John Anton Sterbick

I just wanted to thank you all your assistance with providing me so quickly the 2011 Tax Returns and bankruptcy documents that I needed urgently for my childrens college financial aid requests. As a result BOTH my children were awarded this week grants and loans so they may return to college and cont...inue their educational path. They will both be back at WSU in just two weeks! I am forever grateful for having found such a compassionate and professional team to help me through what has been a most difficult time. As John said on the first day I came into your office "It will get better" and it has. Thank you so very much, Sarah

May 2, 2012 To Whom It May Concern, My name is Ms. Bailey [removed by Avvo Staff]. In 2011 I sought a lawyer for my bankruptcy and found Mr. John Sterbick’s law office. I’ve been exceptionally pleased with their service since the first day. In truth, I spent very little time with Mr. Sterbick h...imself, but found him to be personable and intuitive. I can’t attest to his knowledge of the law, or that of his employees, since I have no education in this discipline whatsoever (and fully intend to keep it that way), but I can say that everything has worked-out perfectly with my case, which should say more than enough. One would and should expect this with whatever lawyer they choose, but I imagine that isn’t always the case. Yet it has been the services provided to me beyond doing the job, in and of itself, that has so pleased me. Most of my interactions were with Ms. Lorelei Faber, of John Sterbick’s office, and I can’t imagine how she could’ve done a better job. I’ve no doubt that Ms. Faber could’ve drowned me in endless legal detail that I didn’t want or need. Many have been the “professionals” that have tried to waste my time with their self-aggrandizing stories about what they did for me when I didn’t want to know nor did I need to know. I’ve told my tax accountants, my realtors, my doctors, etc. all to stop talking because I simply don’t need all of this information. Lorelei answered my questions, succinctly, briefly, and told me what I needed to know as well as assuring me that if I wanted to know more detail, she would be happy to provide that to me. This may not seem like much, but to me, it was gigantic. Ms. Faber was and remains exceptionally responsive, often replying to my emails a few minutes after I sent my question. She also knew how to and would immediately calm me down; whenever we need a lawyer, it’s usually an emotional situation and the ability of the lawyer to be sensitive to that is paramount. I declared Chapter 13 bankruptcy, which was very scary. Each time I’d freak because the courts or businesses intentionally sent me very alarming legal documents, Lorelei was instantly reassuring and handled the situation. With so many businesses today, the customer is told to do this or do that or do it ourselves, etc. That was not the case with the law office of Mr. Sterbick. Whenever they could, they would do all of the communications with the creditors, the courts, everybody, rather than just pushing all of that on the customer. If they could do it, they did do it and that kind of service is difficult to find today. I’ve already recommended Mr. Sterbick and especially Ms. Faber to at least two people and will do so again should the opportunity arise. Sincerely, Ms. Bailey Catherine [removed by Avvo Staff]

My husband had a corporation and needed a tax attorney for back taxes. When looking for a tax attorney in Tacoma, John Sterbick's website popped up. It looked impressive so we set up an appointment. Mr. Sterbick made us feel like everything was going to be taken care of. We paid him his $1,800 fee an...d quickly got all the paperwork he asked for. Mr. Sterbick said he would contact us. After months and no word from Mr. Sterbick we called to check on the status. They said he's working on it and they'll call us. Soon a notice came in the mail from the IRS. We took it over to John Sterbick and again they said they're working on it and don't worry. Next the IRS came to our house and left a business card. My husband was upset and called Mr. Sterbick to let him know about the visit. Mr. Sterbick said not to worry, he would call them right away. Another month passed and more IRS notices came in the mail as well as certified mail. My husband again delivered the information to Mr. Sterbick and was reassured it was nothing to worry about. after another month and no word from Mr. Sterbick we set up a meeting with him to ask questions and find out what the status was. We needed to know what the next step was. John Sterbick entered the room with our folder and asked questions (like it was our first visit). My husband had to keep reminding him what he said before and what he was suppose to be doing. John Sterbeck said "ohhhh, this is a corporation!?" He leaned back looking at the ceiling (for a long time) not saying anything then he stood up and closed the door. He quietly told us "For another $1,500 cash, I can get the amount lowered for you and start immediately." He asked, "how soon can you get the cash?" We said how about the next day? He asked, can you go get it ASAP (that afternoon) and he'd take care of everything immediately. So we did. (It didn't feel right in our gut) but we were wanting to resolve this. Another month past, we heard nothing from Sterbick. We received another notice from the IRS We called John Sterbik and received a voice message stating he was playing phone tag with the IRS and he would be in touch with us. Waiting again....We received another certified letter stating "since we have heard nothing from you, we will go the next step and seize your bank accounts. OMG, this time we thought screw STERBIK, we called the IRS ourselves. The IRS lady made it clear she hadn't heard from Sterbick and had never heard of him. She explained the IRS does reduce the amount owing for people whom owe back taxes with corporations. What a blow, John Sterbik lead us to think he could get the amount lowered (for another $1,500 dollars) we feel like a couple of idiots. My husband called Sterbiks office PISSED OFF. He told them about the call to the IRS. He told him what the IRS lady said. The IRS lady told us that Sterbick finally called her to set up an appointment. We stayed in contact with the IRS and handled everything ourselves. hard telling what the outcome would have been if we didn't. We spent $3,300.00 for NOTHING! DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY!!!!! As we see it, the good reviews someone left on here were probably written by himself or one of his family members! STATUS UPDATE: We are in the process of reporting him to the Washington State Bar Association.