Susan Leigh Angell

I might be Ms. Angell's only reviewer who is NOT so enthused about their speedy, effortless, reasonably-priced DIVORCE. I received Ms. Angell's contact information from the Legal Aid Society of OC lawyer referral line. I did ask (and at that time they did provide) low-bono lawyer referrals. Know t...hat she does do everything herself. She has no other employees to delegate things to, which can be either a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how you look at it. Some lawyers employ paralegals that they delegate tasks to thus billing at a lower rate by. By doing all the work herself, it can be argued that Ms. Angell is able to have better awareness of all the things that are happening with your case. There is no need for the "catching up" that goes on in other law offices. But also know that all of her services are billed at HER hourly rate. So, every email you, your monitor, the opposing counsel, or anyone else tied to your case sends to her will cost you something. Every phone call will also cost you. I paid almost $375 for a single meeting I did have with her, but that I have NO recollection of. I just wasn't aware of the importance of HER time. The lesson I've learned might apply to all lawyers; their time is very valuable and it is best to be prepared and not waste it unless you have a lot of money and can afford to part with it. So, have all of your questions written down before you meet with them, and try to get in and out as fast as possible. Ms. Angell did manage to get me four more hours with my kids of monitored time. I think if she could help ME, she can help anyone she wants to help. Having Ms. Angell on your side makes you FEEL like a winner. With her help, I did agree to give away all my legal custody (i.e., 50%), take approximately 40 hours of anger management, not to mention another 40 hours of parenting classes all in exchange for half an hour of additional time with my kids each day at their school and some time with them on the weekends with their mother. I lost a good deal of this additional time at the very next court date, but I guess the judge didn’t care much about all my prior dealings and consideration offered to the mother of my children especially after she did voice a concern about me showing up at their school and being disruptive. Now, I don’t do that so much anymore (show up at their school). Ms. Angell suggested I try to vacate the order but that didn’t happen either. The opposing side never got back. Besides, it likely would cost me another $3,500 retainer to undo the ruling of the last $3,500 retainer. It is like taking one step forward, one step back, minus $7,000 spent paying for the two-step process. Overall, I can’t say I’m dissatisfied. I will even go so far as to say I am quite satisfied with the current outcome. Ms. Angell did agree to help me get what other lawyers failed to even suggest- increasing my time with my kids even though I still have issues paying for it. She provided me with the *opportunity* for more time with my kids, and for that she is the best. In summary, don’t take her time for granted. Even though she is -- comparatively speaking -- very reasonably priced, do NOT be surprised when she fully bills you for every minute of her time. I guess all lawyers do that ... that’s normal, right? Anyway, my advice to you is, unless you enjoy being billed, don’t call, message or visit her at her house to jibber jabber about your deep thoughts and warm feelings about the case. Keep things professional, and when she sends you all of your files back in a FedEx mailer and substitutes out, kindly thank her for her help a write a 5-star review on Avvo.

Until I was finally referred to Susan Angell, Esq. in Orange County, I was so frustrated searching for a reasonably priced and available attorney who does QDROs. I thank Attorney Susan Angell so much for her assistance. I commend her on her quick concise responses, as well as her professionalism and... candor. The work was excellent.

After paying tens of thousands of dollars to 2 divore attorneys who talked the talk, then strung out my divorce forever!! Then, I hired Ms Angell and she got the divorce finallized quickly, fairly and did not rip me off like the prior attorneys who were more interested in their own fees than my chil...dren and a fair property division. She cut thru all the drama, divided our property, implemented a reasonable visitation schedule and a fair support amount and got me divorced when prior attorneys could not!! Yeh.