Steve Pell

Steve Pell

3.8
Rating: 7.3

Licensed for 49 years

Family Lawyer at Ventura, CA
Practice Areas: Family, Criminal Defense, Car Accidents

2633 Loma Vista Road, Ventura, CA

About Steve

Practice Areas

3

Practice Areas

Family 34%

Includes child custody, support, divorce and all family law issues.

50 years

34%
Car Accident 33%

Includes all personal injury matters.

50 years

33%
Criminal Defense 33%

Includes DUI, major felony offenses, and all criminal matters.

50 years

33%

Fees and Rates

Cost

Free Consultation

$0 first 30 minutes


Payment Methods

  • Cash
  • Check
  • Credit Card

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Licenses

Licensed in California for 49 years

State: California

Acquired: 1976

Not Eligible to Practice Law (Not Entitled)

No misconduct found

Location

Law Offices of Steve Pell

2633 Loma Vista Road, Ventura, CA, 93003

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Steve Pell's Reviews

Avvo Review Score

3.8 /5.0

17 Client Reviews

Showing 1 - 5 of 9 reviews | Recommendation

Posted by anonymous | September 15, 2016 | Alimony

Worst lawyer I have ever met

I hired Steve Pell to handle a spousal support modification and never even met him until my court date. I was originally told by RJ, his front guy, that I would be able to meet with him and go over my case. After calling several times begging for an appointment, I was told to look at the back of a ph...one book to see a picture of him so that I could recognize him on my court day. I didnt have a phone book so his assistant told me to find his picture on the website. I gave him $3500 and never met with him. When we finally met in court, he wasnt prepared for my case, got it mixed up with another one and was working two cases at the same time in adjacent court rooms. He told me to call him when the judge came it. This happenelast year and I am still angry over it. By no means should anyone use him. He is dishonest, unresponsive and a complete scam artist.

Steve Pell

Replied last September 15, 2016

I have been practicing in this town for nearly 40 years. I have an excellent reputation and I am a skilled trial attorney. There are remedies for a client who paid fees which were not earned. Many times an "anonymous" unhappy client is simply a person who is dishonest and who has not presented all of the information in this forum.

Posted by anonymous | September 15, 2016 | Divorce & Separation

Phone book credentials beware

Looking back on my experience with Steve Pell I wonder what he did for me besides take my money. I hired him to represent me in my divorce, I was married for twenty two years. I lost the house, the kids and my ex got ninety percent of my IRA. He makes triple in wages yet I only get a hundred bucks a ...month, also I now have no health insurance. This guy could care less about his client in fact I never even met him until my first day in court. We never sat down together and discussed my case-his daughter in the front office did.This was not what I thought I was paying for. Also he served my ex with orders without consulting with me the terms, is this legal? The order asked for full custody and a ridiculous amount of support, this resulted in my ex becoming enraged and this hurt me in the long run. Of course he tried to get more money than agreed to which he did. Thanks for nothing Steve.

Steve Pell

Replied last September 15, 2016

I have been practicing in this town for nearly 40 years. I have an excellent reputation and I am a skilled trial attorney. Many times an "anonymous" unhappy client is simply a person who is dishonest and who has not presented all of the information in this forum. Certainly in California, a community property state, it is unlikely this "anonymous" client lost everything as stated.

Posted by anonymous | September 15, 2016 | Child Support

STEER WELL CLEAR OF THIS GUY

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.

Steve Pell

Replied last September 15, 2016

I have been practicing in this town for nearly 40 years. I have an excellent reputation and I am a skilled trial attorney. There are remedies for a client who paid fees which were not earned. Many times an "anonymous" unhappy client is simply a person who is dishonest and who has not presented all of the information in this forum. It is interesting to note "anonymous" waited more than 7 years to post this.

Posted by anonymous | September 15, 2016 | Hired Attorney | DUI & DWI

He was my first, and by far the WORST attorney I have ever met

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.

Steve Pell

Replied last September 15, 2016

I have been practicing in this town for nearly 40 years. I have an excellent reputation and I am a skilled trial attorney. There are remedies for a client who paid fees which were not earned. Many times an "anonymous" unhappy client is simply a person who is dishonest and who has not presented all of the information in this forum. It is interesting to note "anonymous" waited more than 8 years to post this.

Posted by Jerry | April 08, 2015 | DUI & DWI

The negative reviews don't describe my experience at all.

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.

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Experience

Rating:  7.3 (Very Good)

Honors

2008

Best Law Office West County, Ventura County Star

2007

Best Law Office West County, Ventura County Star

2006

Best Law Office West County, Ventura County Star

2005

Best Law Office West County, Ventura County Star

2004

Best Law Office West County, Ventura County Star

2003

Best Law Office West County, Ventura County Star

2002

Best Law Office West County, Ventura County Star

2001

Best Law Office West County, Ventura County Star

2000

Best Law Office West County, Ventura County Star

1999

Best Law Office, Ventura County Star

1998

Best Law Office West County, Ventura County Star

1997

Best Law Office, Ventura County Star

1996

Best Divorce Attorney in Ventura County, Star Reader's Poll

Work Experience

1976 - Present

Attorney, Law Offices of Steve Pell

1981 - 1985

Professor of Remedies, Ventura and Santa Barbara Colleges of Law

Associations

1976 - Present

Ventura County Bar Association

1976 - Present

State Bar of California

Sample of Legal Cases

Deyo v Kilbourne

Sanctions issue.

See More Legal Cases

Education

1976

University of San Diego School of Law

Juris Doctor

1973

University of California - Berkeley

BA - Bachelor of Arts

Languages

Spanish

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