Eileen M Avila

My experience with Avila was shockingly bad. I will not disclose the private details of my family's situation, but I hired her to handle several post-divorce issues at five hundred fifty an hour after connecting to her through SM County Bar Lawyer Referral Service, and worked with her for about 8 mon...ths before the hearing. Here are the issues potential and current clients should know: * Avila did not document or remember (but charged for) our multiple attorney-client calls. My client file contained nothing on these key strategy and background conversations, and her response to my fee mediation request further proves that she treats phone calls as very lucrative ephemera. * She called me DURING the hearing to clarify extremely basic elements of the case as if it were the first time she'd seen it, and her conduct was erratic for the duration. * Avila did not look at a single key email in prep for hearing (as evidenced by Mailtrack records), but decided to wing it. My former spouse steamrolled her during meet-and-confer (which she didn't prepare either of us for), and the judge was visibly irritated with her during the entire open hearing. * Avila completely neglected to address one of the three major issues for which I retained her (which we discussed multiple times, including the day before). That failure alone will cost me 5 figures over 2 years. * Every document her office produced required 2-5 corrections (from major mistakes to typos), and she charges attorney rates for everything. You will have to act as her legal assistant and she will charge you for the pleasure. * While your attorney is not a therapist, avoid her like the plague if you have experienced any form of abuse in connection to your case. Not a great warning to give against a family law attorney. I assumed that an attorney with significant experience in San Mateo County family law and no publicly-visible Bar sanctions (complaints, settlements, fee mediations are not visible to us) would have been able to keep track of the handful of issues in my case. I assumed that she would prepare me competently for the non-attorney, pre-hearing FCS mediation. I assumed she would have known what to expect at the hearing itself. I assumed she would have refreshed her memory on the case by reviewing my client file before the hearing started (and that she would have maintained a sufficient file in the first place). I assumed that she would represent me as agreed rather than deciding to improv her way through the hearing. I was wrong on all counts. Sort reviews by 'Newest First' to read other client experiences from the past 2 years (and check out user history of the sole 5-star review from August 2023).. Clients have some recourse through county and state bar and can also file suit to recoup in the case of malpractice. However, all of these cost us money, time, energy, and require business-hours attendance at hearings. A professional attorney will always be at a significant advantage in those venues. Retaining Avila was a financially, mentally, and emotionally devastating mistake, and she could not care less.