Daniel Josef Paletz

I hired Daniel to protect my legal rights and act in the best interests of our children. Instead, I experienced the opposite. He pressured me to sign a stipulation in a way that felt like borderline blackmail, threatening to withdraw representation and adjust billing for services not rendered unless ...I complied. He disregarded critical court orders regarding co-parenting therapy, minimized their importance, and ignored my repeated concerns about securing timely school enrollment for our children. Even more alarming, during a call (witnessed by others), he told me “F*** you”, completely unprofessional, disrespectful, and unacceptable for any attorney. I have also repeatedly asked for a clear, itemized bill to understand what I am being charged for, what work wasn’t performed, and whether there are duplicate charges since he had duplicate charges in the past. To this day, he has refused to provide transparency. I always paid my bills and treated him with respect, but I was met with condescension, dismissiveness, and questionable billing practices. If you are looking for an attorney who will prioritize your children’s best interests, follow court orders, communicate clearly, and treat you with respect, I cannot recommend Daniel. My experience was the complete opposite.

I would like to share my past experience with attorney daniel paletz and his office. Since my case started regarding a divorce, Unfortunately, I am dissatisfied with the service provided and cannot recommend him to others. The reasons for my dissatisfaction include poor treatment, inappropriate behav...ior, lack of professionalism, and unethical conduct. This attorney has demonstrated a lack of integrity and is unfit to practice law. He is opportunistic and excessively money-oriented, which is unacceptable in the legal profession. I am writing this to caution others against engaging with him or his office.

I retained Daniel Paletz for my child custody case. He was very polished during my interview of him and definitely knew what to say and how to say it so that I would retain his firm. He told me it would cost $6,000 from retaining him until getting through to our PPA set just two months later. Unbekno...wnst to me, my ex had significant communications with Mr. Paletz just a few months prior. This created a clear conflict. Based on my communications with Mr. Paletz he told me he would refund my retainer but wanted to know if he should write a letter to the other side to see if he could continue to represent me. I knew that my ex would never agree. Mr. Paletz wrote a three page letter to the other side with wild accusations and a set of facts that were clearly not true based on Mr. Paletz’s own emails and texts. This prompted my ex to file a motion to recuse Mr. Paletz and sanctions against me. I found a new attorney and asked for my refund. I received $800. Literally no other action was taken on the case besides the 3 page letter (which should not have been billed and was) and a continuance of a hearing that was set in August. When I asked for my full refund as promised I was met with vitriol from Mr. Paletz who told me that he would sue me for defamation if I took any other action. Why threaten a client like that? Its terrible. I intend to take this matter to the State Bar. All he had to do was refund my money like he promised.

December 1, 2016 will go down in my personal history as my day of freedom and redemption. I was involved in a legal challenge for over 15 years with many different attorneys being unsuccessful at making it end, costing me thousands of dollars. The first time my opponent experienced Mr. Paletz in act...ion the case was settled. The entire office's professionalism, care, concern, and humanity brought Faith back to me in the legal system. I cannot thank this legal team enough for the kindness, compassion, and expertise they brought to me and my family. I have immense gratitude, and for the first time since my divorce, I had a year free of legal burden that has haunted me for years. My life has begun anew. Do not go any further if you are seeking an attorney to represent you. He is the best of the best.

My son wanted to move in with me. We needed a ruling before he started school in the fall, six months. This is impossible to do with a slow court system. Originally my case was with Lauren, one of the less expensive attorneys at this firm. Unfortunately she had an accident and was unable represen...t me in court. Daniel, the full partner, called me and told me that he would be representing me. I worried because I felt in that Lauren was on top of case. She is sharp and managed to get a court date that I thought impossible. My first surprise with Daniel was that he would be charging me at Lauren’s significantly lower rate. The judge in my case was going to request an evaluation with my son. Doing this would have prolonged my case months after my original court date. On the morning of my court date Daniel was able to find minor’s counsel to represent my son and get the other side to agree. My second surprise with Daniel was that the judge on my case accepted the minor’s counsel in lieu of an evaluation. The judge ruled in my favor on my first court appearance. Over the years I have become hardened and distrust lawyers. Daniel told me that he is selective of his cases and only takes the ones that should be fought. I thought ya right. Daniel told me that I had a good chance of losing my case. Other firms told me that I had the highest chances of winning. After spending lunch with him I truly believe he is decent person. Every week the partners take the entire staff out to lunch just to bond and catch up. In one of these lunches someone mentioned that they should every have a company Starbucks card. Now the entire staff has free coffee from the Starbucks next to their office. Several times Daniel said bless you to people sneezing nearby that day. After spending the day with Daniel, I truly believe that he cares and will tell you like it is. He will not tell you what you want to hear just to make a buck. If I lost my case, I would post this same review.