my husband, who has some cognitive issues that make him inappropriately dogmatic at times. At the satisfactory conclusion of our extended divorce saga, we told Elyse that we are in her debt forever.... as indeed we are.