Dawn M. Saenz

I am really shocked by the other reviews which are incorrectly portraying Ms. Saenz. Ms. Saenz is our family's hero. She truly cares about each case as if it were personally affecting her, but is professional enough to skillfully navigate high conflict cases. I lost my child in a bogus TRO motion (pr...ior to retaining Ms. Saenz) and Ms. Saenz stuck with me, encouraged me and fought to victory. Her staff is amazing as well, prompt in returning phone calls and when there's an emergency, they're all on it immediately. She does not waste your retainer and bills in a very honest manner. Get this gal on your case before the other party gets her....you will be glad she's by your side instead on the other side of the table. Please don't ever close your office, we will always need you and so many others will benefit from your amazing expertise.

I had an extremely disappointing and frustrating experience with Dawn Sáenz. After paying $5,000 in legal fees, I received little to no meaningful legal service in return. She never met with me, never called me, and all communication was handled through staff—often with delays of up to 10 days. D...espite providing all necessary information, my case was not properly handled or completed. The lack of communication, follow-through, and accountability was unacceptable. To make matters worse, she ultimately filed a motion to withdraw, leaving me without legal representation at a critical stage of my case after I had already paid substantial fees. This experience caused unnecessary stress, delays, and financial loss. Overall, this reflects extremely poor communication, a lack of professionalism, and very poor client care. I would not recommend her services.

I hired Ms. Saenz in January 2017 to handle my spousal support case (I was seeking to have support reduced to my ex-wife). I cannot overstate the degree to which she mishandled my case. I read the reviews below and I am shocked to read so many positive outcomes and skeptical as well and here is why. ...When I retained Ms. Saenz she was quick to make lofty promises about my case. But the first red flag came soon after when she missed, as in failed to appear, for my first court date. I was very upset after this since I lived out of state and so it appeared to the judge that nobody bothered to appear for an important hearing. When I contacted her she apologized profusely and even gave me a monetary credit on my case. So, I stuck with her thinking that it was an honest mistake and figured that she would really stay on top of my case after such an obvious error. If only I had fired her at that point! I filed my initial paperwork to have my case heard in November of 2016. I retained Ms. Saenz in January of 2017 and fired her in May of 2017. During this time, her "work" on my case entailed missing a hearing in Feb., insisting I was wrong when I informed her that a garnishment order had been issued against me in March (I found out through checking the online court minutes myself), chiding me for wasting her time pursuing that matter, and sending adversarial letters to Opposing Counsel over trivial issues. The final straw came in May when she did show up for the trial setting appearance and agreed to allow my case to be placed OFF CALENDAR when I was very clear that I needed to have my case heard before the judge. When I called her office to ask what happened, she was extremely rude and defensive. She even told me that she had worked out an agreement with Opposing Counsel off the record/in chambers that was favorable to me but due to my attitude she was not going to bother writing it up or seeing it enforced. At this point I realized Ms. Saenz was simply covering her own mistakes and lying to me and I had had enough. Firing Ms. Saenz was the best decision I could have made. I quickly retained another lawyer who had to clean up the mess Ms. Saenz created. I later confirmed through new counsel that Ms. Saenz was completely misrepresenting the "deal" she worked out for me because in fact, she had accomplished nothing other than falling for Opposing Counsel's strategy and getting my case placed off calendar. At this point my case was an absolute disaster. I am so thankful that I retained a new attorney who had an actual LEGAL strategy other than talking tough to OP and scolding her own client at every turn. I waited to post this review until my case concluded with a positive result, all thanks to my new attorney who replaced Ms. Saenz. I do not want to dwell on the damage and additional arrears I accumulated due to Ms. Saenz's unprofessional, misguided, and unskilled approach. Suffice it to say, Ms. Saenz cost me over $10,000 due to her errors. As I stated, I waited to post this until I could confirm that her strategy was completely ridiculous. On top of everything, Ms. Saenz lied to me and treated me like I was the idiot. The only truly stupid thing I did was hire Ms. Saenz. Please, do not hire this lawyer. She definitely talks a good talk out of the gate, but once she gets your money her attitude changes and you will be left in a bigger hole than you started in. If you want an excellent attorney, please see the review I posted on the lawyer I hired after working with Ms. Saenz.