Steve Pell

Steve took my divorce case on short notice. I was handling. It myself and found that I was over my head with a critical court day a week ahead.Steve was excellent in preparing my case and representing me at the hearing..The firm continued to represent me through the duration of my case. They were ...responsive to my concerns,issues,and desired outcome.I would like to thank Steve & Cliff for their work on my case

I made the mistake of retaining Steve Pell back in 2007 when a friend advised me to "lawyer up" for my divorce. Not knowing how to find a good attorney (besides word of mouth), I picked the lawyer with the biggest ad in the Yellow Pages. Biggest mistake of my life. It started with his staff who we...re completely incompetent. The few times I called with a question, they treated me like I was calling for the very first time (i.e. "How do you spell your last name?" or "What is your phone number?"). Pell would never call me back when I would leave a message with his staff. I engaged in a total of one sit-down with him where I found him to be intimidating and condescending in his approach. Being the first time I'd ever hired an attorney, I figured those characteristics would serve me well in the court room when dealing with the ex-wife's attorney. Wrong. His initial speculation for my bottom line, a month, in Child/Spousal Support came in $1000 higher than expected. I switched attorneys after a very short time with him, but never saw a dime of the remainder of my retainer. Unfortunately, I'm STILL dealing with the fall-out from hiring this guy to this very day. The ex-wife's current attorney recently discovered that the state of CA had no jurisdiction over the Child Custody/Visitation portion of my divorce due to the fact my kids had resided out of state for at least 60 days prior to my filing. I personally feel Pell knew this fact, but decided I was one more "rube" with a retainer fee in hand. And if he didn't know...well, just another testament to his lack of knowledge on CA law. I only wish they had this website back in 2007. It would've saved me the displeasure of ever meeting Pell, while saving me thousands of $$$ in the end.

I hired Mr. Pell many years ago to fight a DUI case. We met a couple times over YEARS. He kept collecting money and in turn would push back the court dates. He kept telling me that this is how we win. The office itself was very unprofessional and always acted as if they were doing me a favor and t...hat I was a disruption to them. He pushed my case off more than 4 years and cost me almost $20,000 to fight a DUI case that he did not win or even try to win. Run run run away from this law office and the "lawyers" who work there. Since then (more than 8 years ago) I now have experience with many other law firms, primarily for business and trust purposes. I have never met another attorney that was this terrible.

I am Jerry. I am a client of Mr. Pell. I retained Mr. Pell in June of 2014 for the purpose of handling a DUI and DMV hearing. I only had two Beers. The outcome was we had a DMV hearing, Mr. Pell hired the best expert for me, and we won the hearing saving my license and we won the criminal ca...se saving me from a DUI conviction and from insurance increases and all the penalties. I came in and Mr Pell and I sat down face to face. He said I can help you and he did. We have had contact around 30 times, every time Mr. Pell has been available to me and has taken my life and matter very seriously. I have friends that I recommended and he handled their matters with the same professionalism. He took care of a woman's DMV hearing, attended with her, was victorious and she was extremely happy. She was very fragile and Mr. Pell helped her tremendously. A Pastor asked me to help her. She did not know where to turn and helped her throughout the matter and resovled her problems. I felt confident that the advise he gave me was competent and completely correct. Mr. Pell followed through with everything he said he was going to do. He did everything timely and well. I observed others in his office and everyone who I run into feels he did excellent work for them. When I shopped around looking for counsel. I talked to a different attorney and felt he was not genuine and another one was a better than thou. One could not get off the dime. When I saw Mr. Pell he did not hide anything and was right out front. He knows the system and took great care of me. Except for what is on the internet which I think to be false there is nothing negative about Mr. Pell. Sunday I went to a memorial. Police were there. A councilman was there. My problem was mentioned and I said: If there is a problem I told him to go see Attorney Steve Pell. Mr. Pell allowed me to make payments and I was very happy with him and the outcome. Regarding the posting of STEER WELL CLEAR OF THIS GUY THE PERSON FROM 2007 and any negatives, Mr. Pell was voted the Best Divorce Lawyer by the Star Readers in 1996. His office has 10 years of being the Best Law Firm DIRECTLY POSTED. I would believe Star Readers vs a nasty posting. Reputations take forever to build and seconds to destroy. Mr. Pell may be intimidating to the other side but not to his clients. I know both of Mr. Pell's staff, Mrs Pell is a certified civil litigation and family law specialist. Those certificates are on her wall. Every time I rang the Bell Mrs Pell was right there Every document I got from her was very much appreciated. Mr. Pell has called me back every time I have called and has called me on his own. He kept me totally up to date on every aspect of my case. I am told that child/support is only as reliable as the proof of the numbers supplied. The Disso master spits out the numbers. I am told that Mr. Pell is the best Divorce Attorney. REGARDING PHONE BOOK CREDENTIALS BEWARE: This sounds very crazy. Some people are liars. People can say anything. Note houses usually will be divided 50 50 depending on who put down what. Retirements are governed by law, so no one would lose 90% unless they cheated somewhere else and got stuck having to give away more of their retirement. If someone lost their house, that would based on whatever happened in their case. They may not have paid their mortgage. Mr. Pell is known at being excellent in child custody. Mr. Pell would not give in an inch of my rights. I am sure he would not let someone who was entitled to more lose their house, give away 90% of their IRA which is governed by law that directs how IRA's are divided. I think he is an awesome lawyer.