Diane Dee Schilling

Ms. Schilling is very nice in person but denied repeatedly that she had issues with her phone. There is no way to email her either. I was referred to her by the Lawyer Referral Service and California Rural Legal Aid. I have a long-term disability, which forced me to not be able to afford other attorn...eys. I called her again and again before seeing her and her phone kept ringing and not going to voicemail. Finally, after telling the Lawyer Referral service, Ms. Schilling called and set up an appointment to meet at her office. She showed me files from other clients that she was currently helping that looked over three feet wide. I paid her $250 and she asked for a few additional documents for me to get and drop off at her home. I was then able to leave her a voice message reminding her that I dropped off the papers and asked her to call. I called her four days later and her phone would either beep once and go silent or beep three times and disconnect. I again alerted the Lawyer Referral Service and tried calling several times before her phone actually worked and went to voice-mail. I left her a message telling her that I paid her $250, which for me is a lot and deserve to be updated about my case. She called back and sounded annoyed, essentially saying I need to be patient. When I finally connected, I asked for my money back and mentioned how my court hearing wasn't far away and that she should fix her phone issues. She again denied there has been an issue, claiming At&t fixed the issue. Due to limitations imposed by my disability, including financial limitations, I will probably lose custody of my son to a mom who is very unstable. The Lawyer Referral Service absolutely did nothing after repeated pleas to find me another low cost attorney. Lawyers should never be allowed to operate like Ms. Schilling does and if a potential client endures such an experience, the referral service should do whatever they can to help, rather than destroy families and relationships. I have now visited the Superior Court self-help center three times and the last young clerk was lecturing me about how I should have already filed my court papers. She treated me like I was an irresponsible child, even though she was young enough to be my granddaughter. She had no idea how I had done my due diligence in getting assistance, and thanks to Ms. Schilling and the Lawyer Referral Service, will most likely get further chastised by the judge. Shameful :(