Eileen M Avila

I recommend Eileen without any hesitation whatever, based on her handling of my contentious divorce process. The process involved getting out of a temporary restraining order used by my ex and her lawyer as a divorce tool, child custody evaluation, and property division. We progressed through my fail...ed attempt to reconcile, fighting the temporary restraining order head on, asserting my parental rights, and dividing the property through mediation, while avoiding a wasteful full-scale court battle. Throughout, Eileen was extremely professional, creative, responsive, nimble, dedicated, honest, and fair. She was willing to listen to and act on my preferences as well as to assert her superior knowledge and experience when needed. She navigated me expertly through the Family Law, local idiosyncrasies, advice from other experts, and referrals to other experts, based on more than 20 years of experience and continued learning. She was responding to my emails and calls instantaneously, even when traveling, over the weekend, or late in the day. There could not be a sharper contrast with the lawyer on the other side who simply wanted a court battle to maximize her fees. In conclusion, Eileen is an excellent Family Law attorney and I consider myself extremely lucky that she was my attorney.

Eileen Avila is a very diligent and knowledgeable lawyer. She would always be well prepared for my cases and a fierce litigator in court. In addition to being a friendly and pleasant person, she is honest and advises her clients in a clever manner. Through my interactions with her, it became clear th...at she was very experienced with family law, especially evident when she made all the right decisions in my case. I had a very tough time with my divorce. My ex hired a ruthless attorney--it was clear that his attorney was interested in prolonging the conflict. Eileen, who is quite the opposite, always kept my best interests in mind and did a superb job dealing with the difficult situation. She is extremely compassionate, with a kind heart and truly believes in making the situation BETTER for the client and the child involved. Additionally, she made sure I received the best settlement possible. If you are looking for a compassionate, hard-working, and well-qualified attorney, I believe you won't find anyone better for the job.

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.