James Anthony Lopez

This attorney was NOT good. He spoke down to me as his client. He was difficult to get in touch with. He rarely respected my decisions. He blew the bill way out of proportion and allowed this case to snowball completely out of hand despite my wishes to end it 3 months before I finally fired him. ... He may be a good ambulance chaser, but as for family law, he is not competent. He completely crumbled while trying to litigate. The opposing attorney completely man-handled him. To say he was like a deer staring into headlights is an understatement. He preyed on the raw emotions of someone going through the tragedy of divorce and separation. He builds you up with statements such as "there is no way the court will kick you out of your house" and "there is no way you will have to pay your spouse maintenance". Both of which I was forced to do. He preys on your desire for justice and fairness only to bleed you dry. Once he realized I was losing everything, his motivation ended. He wanted me to roll over and give my spouse all our assets including the house and vehicles. Once everything finally went sideways, he called me into his office to tell me it was all my fault, that I was the one who wanted to pursue this all the way to trial. I had to remind him that 3 months prior I wanted to try and settle and end this. I hired him with the intention of having someone guide me through the legal process, not stack up a bill of over 20k in 6 months only to threaten to drop me if I didn't agree to sign a promissory note of payment with interest. Wholly ineffective. I truly am not sure who he was working for, me or my spouse. When I tell him that I feel my spouse got everything and I was left with nothing, he has the audacity to tell me that that is not true, that I could in fact be paying my spouses legal fees, seriously! I am now homeless living with extended family because I'm paying over 60% of my income to DCS for child support and spousal maintenance. I only see my kids 10 days a month, which will likely be reduced to 6 days a month. I wish there had been reviews for me to read before I decided to hire this person. I fear he will continue to prey on desperate people seeking legal council only to be thrown into debt and threatened with dismissal if you don't agree to alter the payment plan. For $250 an hour, there are several better attorneys. Just open the Yellow pages. As I am now out of money, I am forced to represent myself...Thanks Jim (sarcastically)