Need legal services? Don't hire Swerdloff & Swerdloff!

My experience with Swerdloff & Swerdloff occurred between November 2012 and June 2013.  In November of 2012 I was put into a position where I needed legal counsel in family law to handle a custody matter for my daughter.  After doing some internet research, which was my mistake because I should have been much more thorough, I hired Mark Swerdloff.  At first, the direction and expected outcomes of the case were very clear, but as the case progressed it increased in complexity. 

As more details became available, the case needed to go back to court.  I called Mr. Swerdloff repeatedly for nearly a month to get him to setup the follow-up court date.  He failed to return calls in a timely manner and it wasn’t until I threatened to terminate his services that he finally scheduled the follow-up court date.

Based on the new information in my case, Mr. Swerdloff presented me with options but lacked the knowledge or was too distracted by other cases to effectively communicate the possible ramifications of each option.  Additionally, Mr. Swerdloff always seemed to push me for a quick decision in the court setting.  At one point during my case, I made a decision to ask the court for two weeks time to consider the current proposal.  At that time, the opposing party took an aggressive stance and pushed for a court ruling on a particular issue that was based on an assumption of what my position would be after the two weeks elapsed.  At that time, Mark Swerdloff did nothing to suppress the aggressive motion resulting in yet another important condition which I had to decide upon and which also had significant financial implications.

When I called his office to discuss what happened, his wife, Ilene Swerdloff, took my call because Mr. Swerdloff was unavailable.  After having considered the court outcome, I politely voiced my displeasure to Mrs. Swerdloff about her husband’s lack of aggressiveness and inability to provide guidance on potential risk exposure given the different potential courses of action.  She was extremely snippy, condescending, and arrogant on the phone.  Her sole concern was when the firm was getting paid.  At the time of the call my retainer was depleted, but I never had any issues making previous payments.  I was outraged and disgusted by the completely inappropriate tone and comments made by Mrs. Swerdloff.   After mulling over my legal options for 2 days, I called back and terminated all services from Swerdloff & Swerdloff. 

Swerdloff & Swerdloff aren’t focused on client satisfaction; they are focused on taking your dollars.  Their family law services are extremely poor.  They didn’t respond to concerns in a timely manner and they didn’t furnish any risk exposure information related to different decision points.  Add in Ilene Swerdloff and her extremely snippy, condescending, and arrogant attitude and you have a firm that nobody in their right mind should do business with. 

In my case, hindsight is 20/20 and I should have been more careful selecting a family law attorney.  I hope this feedback helps make your decision for legal counsel a little easier.