John Albert Balent

The experience with John Balent was unpleasant and expensive with no value whatsoever, his representation amounted to massive and unnecessary loses as opposed to if he had never been hired, as he pushed for an unnecessary trial. John Balent Promised the world at hire for a flat fee, but didn't... honor that flat fee and made error after error on the case. By the time he managed to send a statement to the correct address (His staff claimed they went to the wrong address) his billing exceeded the flat fee quoted by 300%. His billing was also impossible to understand lumping multiple tasks onto every line of the statement making accountability for any given task or work product impossible. Terms like "Review File," "Memo to File" and "Prepare Strategy" were used on almost every line as well. John Balent also caused the loss of COBRA insurance coverage by mailing out time sensitive documents to the wrong address. He made an error on a stipulation that cost me $30,000 in community assets that could not be corrected. He was also entirely unprepared for hearings and at trial and was always calling me into his office for a consultation to have me repeat the same things over to him that had been explained to him in previous office visits. At trial he continually told the court the matter was a short cause trial, causing the court to have to continue the matter 7 times because the court had not allotted enough time on it's calendar based on the continuing claim it was a short cause action. I believe he did this to rack up fees. Since his hired I've discovered that he had been brought up on charges in State Bar Court twice and disciplined in the past. I also discovered that he had been sued multiple times for malpractice and although he claimed to have a practice exclusive to family law (as I was looking for an attorney who focused only on family law), but it turns out, if you search his name on the Orange County Superior Court website, he appears to have been doing personal injury law since at least the 1980's. So with regard to the ratings this website asks you rate John Balent, He was absolutely untrustworthy. He was not responsive to anything of importance specially time sensitive issues. Although he sound knowledgeable at hire, he later made some very odd statements during later office visits that made me question if he really had a law degree. He did not keep me informed on anything, especially his billing. I do not recommend anyone hire this attorney.

I hired Mr. Balent over a year ago for a guardianship that was very difficult and the Law Office of John Balent answered so many of my questions before I retained him which helped tremendously. Mr. Balent put our minds at ease throughout this family law process. Even after the Judgment was filed Mr.... Balent was always available for any of our questions. Mr. Balent is very professional and he has a great office.

I had a great experience with attorney John Balent. I hired him for a child custody/divorce matter and Mr. Balent was quick to accommodate my family law needs without the stress of dealing with my ex-wife. My children and their needs came first and I could not have asked for better results. I hav...e referred my co-worker for her paternity matter and she was surprised of his free consultation where he spent a good amount of time with her at no charge.