Robert Michael Vella

I decided to hire Mr. Vella based on another attorney's recommendation. He promised to fight for my rights as a father and to protect me from a spiteful wife during divorce proceedings. As soon as I paid the retainer fee, he disappeared off the face of the earth. No email, call or voice mail could g...et a reply from him. In the meantime the estranged wife was harassing me, threatening to call police on me with baseless accusations in my own home and she exploited me financially. I finally was able to contact Mr. Vella and asked him to review a document from opposing counsel. He told me to read it myself first and to then contact him to point out the stipulations that I didn't agree with.(If I could read "legalese" I wouldn't need his help, right?) 2 months later I made the decision to end my representation with Mr. Vella. He pleaded and assured me that he was the man for the job, even though 90% of our communication was regarding the inability to communicate with him. We agreed to go our separate ways and he promised to have my invoice and documents ready in a few days, with a partial refund coming within 2 weeks. I got the documents in about 2 weeks and 5 months have passed since the date when I was supposed to receive my refund. He ignored 5 emails regarding that refund over the course of a month. I then reported Mr. Vella to the Nassau County Bar Association and they're now investigating the matter. They predicted that upon being notified of the investigation, he might just refund me to avoid tarnishing his reputation. They were wrong. His office has yet to contact me. I know how stressful a divorce can be, especially when your spouse is a malicious person. Please do not put your future in the hands of Robert M. Vella of Mineola. You will feel like you're trying to divorce him as well. He only cares about himself. Don't believe me? Go to his office for his free consultation and he will point at his family portraits and tell you what a great dad he is and how he will fight for you. But if you retain his services, that might be the last time he speaks to you for months.