Eliot Franklin Krieger

My wife filed divorce papers primarly asking the court to authorize the issuance of a passport to our US born son (she is a green card holder). Jarvis, Krieger & Sullivan asked a $5,000 retainer to start with, and based on their estimation, the case will be settled at 1st hearing (taking into account... the mediation & counseling time in California, which may take 6 months). The attorney assigned to my case did not sound strong enough to negotiate on my behalf, but I felt a bit encouraged when she drafted my response to the lawsuit, I felt that they found flaws in the documents filed against me, and as such, requested the dismassal of the case against me on grounds of inaccuracies of forms filed. Meanwhile, I started to notice that each time my phone ring, or I receive or send an e-mail, even a simple phone conversation or a "yes or no" type of e-mails, that my retainer is drained to the point that with the very few documents that needed to be filed, I was already down to about $3,500 on deposit, and the charges kept accumulating, with no justification or progress (charges like consulting with another attorny in firm, or with senior partner). Further, I often been charged for :"case review" or "discussion" with no apparent result or progress. At the 1st court hearing, the opposing attorney (although hated to be there, she was a pro-bono from the church charging no fees) walked allover me and my Jarvis attorney without any rebuttal or defense from my attorney. My attorney even allowed the opposing attorney to write the stipulations to file with the court that basically gave my wife what she needed (my agreement to allow my son to get a US passport & travel aboard), but my attorney did not negotiate a "take" or a settlement (as you normally do ...give ...and take). I ened up giving my wife what she asked for, while my attorney was silent and did not demand the opposing attorney to stipulate that they are not seeking child or spousal support, so the stipulation ened up been written by the opposing attorney with bad grammer, while my attorney sitting down doing nothing. A hearing was set 6 months hence. I could not undertand why my attorney did not insist on dropping the case after I authorize the travel of my son. So the door was left open to the opposing attorney to bring the matter allover again during the 2nd hearing. What was so amazing that I was being charged periodically within these 6 months of doing nothing "case review" charges that are ironic. As I have already been charged for strategy mettings & planning time and time again, but none of these so called strategies were implemented to solve my very simple divorce case. My attorney could not show up to the 2nd hearing, instead a very knowlegible attorney from the firm appeared. Meanwhile, i was being charged left & right with things like phone calls to the court to announce the replacing attorney, i was also charged for letting the court know that the new attorney would be late to arrive to cout, I was charged also for letting me know of the temp change of attornies all of such charges are bringing me no value and I should not have been resonsible for. During the 2nd hearing, now that I have a more experience attorney, i was charged at a higher rate, which is understandable, but the attorney was in court less than 3 hours, and although he had my file, he really was not abreast of the details of my case (although all the while, i was billed for meetings between the two attornies of the firm to discuss my case monthly, and sometimes weekly). They did not stop there! i was charged 5 + hours of court and consulting time, although he was there less than 3 hours. My simple case is still simple, but it did not end, there are two more hearings, and according to the firm, other than te $5,000 i already gave them, I still owe $1,500 + and they are asking me to deposit another $5,000 retainer for them to continue. otherwise, they will stop representing m

I am a grandparent who hired Eliot Krieger to help me get custody of my grandchild. My daughter had taken my grandchild and hidden her from me despite the fact I raised the child. My daughter was a drug addict and in no condition to raise a child. Jarvis & Krieger went in and were amazing. I now ...have full custody of my granddaughter and she is doing really well in school, is well adjusted and happy. Her mom visits her, but I now have control of the situation. I am so grateful to Eliot Krieger and the whole team that helped me at Jarvis & Krieger -- they saved my granddaughter. I can't recommend them highly enough.

My case was rather complex, and Mr. Krieger and Mr. Klausner (see sdditional review under his name) were amazingly effective. My ex made allegations of domestic violence in an effort to avoid paying me spousal support. Her allegations also triggered a criminal investigation as well as DCFS inves...tigation. To further complicate matters my ex pilfered the bank accounts and liquidated our stock portfolio and hid the money. This made hiring an attorney on my part rather difficult. Not many attorney's like having broke clients. However, JK&S (Scott Jarvis personally) lowered their retainer fee so that the limited signature loan that I could arrange was able to get my case filed and started. Mr. Klausner was then able to obtain an order than my ex pay my legal fees. The firm was able to assist me through the divorce and criminal court process with very skilled lawyering. The firm achieved my highest expectations and exceeded them in so many ways. Their responsiveness is remarkable. The paralegal assigned to my case, Gina, was wonderful to work with and very knowledgeable. She was easy to reach by phone or email; and was always very aware of the details and the status of my case. JK&S were able to debunk the accusations of domestic violence made against me, and obtain 50/50 custody, and very favorable visitation time. Furthermore, they were able to obtain an order that my ex repay me for the assets that she pilfered. The team was very creative, and clearly out classed the husband and wife team of attorney's that my ex had hired. While opposing counsel was clearly knowledgeable, they were ineffective in countering the arguments of Mr. Klausner. Who also proved to be one of the most effective negotiators that I have ever seen. Mr. Krieger supervised my case, and met with me on a number of occasions to assist in the strategy development for both the divorce and criminal cases. His advice was right on target, and concluded my cases in a more favorable outcome than I could have imagined.

I hired Jarvis, Krieger & Sullivan (when I hired them it was only Jarvis & Krieger) to handle my custody issue. I had essentially lost custody with my last attorney and hired JK&S as a last resort. The team JK&S put together for me was amazing. Gina, my paralegal, is incredibly responsive. Eliot ...is understanding, really knows the law, and came up with a great strategy to get my son back. He also responded to my calls and questions immediately (something that I had not experienced before when working with other attorneys). My case ended up with an extensive trial on custody issues, and JK&S really "kicked butt." They were amazing in court and I got more than I asked for. They made my ex's attorney look like an amateur. I could not be more pleased and now I am with my son-- something I had lost before I went to see Eliot Krieger.

I am an over 50, professional male and last December I visited Eliot Krieger with the law firm of Jarvis & Krieger to represent me in filing for divorce. I selected the Jarvis & Krieger firm because they advertise that they will “provide a team of skilled lawyers” … “among the best in Califo...rnia” .. “that will care and fight very hard for me to win my case at a reasonable fee”… using their “skilled and competent staff”. “They will let me know my Legal Rights, Right from the Beginning” …. I’m a bit of an over-organized individual and went to Mr. Krieger with a complete summary of assets, expenses and history since the beginning of what was an eight year marriage. I had everything. Mr. Krieger provided an estimate of what fees I would incur provided there were no unexpected turn of events. After seven months of slow responses, documents that contained errors, an arbitration that was for more than what I could have settled with my spouse in the beginning, on my own, and legal fees that were approaching 2 ½ times the amount of the original estimate, I terminated their services. What I thought was a fairly straightforward case turned out to be more expensive from both a settlement perspective as well as my out of pocket legal fees and it was taking more time than what I believed to be reasonable. I would never use Eliot Krieger or the firm of Jarvis & Krieger for any future legal services.