Mark Joseph McGowan

I retained Mark McGowan for a prenuptial agreement and paid a $1,750 retainer. Over the course of the engagement, he failed to make any of the edits we discussed in our meetings, advised me to revise the agreement myself at home, and even suggested signing the prenup on the same day we finalized it, ...something that would have invalidated the entire agreement under California law had I not caught the error myself. Even more alarming: he printed my draft on the backs of highly confidential documents from other clients (which included trusts and wills, personal financial information, and clients' home addresses) which he suggested I bring home with me. This raises serious concerns about how he handles privileged information. When I raised these issues, he dismissed them and demanded over $4,000 in additional fees. Now, he refuses to certify the agreement at all, effectively invalidating the document and wasting months of effort and expense. I cannot recommend this attorney to anyone seeking competent, ethical, or reliable legal representation.

Even though this lawyer didn’t represent me, he still managed to ruin my prenup. My wife paid him $1,750 to review and certify her side, but he did almost nothing: no edits after the first meeting, told her to revise it herself, and even advised us to sign it the same day it was finalized (which woul...d’ve made it invalid under California law). He’s now refusing to certify it unless we pay thousands more. His negligence negatively affected both of us. Absolutely would not recommend.

Mark advertises himself as a trust expert, so when he requested $2500 cash up front to prepare a trust for us, we agreed. His "expertise" consisted of cutting and pasting our information into outdated trust software that was the incorrect format for people of our limited income and assets. He used... a trust for multi-millionaires needing tax shelters. When we asked why, he said "in case you win the lottery". The trust was full of errors, including his previous client's name on the signature line instead of ours. We tried to help him out by proofreading the documents for him, but ultimately we couldnt use the trust. Mark is a nice older gentleman, but clearly has no knowledge of current trust law or modern computer software. We requested a refund and were refused.

After the following, I never heard back from Mark McGowan: Hello Mark - Here’s hoping all is well with you and your endeavors. Based on our previous conversations, I was under the impression that you would refund at least a portion of the $495 that I gave you on October 11, for your hourly... rate. As I recall, we had two telephone conversations; one being on January 28, 2022, which last approximately five minutes, and another on September 26, 2022, when we spoke for approximately 10 minutes and arranged a meeting on October 11, 2022, which took place and lasted approximately 15 minutes. So, if I have made a mistake in my assessment of your help and time, please let me know. Otherwise, I would appreciate you providing the refund I am due. Thank you, RJ Preston 81785 Corte Monteleon Indio, CA 92203 (760) 775-7876 From: Mark McGowan <[email protected]> Date: Tuesday, October 25, 2022 at 9:50 AM To: RJ Preston <[email protected]> Subject: Dear RJ It would mean so much to me if you were to please post a five-star review of my services J on the links below (any lower score would hurt my average); same review on each site (copy and paste) is all that is needed please. (Just click on the links.) This way I hope to help more people like you. Thank you for your consideration and patronage. I’m always here for you. Mark McGowan Review on Google Click on this link: https://g.page/mark-j-mcgowan-attorney Then click on “Write a Review” Review on Yelp Click on this link: http://bit.ly/36ckXOP Then click “Write a Review” on the upper left Review on Facebook Click on this link: http://bit.ly/2QeuCy7 Then click the “Yes” button in the “Do You Recommend” box Review on Lawyers.com Click on this link: http://bit.ly/2Sy3psH Then click the “Write a Client Review” link Review on Avvo Click on this link: http://bit.ly/2F0zXUj Then click “Review Mark McGowan” button The highest compliment I can receive is a referral. Again, thank you so much! Mark