I am compelled to write a review about Amaral & Associates as well. They are known to run the clock. I was reading another complaint on here from "Justice Against A.". His feedback really hit the nail on the head. Whoever is on their team needs more basics when reading bank statements and identifying items that should answer their questions. Instead, they continued to pose questions to other parties which created more time spent on discovery which meant more bills for both parties. When I first walked in there, it reminds me of a chop shop. Please do your own due diligence. Please ask them the following question which is in your right: 1. How many and WHO has left your law firm in the last 5 years? And, you might want to ask why. There are many firms out there. If you decide to go with them. I hope you're lucky but PLEASE for the love of god. Ask for proof that some of your costs will be capped. And, if they say, "There is no way to guarantee that". Then, ask how long does it typically take for XYZ because it is ABSURD what this firm has gotten away with, in my opinion. This review is based on my experience and since Yelp is here to provide your feedback. This is what I am doing. I now live out of state but for a company in Winthrop AND a small town that holds everyone accountable there. THIS is one firm that I am surprised has survived the backlash Thank you read more

I can't thank you enough for helping my friend with her divorce mediation.. You were able to get the desired results within a short period of time and made it all so painless and inexpensive... She is very happy!!! I will definitely refer more of my friends to your firm.. Thank you again! read more

I had the chance to meet Ed Amaral through a professional connection for a referral and I was glad to speak with him. Consequently I had a close friend who was looking for an attorney for a consultation on a divorce matter. They did not need to hire someone right away, they weren't sure if they really were ready for divorce. Ed took the time to speak with us both and put her at ease and did not pressure her to retain him. My friend felt a lot better and feels she has an attorney that she can call if she needs to. I would encourage anyone to call Ed Amaral if they have questions about getting a divorce. read more

Attorney Edward Amaral has designed a law firm that provides an excellent divorce and estate planning practice. Amaral & Associates combines an array of resources to insure that the unique issues of one's divorce are handled expertly and efficiently, without the hidden charges or redundant process that some experience. At the top of Attorney Amaral's concerns, is the well being of children who will be effected by divorce. I was impressed by Attorney Amaral's, and his Associate Attorney Simond's, interest and direction with regard to my children. Over the years, I have turned to Amaral & Associates for assistance with estate planning and formation of a family LLP. When I have asked for guidance on matters beyond the scope of the firm's practice, Attorney Amaral has directed me to the appropriate resources. Amaral & Associates is a firm of the highest integrity. Professionalism, knowledge of the law and the diligence applied to my legal issues, ensure that I will continue to rely on Amaral & Associates in all legal matters. read more

I was very pleased with the divorce mediation services provided by Edward and his team. Apart from the reasonable cost, they made the process smooth and easy. It took only a couple of months to finish the paperwork and I never had to wait long before getting a call back after reaching out with a question (or five). I wouldn't hesitate to use them again, but hopefully I will never need to! I do, however, recommend his Winthrop office extremely highly to anyone I may meet who needs qualified, professional and attentive service. read more

In my opinion this law firm practices unfair billing & uprofessional practices. I hired Amaral & Associates for a simple divorce: no kids, no large assets. A) Billing Practices: They represented me for 4 months & charged me close to $30K. Few examples: Billing included charges for scanning docs ( very expensive). In addition, the law firm was inattentive with documents I had sent them via USPS with tracker. I would receive emails about sending documents I had already sent, which would then make me reply to them with proof & explanations .I would then get billed for additional correspondence for no fault of mine. Emails correspondence would then be billed as hours of correspondence. B) Lack of Financial & Accounting Knowhow: One of the most important aspect of a divorce, in my opinion, is not a lawyer who knows how to work the system ( submitting motions, counter-motions etc). In a probate court, I believe procedural lawyers don't matter. Everything , in my opinion, boils down to negotiating divorce settlement for which, in mu opinion, the lawyer should have at least a basic knowledge of Math, Finance & Accounting. The law firm I believe is not good at it. For example, if you are going to ask your client to take the retirement account instead of the house, the lawyer should at the least know different types of retirement account, pros&cons of 401(K) vs 403(B). That was not the case here. C) Misrepresenting Final Cost of Case: When I was billed over $10k in a month, I emailed them stating very clearly, that I was not going to afford this type of payments. I also stated that since the assets were not large spending this type of money made no sense to me. ( Email sent to them is on file with me.) They asked me to call them up made what I believe to a verbal contract with me stating that the case was almost done & at the most there was 20 hours left. When I pushed them to give me an amount, they stated falsely, that it would be around $7,000. The total bill should have been $17k. But the final total bill was close to $30,000. D) Reporting me to credit agency - After my divorce settlement, I had three months to remortgage from date of settlement or else I had to sell the house. During this time I was sent $9,000 bill. By this time I had already paid close to $20,,000 to this law firm. I sent them a mail ( USPS as I had been advised) disputing their amount. In it I stated, that I was told the entire case would be complete amounting to additional $7,000 , which I had paid& I needed time to look at the bill carefully & get back to them. However they started to harass me to pay the money by emailing me threatening to report me to credit rating agency, if I didn't pay. This before the 3 months given to me by he courts to refinance the house. The bill sent to be after settlement agreement ,was not even 90 days overdue when they reported me to credit agency. I have evidence of the exact date because I use credit karma to check my scores regularly. My mortgage had been approved by then. Amaral & Associates name in on the credit agency derogatory remark section. I believe they violated their professional standards by reporting me to credit agency which in turn led to steep decline in my credit score, which in turn would have affected my right to refinance. ABA claims such measures to be punitive. If I was not able to take out a mortgage I would have to sell the house. My credit score has been affected so badly my student loan refinance attempt has been rejected due to derogatory comment & getting credit cards with good interest rates has been difficult. E) Sending Collection Agency Lawyers Against Me: After that incident, they got their debt collection lawyer pals to start harassing me with threatening letters of lawsuit , phone calls & brought a lawsuit. At this point, I borrowed money & settled the case. After settling I sent an email to their debt lawyer to remove the derogatory remark on my credit report. It's no action has been taken or response provided until today. read more

I have known Ed Amaral for over 20 years. Ed and his associates are highly professional and ethical and work hard to achieve their client's objectives. I would highly recommend Ed Amaral and his staff to anyone who is dealing with a family law issue. read more

Ed and his team have helped my wife and I with everything from buying and selling businesses, lease revisions, along with employee and customer related contracts. This team is very versatile and I highly recommend them. They quickly respond to questions with much legal knowledge, and find the little things that you may have overlooked. read more