Stephen Michael Fatula

Mr. Fatula represented me in a family law matter in 2013. That ended successfully and I felt confident enough in Mr. Fatula's work to begin referring friends and family members to him for their family law needs. People began coming back to me saying they were surprised by the cost or they had los...t their case for reasons they didn't understand. I hadn't experienced that with this office. In 2017, I had to retain Mr. Fatula for another family law matter. This time, it was impossible for me to communicate with Mr. Fatula directly. I tried to be understanding of the fact that his practice had grown, but his lack of availability was frustrating. My matter was set for trial last fall. Everything went as planned, but when it was time to get the final order... nothing. Radio silence. Dead air. When I attempted to call the office to find out where my final order was and why it was delayed, I was charged every single time, which is ordinarily acceptable, however, I felt given the circumstances that I was being taken advantage of. I wasn't allowed to speak to either Mr. Fatula or the senior paralegal, both of whom were the only ones I trusted in the office to have accurate information and give me straight answers. This only made things worse. As the months ticked by, I grew more and more frustrated. Finally, much to my dismay and disappointment and after being snapped at by the legal secretary, Imanee, for asking questions about my situation, I asked for a third time to sub Mr. Fatula out my case. At this point, my final order had been missing for 3 months. Once I subbed Mr. Fatula out, I began calling the court in Sacramento CA. Within a week, my order was found and a few days later, in my hand. Where was it, you ask? According to the courthouse, it was put in Mr. Fatula's attorneys box at the courthouse in November. He claims he never received it. To be fair, the attorneys box is in a public area in the court house and can be accessed by anybody walking by. It is possible that somebody else grabbed it by accident, but another attorney would have returned it. I believe it was stolen in an attempt to delay settlement in the case, but I'll never know for sure. What I do know, is that I WAS loyal to McCoy Fatula. Mr. Fatula literally saved my life helping me get away from CA, and I will always be eternally grateful for that. But when push came to shove, I trusted Mr. Fatula and his staff and they let me down in a big way. I went back and forth about writing this review, but yesterday, after receiving an email where I was essentially spoken to like I was stupid, (Rachel received the same email and simply did what I asked!) I made the decision to review McCoy Fatula, quite honestly, in various platforms. In the future, I will take my business elsewhere. I suggest you do the same. If you do move forward with this firm, make sure Rachel (senior paralegal) is in the office while your case is being handled. I feel if she hadn't been on leave when my trial happened, none of this would have occurred.

Let's face it, dealing with attorneys is rarely a fun experience, however when I met the folks at McCoy Fatula it made everything so much easier. My experience was very pleasant and the team was so professional. Steve Fatula dealt with my case personally, he kept me in the loop and updated me on a ...daily basis. It's rare to that kind of one-on-one service at large firms, it was such a great relief to know I had them on my side.