Christopher R. Rao

Among life’s mistakes, I’ve made some doozies. The second biggest one? Hiring Christopher Rao of Beacon Attorneys. While skiing in 2017, I suffered a traumatic brain injury. Months later in his waiting room, I pondered Christopher’s vintage photo of a train wreck. A jaded metaphor for my once-...hopeful marriage? — no, this was about what I still had coming. Christopher presented his credentials. Graduated from Harvard… specialized in game theory… leader of the county bar association’s family law section… he’s in my neighborhood… How could I go wrong? After I retained Christopher, I learned he’d recently fallen out with his legal partner (hence the name change from “Rao and Pierce”). In the transition, the support staff were in flux and disarray. Early on, his team neglected to file critical documents. They made an embarrassing factual error about my son. To my repeated requests they were often nonresponsive. I harangued them to complete my will. Throughout, we let opposing counsel drive a simplistic narrative. “We’re keeping our powder dry”, Christopher would tell me. He did object to the judge about OC’s page counts… Our court orders? all drafted by OC. We lost and we lost, and each time Christopher declared some small victory. And he’d regularly criticize me. “I’m tough on my clients”, he’d tell me. Regularly I wondered if I’d hired an adversary, not an advocate. From other reviewers I’m seeing I’m not alone in this. Two years and about $100K later we withdrew, and Christopher’s long-suffering assistant wrote me, “Thank you for being you, for being kind, caring and never being afraid to express your emotions. You will always be one of my favorite clients.” Divorce is already too traumatic. Much as I empathize with his staff, I suggest that you avoid Christopher Rao.

Mr. Rao is an excellent lawyer. He got me a great settlement a few years ago. I returned to his firm and had him do my will. I have called him with questions and he has given me sound advice that has really saved me. I recommended him to friends and family because of the personal care and attention ...he gives you.

I suggest you stay away from this group. Chris will not work on your behalf and certainly will not set things up to protect you and your best interest. He is a horrible divorce attorney and the firm is not as well or Chris would be told to do things the right way and support his clients interests. Ch...ris is all about his billings and deceiving you so he gets paid... I am living his mistakes 15 years later still today. He mislead me and his represented facts were not as it was represented.

Christopher Rao and his firm worked with me on the separation from my common law wife in 2011-2012. Christopher and his firm were professional, knowledgeable and very helpful in getting me through this difficult process. In the middle of it all, my emotional response to the situation caused me to mak...e some foolish mistakes that put me unnecessarily back in court. Rao personally intervened and represented me in court against one of the best divorce attorneys in Seattle (rated 10 on this board) - and he won my case hands down. Chris is very good at explaining the client's role and responsibilities during a court case and makes very clear the choices at every turn. Since my case has wrapped up, Christopher has continued to provide me with sound advice as I occasionally need to revisit and interpret my final court orders.