John Robert Setlich

John was consistently unprepared, unresponsive, and nearly impossible to reach. I rarely spoke with him directly unless there was a problem he was responsible for. I mainly spoke with his staff. I was billed for calls/emails seeking legal advice from John, yet I almost never received the advice. I of...ten felt ignored, dismissed, and left to handle complex issues on my own, with only his paralegal who cannot provide legal advice. Before I hired John, I asked if he has worked with the minors’ counsel assigned to my case. He said yes, he currently has another case with her. Later, when I asked minors’ counsel directly, she told me she has never worked with him before. This was so troubling. Here are just SOME of the many serious issues I experienced with John Setlich as my attorney: Before a hearing, John went on a planned vacation and didn't file a continuance in advance, despite my multiple requests to do so to protect my case. He also told minors’ counsel that I wanted a 730 evaluation instead of an evidentiary hearing- something he never discussed with me. I had to personally call minors’ counsel to clarify that he never spoke to me about it. On the day of the hearing, he sent an appearance attorney. She was in a car, wearing a beach style tank top with a small child visible in her back seat. The judge denied the last minute continuance and the hearing went on. The appearance attorney openly stated on the record that she "knew nothing about my case." I had repeatedly asked John’s office to let me brief the appearance attorney beforehand, anticipating this exact situation, but that never happened. The judge also struck my declaration past 10 pages because John failed to file a request for permission to exceed the page limit- something I had asked him to do multiple times to protect my case. This severely limited my ability to present evidence, including evidence that my daughter was brought around a man who was being charged with crimes against children. Adding to the embarrassment, the appearance attorney was heard telling the child in the backseat “you’ll be able to hear this case going on right now." I was mortified. The rest of the hearing was such a humiliating mess. For a different hearing that WE filed, his office FAILED to serve my ex the orders until the day BEFORE the DEADLINE despite having ample time! His office called me and asked if I could FIND SOMEONE to do it that day or I'd have to pay over $200 for them to do it! After I complained due to this being THEIR FAILURE, John agreed to handle it for free. Last week, during ANOTHER hearing- John arrived late, unprepared, and occupied with handling another client's case. He had me following him around the courthouse to different floors as he went into court for someone else. He also began discussing settlement talks with my ex's lawyer without my authorization to even begin settlement talks/entertain it. When I disagreed with their proposals he became visibly frustrated and frazzled, throwing his hands in the air infront of everyone in the hallway, even asking my husband to talk with me! Despite me making it very clear that I needed him to testify and present my side in front of the judge, he didn't. On the second day of this hearing, he appeared remotely while I appeared in person. It hindered my ability to speak to him to relay important info to the judge like my wishes, any clarifications, etc. When the judge asked if John had anything to say/present before she made orders, he said no! I ended up having to speak up to the judge myself! My ex’s attorney presented a whole speech about how great of a father he is and made several false claims about me that hurt my case/credibility and John didn't even clear any of it up! John Setlitch did not do the same for me- no big heartfelt speech, no presentation of the facts, nothing! I'm now filing a complaint with the State Bar regarding his representation.

I felt he took care of my personal interests above financial gain. I’m sure he has a lot of clients, but he always spent time with me and was very understanding of the situation I was going through. The legal services provided by him, was able to help me with my case and help put a sense of calm into... my life. I’d highly recommend him.