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November 2024 by pimmy lee
I retained this law firm to handle a family law matter, primarily due to the firm's positive reviews and its reputation on social media, along with educational broadcasts posted by the attorney. During the initial consultation, the attorney provided an overview of the legal strategy, offering a sense of direction and instilling confidence in the case based on his purported experience.
However, after paying the retainer, communication from the attorney significantly declined. The firm repeatedly billed for duplicate work, involving multiple associate attorneys without proper justification. Additionally, the attorney's assistants seemed to perform redundant tasks, inflating fees unnecessarily. Within one to two weeks, the entire retainer was depleted, yet no substantial progress had been made, and the case remained in limbo.
When I raised concerns about the excessive billing and lack of progress, I was told that the attorney would withdraw from the case unless additional funds were provided. It became apparent that the firm prioritized financial gain over ethical client service. Unfortunately, their focus on accumulating fees overshadowed any genuine effort to resolve my legal matter.
In my experience, this firm displayed a lack of professionalism and integrity, appearing more concerned with their own financial interests than with delivering quality legal representation.
Few claims with the ARDC now, More reviews on Yelps.
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October 2024 by L M
I’m writing on behalf of my friend. He was opposing this firm and they never suggested mediation. Katie Mickelson specifically pushed and pushed this child custody proceedings to the very end so each client was forced into $25,000 evaluation. These people are so egregious and so vicious, they need to be reported to the department of regulatory agencies. It in the works no. There’s corruption going on in the Chicago family law system. I’ve heard it from other attorneys that cases don’t end until the monies gone and when the money is gone, they figure out how to end them fast.
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October 2024 by Kiki Fernanda
My experience with Beerman Law was nothing short of impressive. I recently went through a high conflict divorce. Marcus Dominguez was extremely professional, knowledgeable and went above and beyond for me throughout this 3 year process. Marcus was unwavering in our position from start to finish. His compassion and empathy during this extremely difficult time made all the difference for me. I am deeply grateful for all the work he did on my behalf and highly recommend him to anyone facing similar circumstances.
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September 2024 by Adam Schneider
deceptive and very unprofessional
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August 2024 by JIMMY “LT” OCHOA
It is with great pleasure and honor to highly recommend and endorse Jared Pinkus and his team, especially Marcus Dominguez!
As a retiring Navy Veteran relocating from San Diego to Chicago, they took on a very complicated case with an ex that was unwilling to cooperate and was making unreasonable demands.
They fought tooth and nail for me and ensured child custody was 50/50 down the middle, assets were divided fairly and payments were lowered and eventually eliminated in accordance with family law guidance.
Thanks to this dynamic power team I was finally able to wipe a clean slate and move on with my life! Thank you!
Jared is a must on your team!
Sincerely,
Jaime Ochoa, LT (ret), SC, USN
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June 2024 by Renee O'Keefe
Very unprofessional emails from Jonathan Steele. Aggressive and harrassing behavior in person and in writing. I would not recommend this team due to their ethics and inabilty to follow the law.
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May 2024 by Simon Allen
BEERMANN BILLS ITS CLIENTS FOR FILING A "MOTION TO WITHDRAW" AT THE END OF ENGAGEMENTS. THE COOK COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT HAS RULED THESE CHARGES INAPPROPRIATE. BEERMAN ALSO BILLS FOR INTAKE CALLS WITHOUT ADVANCE AGREEMENT AND DOUBLE AND TRIPLE BILLS THROUGH ITS "TEAM APPROACH".
I engaged Beermann for a complicated case that had a short timeline. They were aware of this from the beginning. According to attorney Colleen Breems “Beermann uses a team approach to our cases, and usually, that looks like assistance of our clerks, paralegals, and associates at lower hourly rates than mine to ensure efficiency and cost-effectiveness." I was specifically told that the blended rate of this team approach would be less than Breems' rate of $425/hour. In reality, Beermann's "team approach" billing looked more like 2 partners and a 3rd attorney on every call and copied on every email for a blended team rate of $1,190 per hour, or over 3x the rate I agreed to pay and adding little-to-no incremental value to my case. Beermann refused to remove the additional attorneys from each phone call and email even after several specific requests from me, and continued to charge for them, knowing that I would not have enough time to engage a new law firm before the upcoming pre-trial date. Beermann also billed me $425 for my pre-engagement business development call without disclosing this before the call and $1,156 for a non-representation related Motion to Withdraw after I fired them, and refused to remove the latter charge when I disputed it. As a result, I was forced to waste time and energy at a hearing filed by Beermann, where a Cook County Circuit Court Judge ruled that this charge was unlawful and found over $1,000 of other duplicative billings, although I believe the amount is far greater than this.
To add insult to injury I was not well represented and Colleen Breems made several critical errors in presenting evidence and negotiated a legally favorable but commercially poor pre-trial settlement. The subsequent Order was poorly drafted and has resulted in wasting dozens of hours and thousands of dollars dealing with fee disputes and enforcing it.
Overall, I would recommend that people do not hire this law firm and if they do, they should carefully check past and future bills for unlawful and duplicative charges.
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May 2024 by Grace Rumford
Colleen is a fantastic lawyer, and I was delighted to work with her. She was easy to work with, responsive, and very thorough. I highly recommend Colleen!
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May 2024 by Simon A.
BEERMANN BILLS ITS CLIENTS FOR FILING A "MOTION TO WITHDRAW" AT THE END OF ENGAGEMENTS. THE COOK COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT HAS RULED THESE CHARGES INAPPROPRIATE. BEERMAN ALSO BILLS FOR INTAKE CALLS WITHOUT ADVANCE AGREEMENT AND DOUBLE AND TRIPLE BILLS THROUGH ITS "TEAM APPROACH". I engaged Beermann for a complicated case that had a short timeline. They were aware of this from the beginning. According to attorney Colleen Breems "Beermann uses a team approach to our cases, and usually, that looks like assistance of our clerks, paralegals, and associates at lower hourly rates than mine to ensure efficiency and cost-effectiveness." I was specifically told that the blended rate of this team approach would be less than Breems' rate of $425/hour. In reality, Beermann's "team approach" billing looked more like 2 partners and a 3rd attorney on every call and copied on every email for a blended team rate of $1,190 per hour, or over 3x the rate I agreed to pay and adding little-to-no incremental value to my case. Beermann refused to remove the additional attorneys from each phone call and email even after several specific requests from me, and continued to charge for them, knowing that I would not have enough time to engage a new law firm before the upcoming pre-trial date. Beermann also billed me $425 for my pre-engagement business development call without disclosing this before the call and $1,156 for a non-representation related Motion to Withdraw after I fired them, and refused to remove the latter charge when I disputed it. As a result, I was forced to waste time and energy at a hearing filed by Beermann, where a Cook County Circuit Court Judge ruled that this charge was unlawful and found over $1,000 of other duplicative billings, although I believe the amount is far greater than this. To add insult to injury I was not well represented and Colleen Breems made several critical errors in presenting evidence and negotiated a legally favorable but commercially poor pre-trial settlement. The subsequent Order was poorly drafted and has resulted in wasting dozens of hours and thousands of dollars dealing with fee disputes and enforcing it. Overall, I would recommend that people do not hire this law firm and if they do, they should carefully check past and future bills for unlawful and duplicative charges.
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April 2024 by Sarah Pinkus
WOW, Cory Oshita & Beermann Law Firm! Cory and his team helped me through every stage of my divorce; from filing and mediation to trial and settlement. It is a road I wish no one would have to travel; however, I was very grateful for Cory once on it. He is intelligent, knowledgeable, and empathetic. His strategic approach and meticulous preparation ensured the best possible outcome. He exhibited exceptional communication skills, keeping me informed and involved in decision-making. I highly recommend Cory Oshita and Beermann to anyone needing excellent legal representation. They exceeded my expectations in every way possible.
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April 2024 by Allie Bowles
I highly recommend working with Beermann LLP and staff for any divorce, custody, support-related issues. It was a pleasure working with Justino and his colleagues. They are extremely professional, knowledgeable, and detail-oriented. I'm thrilled with the outcome of my case. I used Beermann for a post-decree issue and my only regret is not using them for my initial divorce case!
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March 2024 by Sara Fueston
Colleen, Tori, Johanna were compassionate, diligent, and put so much care into making sure my divorce case was completed in record time, always with my comfort level and reassurance as top-priority, leaving me feeling so fortunate that I found/chose them to represent me. They deserve more than 5 stars!
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February 2024 by Diana Ritter
I worked with Colleen Breems on my custody case and I'd describe her as above and beyond. Colleen's communication is outstanding, her legal knowledge regarding parental matters is excellent, and her legal advice was so on point. As soon as she was contacted by my ex's attorney, she would be sending me an email to let me know. I couldn't have asked for better counsel and I would highly recommend Colleen and team.
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December 2023 by Jon B.
Run, don't walk, away from this firm. I was in a bitter custody battle with my ex for nearly 2 years, thanks in large part to this firm not advocating for me or my daughter. They are lazy and spent way too much time trying to come up with complicated strategies, which drove up the fees with them doing almost no work. This firm only stepped up their game and tried to reach resolution when I threatened to stop paying my bills. They truly only care about fees.After wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars on this firm, I was able to contact Ashley Margason, a highly skilled family lawyer in Chicago, and got my custody dispute resolved and got 50/50 parenting time for just $1,500. Google and contact Ashley, not this firm. Unless you are wealthy and do not care about money, avoid this firm at all costs.
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November 2023 by azuzzi oliver
I’ve encountered a lot of issues related to my parental agreement and finally felt some relief working with Colleen. Not only does she thoroughly understand the laws concerning parental matters, but she genuinely cares about the client. Colleen and her team kept me abreast throughout the proceedings. The team also responded promptly which helped ease my anxiety. Overall, I wish Colleen could have represented me with previous matters.
