Modern Family LawReviews of modernfamilylaw.com

Horrible absolutely the worst. Stay far away from this uneducated thieves.

I paid this firm over 55k for a simple custody modification that never reached mediation or a final trial. Nothing was resolved, and I had to change counsel. They were completely ineffectual. Communication was bad from day 1. My attorney cold-called me in the middle of my work day hours before the scheduled call. No direction was given with regards to submitting documentation. It took 3 emails to get instructions for the client portal. I was told I didn’t need to attend a proceeding, then called frantically day-of and told I did. Calendar invites never came, no emails recaps or timelines. Sloppy. I knew my attorney was junior and was ok with it. I hadn’t violated my decree and it should have been simple to resolve. I needed competent, not a Hollywood divorce lawyer. When I raised concerns, the firm’s answer was to add a second attorney, which came up more than once. Temp orders hearing - My ex received a Tuesday visitation. My attorney’s order came back with 5 material errors; additional rights not granted, medical insurance obligation shifted to me, the wrong day of the week for visitation. I sent back revisions twice and she sent the final to opposing counsel w/out my review My ex caught another error in the timing of visitations. Due to this, he refused to sign, sending us back to court and resulting in an additional ~8k. The managing partner swooped in (again), reassuring me. Mediation was soon, why change now? Mediation - Despite my ex cancelling & the mediator confirming the case was off the calendar, I was told to appear anyway because it would “look good”. This accomplished nothing but more billable hours. Final trial - I provided a written list of outcomes I would accept. The day before trial she kept bringing me offers nowhere near it, conferring with opposing counsel, and billing every exchange. The offers got progressively worse. Trial day - Although my ex requested a district judge, my attorney didn’t confirm the setting until the day before. It had not been set, and we could not proceed. Another fumble resulting in a reset and more billable hours. Staffing model - The cost driver. A weekly internal meeting billed 3x; paralegal $205, associate $350, managing partner $525.. Over $1000/hr for the firm to talk to itself. The managing partner appeared on substantive entries. The firm calls it “supervision”, from where I sat, it was cleanup of work I had already paid for. Billing dispute - The managing partner hired the associate whose work I was questioning. She bills on the matter and controls the billing. There is no neutral party and defending the work is in her best interests. I submitted a formal billing review that was flatly denied without a single entry addressed. Withdrawal was threatened more than once after asking billing questions, usually with a key date approaching. Strategy - None presented, I had to press my attorney to get actionable feedback and was told to trust the process. Unfortunately, no strategy or proactive measures were taken, just reactivity and a complete lack of accountability. I saw no evidence of anyone picking up the phone to manage opposing counsel or move the case forward - just billable conferring. When I raised this, I was told, verbally and in writing, that billing is for “work done and not an outcome”. Not what any paying client wants to hear. I attempted to escalate my billing concerns to another party in the firm, detailing the itemized issues. I received a copy-paste response using the exact language the managing partner had used previously denying it. After I withdrew, they continued to bill me more than $2,000 over the next 7 weeks , including more of the 3x meetings, to discuss a routine filing. While MFL certainly enriched themselves by my situation, these practices aren’t sustainable. I would urge anyone evaluating counsel to look elsewhere. The lawyer I moved to got the job done quickly and effectively.

Stay away from this concept of finding an attorney. Claudia Brice was my assigned attorney. Spoke 5 minutes and I have been billed $732.00. There a reason that these attorneys use this form of finding clients. In my opion they are not good attorney's She talked to me for 5min and now they say I owe MFL $732.00 It scamy/scumy!

I do not think he was ready to handle this level of complexity. He is a good guy but advising me to not go to my hearing destroyed my creditability and now I have lost custody of my daughter and other stuff. Been over a year since I was a primary parent to a non existent parent.

My experience with attorney Kathryn Johnson was awful. I spent thousands and saw little progress on my case. I was billed hundreds weekly including for “ strategy meetings”. She has never informed me of what her strategy on my case actually was. She withdrew abruptly leaving me to fend for myself during serious custody negotiations with the opposing party. I’m highly disappointed with the service I received from this firm.

I am extremely disappointed with my experience with this law firm. I have been let down multiple times poor lack of communication absolutely no preparation and I have been charged for multiple different employees without my knowledge. This place is not somewhere i’d reccomend if you want to win a case or not be charged outrageously

WOW! I'm even more angry that I didn't read these reviews before hiring them to complete a simple guardianship transfer - which I was told they could do. Jasmine Johnson was assigned to my case and I was billed MULTIPLE times for "research" and not an ounce of work was done on my case. When I finally fired her, I was billed an additional $100 for the email attachment of the 'official' letter closing my case with their office. I've disputed the charge with my credit card company multiple times and yet they continue to keep recharging me for it. I spent thousands with them for ZERO work product. They are the most unethical firm I've ever worked with.

They are pretty much a scam, stay away please.