Michael Joseph Deniro

I hired DeNiro because he seemed well-versed in the University of California system. He talked a good game of being the most competent lawyer in the state, and about his commitment to clients. In reality, he was disengaged throughout most of our working relationship. Eventually, it seemed that h...e used most of his knowledge to undermine me, earn a large income, and to prolong my case, rather than to earnestly listen and to defend me to create an appropriate path. His legal briefs, emails, and conversations were generally snarky and dismissive. Like other clients have stated, I did the heavy lifting and he didn’t seem to synthesize the situation (or if he did, he wasn’t proactive about it). DeNiro did his work at his kitchen table with his wife audibly lurking in the background. He played a lot of “mind games” to test me, and I couldn’t tell whether this was for his own amusement or to manage my case, because he was a terrible case manager. I had to seek therapy after working with him, eventually concluding that to him I was another “brick in the wall”-a meal ticket. After a while, it seemed that he wanted to send a message to the University that he didn’t agree with me but that he was stuck with me. By signaling that he was disengaging in my case, he was simply being a dutiful attorney who was stuck with a client. This would earn him “points” or “respect” or whatever you might call it with the opposing counsel, and he would do better in the future representing more clients in other cases against the University. After dropping DeNiro, I’ve worked with other attorneys who have been extremely helpful in managing my situation with the UC. With these attorneys, we’ve made a great deal of progress. In fact, they have indicated that I might actually have a competency case against DeNiro. Prospective clients beware: this guy knows what he’s doing to milk you for every dollar. He doesn’t uphold his duties to his clients. He doesn’t use his experience for his client’s best interest, and he doesn’t strategize to help his clients. He’s looking for his next meal. Referencing DeNiro’s quote from Bob Segar: “Wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then.”

In my case, Mr. DeNiro was an ok "process lawyer" when it came to writing briefs and emails. He understands the University of California system and higher education in general. However, he didn't really seem to understand me as a client or my case (though I don't think it was due to a lack of tryin...g), so when it came to the time for a hearing, it seemed like he threw in the towel rather than to defend my best interests. This was unfortunate, because many attorneys shine during hearings. He also lied to me several times, while talking using strange parallels with Greek mythology, which I attribute to his classical training at Notre Dame. Unfortunately, it's ineffective for client relationships because I couldn't really relate to him or understand what he was doing most of the time. I wish that I had invested the time to find another attorney. Don't make the mistake of being lured in by his per-minute billing. I stayed with him way too long.

My experience with Mr. DeNiro was so profoundly disappointing that it’s compelled me to share my experience in hopes that others won’t feel as fooled as I do. After being assured that my case would likely be resolved informally, I provided Mr. DeNiro with a written account of my situation so he c...ould start off with sending a demand letter. He then drafted the letter, the majority of which mirrored my own account, word for word. Just a couple of days after sending the letter and before the allotted response time had elapsed, I was shocked when he told me he didn’t think we’d receive any reply. I asked what we could do next, and he said he’d never experienced a lack of response to such a letter before, and suggested a lawsuit as the only next step. Then he told me that he wouldn’t represent me in the lawsuit himself and I’d need to find another attorney. I was utterly baffled, as I was under the impression that he’d be representing me through the process no matter what, and up until that point he’d seemed so sure of himself that we could resolve this without a lawsuit. The final straw was when I got my bill. Almost all of my retainer had simply vanished, with Mr. DeNiro “block billing” nearly five hours of work for just a letter. This was incredibly surprising as there was no legal research required, and the letter mostly consisted of my own words. Block billing is a frowned upon billing practice where all time spent is lumped together under a single time entry without a description of what was done. This meant that I have no way of figuring out he managed to spend so much time on one simple task. I respectfully asked him if an adjustment to the charges was possible, stating that I couldn’t figure out how he’d spent nearly five hours on this. I suggested a reduction to two hours, which I believe was a more reasonable although even that figure seemed to be a lot of time for what was needed to send the letter. I also kindly asked that, given the extremely time-sensitive nature of my situation that any communications he might receive from the opposing party be promptly shared with me, because without prompt attention to a reply, I risk suffering even more severe damages than I’ve already incurred. Instead of being understanding of my request or offering a description of how he’d managed to spend all this time, Mr. DeNiro just replied that he wasn’t changing the bill, and said that if he stopped representing me that this included him not needing to forward communications to me as requested. This experience has left me feeling utterly swindled. In a matter of just a few days I’m out almost all of my retainer for a letter that I could have sent myself (seeing as I wrote most of it), and now I’m back to square one looking for another attorney. Prospective clients beware.