Samantha J Hazel

Sam has been my attorney off and on for over 5 years helping me with various family law situation's. I will say that Sam is a very smart woman who approaches situations in a matter of fact way. She’s direct and doesn’t put up with any guff from the opposing party. Sam has been informative, given word...s of wisdom and has been a shoulder to cry on when things were too overwhelming. If you want a lawyer who will give it to you straight and not sugar coat it and make false promises then Sam is your gal. I feel like Sam is fair with how she charges for her time. Lawyers are expensive, but I feel that Sam is no more expensive than any other. Divorce is messy, let Sam help you have a fighting chance at a fair settlement.

Now that my divorce is settled I finally feel comfortable to leave a review. Samantha Hazel is a terrible attorney. My ex and I had a pretty complicated divorce due to debt, tons of marital assets and a child being involved. Samantha was condescending, rude, and acted as if she was BOTHERED because... she was on vacation while I had deadlines to be met. She missed my deadline to have everything filed. After doing so let me know that she was going to work for OPPOSING COUNSEL so I would need to find another attorney. No other attorney wanted to pick it up because of the fact that she didn’t meet deadlines. Samantha spoke to me as if I just get divorced every other day and should just know what she is talking about. Samantha worked for herself on this case. I didn’t expect that Samantha was working for free but I also didn’t expect that she would tell me that she would deal with things and not deal with them. My ex and I are not on good terms and don’t agree on much these days but I can tell you we both agree that we were taken advantage of by both attorneys. In short- Samantha is rude, unprofessional, condescending and to be frank Just a B. This is my personal experience with her and I hope others proceed with caution.

Samantha “Sam” as she goes by, seemed charming and quick at our first meeting. She later would demonstrate noticeable changes of personality that make her super sensitive, unacceptably slow at responding and very slow with retaining any details of my case. She ignored crucial details of my case... and made me repeat entire stories like when my child was physically abused under my ex’s care. You’d think an attorney might remember that…so I spent large amounts of money repeating myself to her and when I would do so, she would act like she never had heard a thing, never having a memory jog. This was frustrating. So was her taking hours to touch each piece of my discovery, slowly ,before flipping to the next. Sure she has to make sure I’m not missing statements but it took me a few minutes to sort my mortgage, credit Card statements and investment paperwork. It took her hours, I am not exaggerating. She would stop and stare at February mortgage statement. Then March. It was almost like she was stoned or overly medicated, she seemed so out of it and that day I wasted $1,000 which is what I was charged for her moving like a snail to look at paperwork. I get pausing with bank statements to sew if there were mysterious withdrawals of large sums of money or huge deposits. But mortgage statements? Come on… Sam was abhorrent with negotiation with opposite counsel, a man she described as old school and not that bright. Yet she literally didn’t get a millimeter forward in standing up for me. Not once did she write a single letter that put pressure on my ex. She appeared intimidated by opposite counsel. Sam ignored communication with opposite counsel for at least three weeks after they receive info they asked for, except to ask for his discovery, too. I asked for follow-up, for our very private but very time sensitive issue, through email. Nothing for weeks. After this, I texted her and she texted back immediately. She engaged in back and forth messages until I expressed I didn’t understand why we weren’t contacting opposite counsel as weeks had passed. All of a sudden, after this “yelling at her” as she called it, she said “stop texting me or I will block your number.” That sure doesn’t feel like appropriate behavior when I hadn’t used profanity, name calling, etc. I had just said I expected her help as that’s why I had hired an attorney. S After being threatened to be blocked , out of nowhere, I was no longer comfortable with her . She immediately sent a withdrawal for counsel. The next day she emailed opposite counsel a “mistake” email of my private questions to her about my ex that was harmful to me. It felt very retaliatory. Finally, my file ans remainder of retainer she owed me was sent to the wrong address, not mine. This envelope was jam-packed with very confidential information on a Zip drive that did not have password protection. Sam started strong but proved to be an aloof, slow, and ineffective to the extreme at advocating for me to get more parenting time as my ex was in contempt of court in so many ways. Not once did she make this an issue to put pressure on my ex. I then hired Mark at Menasche Gertz, granted he is not cheap, but his pace doubled hers with meetings, comprehensively picking up on the theme of my ex and my issues . It was was night and day at me feeling like I would get what I deserved in a custody and financial battle, in court. Sam’s estimate was super low compared to his of what parenting time I would be awarded. He got things the first time, had stronger strategies, was more experienced, and was firm and steady at advocating for me to opposite counsel.

A friend referred me to a lawyer who was unavailable and referred me on to Samantha Hazel to handle a small but time sensitive family law matter a few months into the pandemic in 2020. She stated she was available, then after I paid the retainer, went on vacation for two weeks, which she did not disc...lose to me prior to retaining her. I would have hired another attorney had I known this information. Then, while on vacation, initiated several calls to me and each time complained to me that she was working while on vacation. She sent correspondence to my children's father without my review referring to his current girlfriend as "his quarantine babe," a sentiment I do not share and found very unprofessional and dangerous. Not only do I want to keep the peace for coparenting our children, this is a person I left due to domestic violence and who had supervised visitation and court mandated anger management. Retaliation against myself - or worse, my kids - is a very real possibility. And finally, once the matter was settled and the finish line in sight, the drafting and submission of the document dragged on for weeks. I hope I don't need an attorney again, but if I do, I'll be sure to stick with someone that I was directly referred to by a friend.

I hired Sam over 5 years ago upon a recommendation from my financial advisor to handle my very long divorce settlement. I believe that was one of the best decisions I’ve made. Sam knows the law and current family court precedents to expertly get results. She actively listened to my desires, yet guide...d me to a positive position that protected my current and future assets. I am writing this review now because my case was opened back up and she fought to minimize my expense and exposure with a fire that impressed me. I can now look back from day one until the time of this review and say Sam is much more that just a family law attorney. Sam has the rare quality of masterfully guiding you through the most trying and emotional time while giving sound advice to rebuild your happiness. Sam truly cares and has your back.