Michael John Kretzmer

I am currently going through a high-conflict divorce in Los Angeles, California. Unfortunately, following allegations made by my estranged spouse that I believe are false, DCFS became involved in my family’s situation. I hired Mr. Kretzmer because of his reputation for working within the DCFS system ...in West Los Angeles. During the nine weeks Mr. Kretzmer represented me, I was extremely disappointed with the lack of meaningful progress on my case. He repeatedly told me he would contact DCFS County Counsel to advocate for increased visitation, help facilitate a change in my daughter’s school, and assist in getting her into therapy. However, after following up with him numerous times over the course of several weeks, I discovered that communications he had represented as having been sent earlier were, in fact, only sent that day. I was also deeply concerned by what I perceived as his unprofessional communication and conduct. He would regularly call me and yell or curse at me, send similarly hostile text messages, and speak to me this way in front of therapists. I also felt that he repeatedly mischaracterized my situation to County Counsel, which undermined my confidence in his ability to advocate effectively on my behalf. Additionally, he frequently confused facts from my case with those of other cases, which raised serious concerns for me about his familiarity with the details of my family’s circumstances. Despite these issues, I was billed for numerous hours without receiving what I considered meaningful work product. On at least one occasion, I drafted a memorandum to opposing counsel myself, and he subsequently sent it through his own email and billed me for that communication. Eventually, Mr. Kretzmer insisted that I seek other legal representation. However, he refused to return my retainer, despite my concerns about the work performed and the fees charged. While I was in the process of transitioning to new counsel, he blocked my phone number. This occurred during an especially distressing period when both my daughter and son were being detained by DCFS in connection with the situation involving their mother. One of my most troubling concerns involved my three-year-old daughter telling me that her mother was hitting her. When I raised this issue with Mr. Kretzmer, I felt that he dismissed my concern and told me I should not make such claims. To be clear, I was reporting what my young daughter had told me, not presenting it as something I had personally witnessed. I expected my attorney to take such a disclosure seriously and advise me appropriately on how to address it. Going through a high-conflict divorce involving DCFS is already an incredibly stressful and emotionally difficult experience. I hired Mr. Kretzmer expecting knowledgeable legal guidance, professional communication, and meaningful advocacy for my children and me. Unfortunately, my experience fell far short of those expectations. Based on my personal experience, I would strongly encourage anyone considering Mr. Kretzmer to carefully research their options, ask detailed questions about his approach to communication and case management, and thoroughly clarify billing and retainer-refund policies before hiring him. I would not choose to work with him again.

I hired Michael Kretzmer in January 2026 and terminated him three weeks later for gross negligence.He is, without question, one of the most arrogant, incompetent, and unprofessional attorneys I have ever encountered. Although he was recommended by a trusted family law attorney, I deeply regret ignori...ng the numerous negative reviews I found online.From the very beginning, Michael displayed an extremely short temper. He repeatedly yelled at me, cursed, insulted me, and spoke to me in a condescending manner. His behavior was shockingly disrespectful, especially toward a paying client. He frequently belittled me and made me feel foolish for asking questions.On the first day of court, he arrived five hours late. The day before, he had assured me he would make it on time after handling another case in Downtown LA — something that was clearly impossible. He repeatedly gave me incorrect information about DCFS requirements. When I confronted him about it, he dismissively told me to “get over it” and that “it’s not a hill to die on.”He also advised me to speak with the police without an attorney present, which I found highly unusual and concerning. After everything I experienced, I find it difficult to believe he has 40 years of experience. His lack of basic professionalism, poor client treatment, and apparent unfamiliarity with DCFS and Juvenile Court procedures were alarming. When we appeared in Juvenile Court, no one seemed to know who he was, and the judge even questioned whether he was qualified to practice there. I strongly recommend avoiding Michael Kretzmer. This was a very costly and stressful mistake.

I hired this attorney 2 months ago at the recommendation of my family law attorney as he claimed Kretzmer had dependency court experience. This attorney took $10,000 from me and did next to nothing for me. I had to fire him within days of my trial because he had not even subpoenaed any of my witness...es for the trial and simply asked me to call them and ask if they would come. This attorney also told me I had to figure out all of my exhibits by myself, which I did, and felt like I was in the dark the whole time with my questions on how to figure out what the exhibits should be since he never responded to any of my texts asking for his advice on what to use as my exhibits. During the time he was in dependency court for me (twice) he steadily charged me while working on other cases the entire 8-9 hours we were there at $500/hour. I've been trying to get a response from him for 3 weeks in a row regarding the refund of what's left of my $10,000 retainer. I received one reply immediately after I fired him where he states he'll get me an invoice and that I probably owe him more money. my experience with this attorney is that he simply doesn't care about you or your case and will expect you to do most of the legwork on your own. I'm grateful the judge allowed for a continuance of my case so that my new attorney can pick up the pieces I was able to fragment together and lead me in the right direction now.

The one star I gave is far too generous for this man. He belittled his 12 years old client, did not refund the retainer he did not use until I had to report him to the State Bar, and even at that - he only refunded 1/2 the amount owed, and that took nearly 2 years. I had numerous meetings with both... Mr. Kretzmer and another attorney - and I timed the meetings as to not go far over my budget since their rates are extremely high. EVERY meeting that the 3 of us had, the other attorney billed me within 5 minutes of the time I had noted. Mr. Kretzmer billed me for as much as 40 minutes more than either the other attorney had billed or I had notated - FOR THE SAME MEETING. I can only presume that there is a high possibility that Mr. Kretzmer padded all of his billed times. Unfortunately, except for the times where there were 3 of us in the meeting, it became his word against mine - and since he already was holding my retainer, apparently Mr. Kretzmer works on the theory of possession of my money is 9/10ths of the law. There are so many better choices than him when hiring an attorney. DO not go to this man unless you do not care if you are over billed, treated poorly, and do not care if you do not get your unused retainer fees back.

If it was possible to have zero stars, that is more accurate. Mr. Kretzmer was lazy and did not represent my needs, only what was in his best interest. He did not even take care of the basics such as transferring my case file to my new counsel. In reviewing his work (or lack thereof) every subsequ...ent attorney who saw it was appalled.