Dawn M. Saenz

I hired the Law Office of Dawn M. Saenz to represent me for one day in court on 8/12/24 and was charged $7,500 for that single appearance. After the matter concluded, I was unexpectedly billed an additional $679.27, which was never clearly explained or anticipated. The office has now sent this amount... to collections, which I find completely unacceptable given the fee already paid. Equally troubling was Ms. Saenz’s behavior toward me as a client. She was unprofessional, condescending, and judgmental, and her attitude felt entitled rather than client-focused. Instead of feeling supported during a stressful legal situation, I felt disrespected. Between the excessive and unclear billing and the lack of professionalism, this was a deeply disappointing experience. I would not recommend this law office.

Revised Review: I am VERY dissatisfied in the way Attorney Dawn Saenz handled MY divorce filing, and MY response to my husband's bogus TRO. He filed the TRO in an attempt to hold on to my RV and truck, and discredit my nursing license. Attorney Saenz insisted on an hourly rate, promising to save c...osts through using her "office staff." She made an appearance in court charging for an unnecessary continuance for the TRO, unnecessary preparations, and inflamed the issues to extend her billable hours. She charging for phone calls she created, and responses on her "My Case" email that were unproductive. Attorney Saenz withheld critical documents, and charged when I repeatedly asked that they be provided. She quickly exhausted my $4,000.00 retainer before she actually started working on my divorce settlement! I filed my own response to the TRO, and filed my own divorce petition and motion to obtain my RV and truck back after attending a class with the free self help center in Riverside. I filed these documents all BEFORE retaining Attorney Saenz. She never amended any of my filings, or provided my husband's response to my divorce petition. When we did go to court on the TRO, we were there all day because of Attorney Saenz's "Aggressive" attitude towards my husband. For my motion to get my RV and truck back, Attorney Saenz wrote a stipulated agreement that both my husband and I signed, yet after court she refused to provide me with a copy claiming the court only provided two. One for her, and one for my husband. I did not agree with this as there are copy centers everywhere around the court. Not having a copy of the stipulated agreement created avoidable problems when I went to retrieve these items without the court order. Attorney Saenz did not ask for a continuance when we needed one, to keep my divorce on calendar after I was awarded my RV and truck back. She knew my husband had damaged my property, this was the very reason for my motion! My husband had exclusive use during this time, and had an obligation not to vandalize or strip my property! When I terminated Attorney Saenz, she refused to sign a substitution of attorney form tearing it up in her office on my third attempt! She then advised me that she would file a motion to be relieved and charge me $90.00 to file it, charge me at her hourly rate ($325.00) to prepare it, and charge me for a court appearance ($650.00) to present it! I did my own motion to have her removed, and it cost me nothing since I have a fee waver! She then filed her own motion after mine in yet another attempt to pile on the fees! I have asked repeatedly for my file and a complete itemized billing statement, yet after almost two months I have still not received either. I have now had to file for mediation to resolve my billing dispute, and file a complaint with the Bar regarding her conduct to get my file! It is a shame when going through something as painful as a divorce to have an attorney act this way creating even more problems. I am not out to get my husband, and just want to reach an equatable resolution. Attorney Saenz knew I had limited resources yet quickly ran through my retainer and demanded more money, or "No more work." My advice? Pick someone else that has a proficiency in family law and will listen to what you want instead of running the show to increase their billable hours. I am VERY disappointed that a lawyer claiming to "care" and "specialize in family law" would stoop to this level with no consideration of the client she was hired to represent.

We hired this lawyer for a custody battle and for child support services. at our first consultation with supplied her with our child support forms that were filed against us. she promised us that that was something we didn't need to worry about and she was going to handle it. We went through a cu...stody battle and got that resolved however she failed to file a hold on our child support that was filed against us or to inform DCSS to combine our child support case with our custody case. This caused two cases to be made with DCSS and they started deducting almost $800 a month out of our check for back child support that accumulated during the custody case which we had full custody during the time of. This left our family with less than $500 a month to live on. She stated since the beginning that payment plan arrangements were totally fine however after informing her of the child support deduction and how we needed a stop to it asap in order to be able to continue with payments. 4 months past with nothing settled with the child support and our family of 4 and 1 on the way still living off of $500 a month. At this point we have gone through all our savings and maxed our credit cards. She then lets us know she wanted a payment of 5k in order to proceed with our case to file ANY needed child support forms in order to stop the deductions. With no way of being able to come up with 5k she abandoned our case. We had full custody the time of and court ordered 50/50 custody which we are thankful for getting. However, all other issues could of been avoided if handled correctly from the beginning. Throughout the whole case the office and saenz did not communicate with us well. multiple emails unanswered and calls which we did get charged for even they were unanswered. They will bill excessively for any and everything. They billed us for court fees we actually went down and paid personally. When this was pointed out they did make a credit but then decided to bill us the day of for 8hrs worth of file processing/prepping to make up for the credit.