Arthur John Lacilento

I was initially told my consultation would be free, yet I was later charged for it. Despite my repeated monthly follow-ups requesting invoices (which were ignored), I received zero regular billing statements. Then, I was completely blindsided when the firm suddenly hit me all at once with 3 full mont...hs of representation bills, including $1,700 in surprise charges generated after I had already formally terminated his services. I was charged his full hourly rate (up to $500/hr) for follow-up emails or calls I had to make just to get basic updates (even for one-word email responses). During formal fee arbitration, he claimed his assistant was also a paralegal and justified charging $500/hr for her work. Shockingly, during the arbitration hearing, he even provided completely false information claiming that I had an open criminal case a statement that is factually false and easily disproved by public records. He actively attacked my character, portraying me as a 'terrible mother' during a proceeding meant strictly for a fee dispute. Although the arbitrator explicitly noted clear billing discrepancies on the record, the arbitrator surprisingly awarded the attorney every dollar in dispute, including $3,000 I had already paid and additional fees assessed for transferring my file to my new counsel. During arbitration, he repeatedly derailed the focus by bickering and bringing up sensitive details regarding my minor child. Communication was EXCEPTIONALLY poor.I was forced to initiate all follow-ups. When I asked for updates, the attorney dismissed me as a 'frantic, worried mom.' I repeatedly offered the medical imaging records that our medical expert required, but he ignored my offers, issued unnecessary subpoenas, and filed unnecessary continuances claiming the records were missing. When I tried to explain that I already had the documentation, he routinely insulted my intelligence, condescendingly asking, 'Are you an attorney?' A couple of weeks after I was appointed new counsel, my new attorney coordinated with the expert and quickly located the exact imaging records I had originally provided all along. The office repeatedly lost my files, forcing me to resend the exact same documentation multiple times (and charging me for the communications), and even confused my discovery materials with another client's files; an administrative error his office only noticed hours before our hearing that directly delayed my court dates and severely prejudiced my case. He even admitted to completely missing a crucial meeting with a medical expert because he took on another case in Orange County and simply 'forgot.' My invoices show charges of 1.5 to 3 hours for Zoom court appearances where the actual hearing lasted under 10 minutes, which he attributed to preparation. In almost every interaction, he routinely raised his voice and yelled at me, appearing visibly agitated with bloodshot, veiny eyes. Being much larger than me, his physical presence felt intimidating. At the one court appearance he made in person, he pulled me to the side to give me the same delayed excuses. When he stated that I looked mad, I explained that I was simply frustrated because he was not giving my case the attention it deserved. As I shook from frustration, he became riled up, so I walked away. As I was walking away, he began screaming down the hallway that he was going into the courtroom right now to withdraw from my case. He then followed me down the hall screaming, put his finger directly in my face, and caused an appalling scene. My partner had to step in to de-escalate the situation because of his aggressive physical proximity. When my partner mentioned recording his behavior, the attorney aggressively turned the situation around, screaming penal codes up and down the halls and falsely accusing my partner of breaking the law. A deputy/bailiff inspected my partner's phone on the spot and confirmed zero illegal activity occurred. I genuinely feared for my safety.

Hands down the worst attorney you can hire. I hired him and he refused to meet at the court hearings, giving every excuse why going to the hearings in person were not good however, he would frequently zoom into my hearing from the courthouses while working on other cases and blacking out his screen c...learly working on other cases. Other times he would zoom in from his house with his family and background noises in my hearing. He will over charge you for you all the time. I had to tell him that he's double charging me on multiple occasions. The judge and opposing counsel where practically laughing at him with all his faulty judicial statements in court. He couldn't even remember my name in the hearing. He will talk down to you and make sure you feel like he's not on your side. I'd tell everyone to stay away from this firm. This guy preys on people that need help and then disposes their concerns and and cases like nothing. At no point did I feel like he was on my side. I feel sorry for anyone that uses his services.

I would NOT recommend Mr. LaCilento at all. He refused to provide our concrete evidence to the Judge several times. Not only that, but he failed to appear on court day. In addition to that, he lacks of professionalism. He tends to yell a lot and does NOT like to listen to his clients? Yo NO re...comendaría al Sr. LaCilento en absoluto. Se negó a proporcionar nuestra evidencia concreta al juez varias veces. No solo eso, en una ocasión NO se presentó el día de la corte. Le tuve que llamar a su secretaria varias veces para saber a dónde estaba el Sr. LaCilento. Además de eso, él demuestra falta profesionalismo. ¿Tiende a gritar mucho y NO le gusta escuchar a sus clientes?

I used him for 5 long months. At the initial consult, he spent time talking to me so that I would pay him retainer fee. After this; however, I sent numerous emails/calls requesting much needed paperwork/investigation to be done. They did not respond or he would talk on the phone for 1 minute before c...utting me off, handing the questions over to less qualified paralegal wife or the secretary. They usually responded frantically at the last minute before due dates for certain forms. These forms were poorly written by the paralegal and I doubt that he even proofread them. I sent many useful documents to support my case, all in vain because they never read them nor organize these in any meaningful way. After 5 agonizing months of struggling to get them to work on my case, I finally switched to another real attorney. He was astonished by the mess of a case I was in. The paperwork was not organized at all and forms filed were useless or even wrong. He said he had never seen such a chaos from any attorney. Many things needed to be corrected, rewritten and resubmitted, costing me more money. I hired him because of good reviews, which I cannot comprehend. In summary, he likes to go to court because he can charge more. He does NOT spend time going over the case carefully nor gives you an overall strategy, but instead shoves your case aside. He does NOT prepare your legal paperwork nor proofread as if he is too important for these vital tasks. The attorney who took over my case fortunately corrected his mess and got me on the right track. I am so glad I switched. If you want a conscientious, professional attorney, choose someone else. Just because an attorney is aggressive does not make one a good representative. The court/judge looks at the facts and documents. If they cannot produce well-written documents because they don't have time nor interest to formulate your battle plan, how can they properly represent you? This was a good learning experience to know that attorneys vary widely in quality and professionalism.

I spent more money trying to get Art to fight my case than I spent on him fighting my case. All i tried to get him to do was refute the made up facts all he wanted to do was get more court dates he would claim he did some good then CPS would do otherwise. Nothing he did helped me or my kids at all. ...After I fired him two court dates later I had my kids back after the Judge got to hear my side. When he claim he know how they work because he worked As county CPS attorney remember he was the one who has taken other peoples kids he supported their lies and still does.