I worked with Sam at Brotman Law on a complex California use-tax question for an out-of-state vessel purchase, and he was excellent. Punctual, honest, and precise--no fluff, just clear answers to exactly what I asked. As an attorney myself, I have high standards, and he exceeded them. Sharp, straight-shooting, and respects your time. Highly recommended. read more

I had a consultation with Carlos, he gave me the advise I needed to resolve an issue that had been outstanding for 5 years. Great service, responsive, and just what I needed. read more

I'm so grateful and relieved to have been referred to Sam Brotman by a corporate attorney I recently worked with. As a new business owner and a mental health therapist, navigating my taxes in two different states has been very confusing, stressful, and overwhelming. Sam was able to provide instant clarity to all the questions I had and felt that I was able to trust him instantly as he seemed very knowledgeable. He's been very generous with assisting me with my situation and am very appreciative of all of the help he has provided me so far, unlike the majority of other firms that could make it difficult for new small business owners to find accessible legal guidance. Save yourself the time and headache with trying to find a trustworthy tax attorney and make an appointment with Sam. And ignore those low star ratings. Thank you so much again, Sam! read more

My experience with Brotman Law has been nothing short of stellar. When I came to them I was extremely anxious about having received a threatening notice from the FTB with the intent to levy a large lien against my property. From the first call, the team at Brotman put my fears to rest, put my situation into perspective, and gave me a plan for my case that was both logical and affordable. Brotman lead my case with aplomb, handled everything with the FTB, and kept me informed at every step of the way. They charged me for only the exact minutes they spent working on my case, always accurate fractions of an hour. And they were constantly reassuring, explaining everything as my case progressed. Brotman did not even use my entire retainer and refunded the balance immediately. How cool was that? ! Brotman brought me the optimal results we had discussed, very quickly, and for less than expected. They are so competent and experienced at what they do. And, perhaps most important to me is their 'bedside manner'. Everyone who helped me was so calming and reassuring. Sam Brotman himself joined one of our calls to impress upon me (in his warm, fatherly manner) that "from the top" that "they got me, and everything was going to be OK". And it was. With Brotman Law, I had no sleepless nights, I was able to manage my busy life and maintain focus on my future. They instantly turned my panic and chaos into calm, and a plan. And they treated me like I was a respected friend, whom they were looking out for. Best experience imaginable! My thanks to everyone at Brotman Law for not just being exceptional professionals, but for being such good people who care and invest in their clients. read more

Wanted to take advantage of their FREE 15 min discovery call to ask a couple of state tax lien questions. Just in case you want to do the same let me share what they don't share on the contact page. You will be asked a couple of questions to see if they can help with your particular situation. It will take 2 min. depending on how chatty you are. :) She will then inform you that you can have a one hour consultation with Sam for $500. Nothing wrong with charging for a consultation. It's the lack of transparency and misleading people that kind of sucks. Not the greatest way to start a relationship with a lawyer. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ read more

Horrible Experience with this firm, which wasn't really a "firm" but just Sam Brotman passing off work to another out of state lawyer and his unlicensed assistant; Sorry for the length but read before hiring this man: I was referred to this lawyer to do an OIC, from a lawyer friend through another lawyer he knew. So it was a third party referral. Nonetheless, I trusted that he would be fair and ethical. Initially, (right away), we got on a zoom call with the referral source and SAM "sold" me on paying approximately $25,000 or more over the course of a year...for an OIC. This is about 4 to 5 times the norm. He told me that a monthly deduction from my bank account was to make it "convenient for me" to pay by the month and also collected a retainer fee. Later the referral source told me that she stated to Sam when referring me initially that I had "a large pile of money for the IRS/OIC" When i I questioned him why this was 4 to 5 times MORE than the average OIC cost... He justified it by telling me it's because HE was "on top of things and Hands On with the IRS constantly". He told me they would be calling and updating financials and checking very often ... weekly, monthly. Sam told me HE personally would be available for questions throughout the process. Sam Brotman told me that they had a 90% success rate with getting results for OICs. THEN he turned my OIC over to an attorney in Illinois and a 23 or 24 year old assistant to put it together. I never HEARD from him for THREE MONTHS until i questioned his billing. The assistant was competent but SAM later told me he was billing for her at $250 per hour. She was not even credentialed as a paralegal or legal assistant yet was doing most of the work overseen by an Illinois attorney who looked over the final product prior to submittal. Brotman had disappeared from all communication. It took this Illinois team 3 months to put the OIC together & submit even though they had my financials from week one. This is way too long, when billilng a client by the month. They obviously dragged their feet. Then after submittal, I began to question WHY he was billing me $2,000 per month, taking it automatically out of my IRS savings acccount. I was NOT TOLD initially that there would be a 6 to 12 month waiting period after submittal and before the IRS would even RESPOND. FOR THIS WAITING PERIOD, he was attempting to continue to take $2,000 per month out of my bank! When I questioned this...his office case manager, Mike Gough, called me and said this was a"monitoring fee" ...basically that they were waiting for a piece of mail acknowledging receipt of the OIC... ie: doing nothing. THEN they changed the amount to $500 per month, (more reasonable for doing nothing, but still not fair) When i asked what I was getting for the $500 "monitoring fee" ... then they changed it back to $2,000 per month... AGAIN for doing nothing but waiting. When i asked for the breakdown of hourly rate (to see where the $2,000 per month was going)... I got a breakdown i felt was padded/exaggurated, where items were even repeated. THEN as I was about to substitute him... they made a withdrawal from an account I specifically told them NOT to use. He later said this was an accident and refunded that amount... but still! I was furious. FInally i realized there were fair San Diego tax lawyers out there who guided me to safety and took over. When I went to substitute Sam Brotman out, first he tried to get me to stay with his firm at $2,000 per month... when i said no...he got combative and bullyish. Subsequently, I had to ask 6 times in writing for my full file which ultimately arrived to me jumbled, upside down and repeated multiple times so it looked far larger than it actually was. I hope the next person in need will not feel "taken" by this attorney as I did. It was a nightmare and caused me more stress than the debt itself. read more

I was really disappointed by my experience hiring Brotman Law. The quick summary is that they suggested a $10k flat fee arrangement, dithered around ineffectively for months (failing to respond to emails or show up to calls they scheduled) and then they demanded more money to continue (despite the "flat fee" I'd already paid). My tax issue was that California (where I haven't lived since 2015) charged me about $40k in 2022 for a 2017 property sale that had nothing to do with California, but that the CA Franchise Tax Board (FTB) apparently learned about from the IRS. The FTB phone number would usually just give a recording that they had too many calls and disconnect. When I finally reached a human, they asked me to FAX them the documentation as if this was 1985. I was very busy running my business and decided it would be better to hire an attorney in California with FTB experience to help clear this up. In part due to good reviews here, I set up a call with Mr. Brotman ($500) and he agreed that CA was obviously in the wrong. Instead of charging hourly, he suggested a $2,500 per month "flat fee" capped at 4 months and expressed optimism that it would only take 1 or 2 of those months. He said the flat fee wouldn't cover tax court litigation, but would cover the earlier paperwork stages. I agreed and they very quickly sent me the contract and bank draft forms. I noticed that the contract itself omitted the 4-month cap so I'm glad I got them to fix that. Sam Brotman did seem competent and knowledgeable, but that $500 intake call was my only chance to speak with him. My case was passed to less experienced associates (Sahar and Trevor) who didn't seem interested. We only had two calls in the first two months. They were an hour late to the first one, and Trevor never even showed up to the second (Sahar did join 30 minutes late). I sent requests for an update every couple weeks but usually didn't hear back. That was the first $5k down the drain. They eventually asked me to prepare a 2017 CA return to show more clearly that this income didn't relate to California at all. I prepared it myself and sent it. Trevor wrote on Feb 22 that "We'll contact the FTB". That was February's $2,500. By March 16 I hadn't heard anything in nearly a month and so I wrote back to ask "whether you were able to contact the FTB about my case and if they responded?" Trevor responded that they did mail in the return I prepared and "We are calling them to confirm receipt and ensure they can process the refund. We will have an update on that latter point next week." I didn't hear back from them for another month and a half. But at least March was the final $2,500 to reach the $10k "cap". In late May, the FTB responded to the return saying that they still planned to treat the sale as CA income. Trevor wrote a couple weeks later that "I'm pleased because it was a response and recognition. That is the first and biggest step for us to take. I am talking to our new FTB contact early next week and will let you know next steps after that point." He requested some documentation, which I quickly sent. In late September I hadn't heard from Brotman in almost two months when I suddenly got an email from Trevor that "the individual assigned to your case is stubborn and either not able to make significant decisions or not capable of applying the law to your situation. At this point, given that it looks like a waste of time to continue dealing with the assigned auditor, we think it best to pursue the appeal." That part seemed reasonable to me, but then they said they would no longer honor the flat fee and wanted me to start paying additional hourly fees! They said filling out the appeal form would cost me about $2,000. So basically my original $10,000 "flat fee" only covered the return (which I prepared). After the first minor CA pushback they already want more money. I also found out that Trevor was leaving the firm in 4 days. I feel like this sudden request for more cash to continue was more about clearing his plate than anything intrinsic to my case. I asked them to reconsider and honor the flat fee, but they refused. Given Brotman Law's abysmal failure in the first stage of this case, I certainly won't pay more to continue this lackluster representation. I'll either hire a different firm or just move on. I already paid the $40k in dispute last year and am just seeking a refund of that wrongfully assessed amount. I understand that no firm can win every case, but I feel like Brotman barely tried. read more

I was defrauded by a person who claimed was an Expert with IRS Code pertaining to the Agent / Principal Relationship. He used GOD and the Bible as his way of getting me to trust him. After facing a Federal Magistrate, I was found not guilty to Criminal Charges, yet civilly, the IRS said I owed in the Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars, which also went to the perpetrator. Sam, assessed my situation and the payback to the IRS. Now after 10 years, the Collection Status Expiration Date (CSED) has wiped away the debt and a renewal of my life. Sam and his Team took it over setting me free from it all. Thank you, Sam, and Thank you GOD! Sam, I am forever in your debt of Gratitude for giving me my life back...Thank you Blessings Dave C. read more

If you're looking for an amazing tax attorney, look no further. Sam Brotman and his team are top notch. You will not find a more knowledgeable, patient, professional team to handle your tax issues. Their billing is also extremely transparent, which isn't the norm! Brotman Law understands that dealing with the IRS can be intimidating and unknown. They will hold your hand and guide you, making sure you come out on top! I couldn't recommend them enough. read more

Horrible law firm!!! They took my case and promised me through the whole process that they will reduce the amount that I owe at least by 50%. They charged me about $10,000 and did not do a thing. When I had a conference call with them and the representative of the board of equalization I noticed did they don't know how to answer the questions and that are just wanted my money. I'm sorry met Sam and his crew of unhelpful paralegals and secretaries who only know how to call to collect money And not really there to do the job and help you with the case. Do not pay them the retainer they ask for because you will not get it back regardless how much "work" they do or how much money they made you lose. read more

We all know how hard it is to find a service that is trustworthy and will get the job done! I searched the internet and thank GOD, I found Sam and Denise at Brotman Law. It was so unfortunate how long I had been going through an audit with State Board of Equalization, since 2010! It was awful it would come and go, when I thought it was over, here they were again with huge financial threats!, which given the details, I really should had never gone through this. I hired this law firm and after a few months, they resolved it with absolute incredible results!!! They were totally professional, but genuine at the same time, they were very empathetic, with my situation, always prompt, their follow-up was spot on, They by far were extremely reasonable with their retainer for all that they did for me! I highly recommend Brotman Law if you are in a tax nightmare! Thank you Sam and Denise from the bottom of my heart!!! read more

Very professional, totally recommended. I was witnessed to the good attention they gave to the difficult case of my friend. They keep working on it and it seems like we'll get a resolution for his case pretty soon. read more

thank you Brotman Law! I consulted with Brotman regarding various tax planning matters. My main concern was making sure that I was following IRS business requirements, but not exceeding what was necessary in quarterly estimated payments, etc. It is refreshing to see that not only does he have extensive experience in tax matters, but he also has a lot of experience deciphering QuickBooks reports and recommending improvements there, too! After an hour consultation, he was able to reason through my estimated business tax liability for the following year and design a plan for moving forward. After my meeting with Brotman I feel prepared for this next fiscal tax year - exactly my goal :) read more

Awesome people! Working hard for my cousin

I truly appreciate Sam's willingness to go above and beyond in helping our company take the most financially beneficial option when dealing with an audit. Their honest feedback, even when it may mean less dollars in their pocket, is very refreshing. read more

Mr Brotman has done my taxes for 6 years now, and I have never experienced anything but the best service. I always receive the most back in my returns, and I always have the money in my account very shortly after I drop off my paperwork. I would highly recommend Brotman Law to anyone! read more

I have done a lot of detailed work with the biggest law firms in the US, Asia and Europe. Sam and his team are as good, or better, than any of them. I took my tax issues to Sam a few years ago, and he has been a critical element to my sanity and happiness ever since. read more

Great service! Had some Tax issue and they were able to help me out with it! Great staff, friendly service! Highly recommend them if you have any tax question or problems! read more

Tax solutions with heart. Brotman Law is a client-focused firm in every sense of the word. Sam has a gift for explaining the issues, offering options and making recommendations in language every taxpayer can understand. He has assembled a crackerjack team. Corine is on top of everything and Alex is the detail man. Everyone works hard for the best possible results. Highly recommend their services! read more

Sam has been doing my taxes for years. He is very knowledgeable and detailed in everything he does. There have been other issues I have asked his legal advice on and he is always willing to help and gets the answers in a timely manner. read more

The last time I used Sam Brotman's tax services he was able to rectify an extremely expensive error on behalf of the IRS. The IRS tried to make me for over 200 thousand dollars in unpaid taxes and Sam Brotman quickly and professionally set the IRS straight. He's punctual, knowledgeable, and I'm confident you'll be satisfied with his abilities. read more

Sam and his team are helping me clear up some long neglected tax issues. At every turn, they have been helpful and done solid work. They have reminded me of deadlines and guided me to other professionals that have been of great assistance. I look forward to a life-long relationship with Brotman Law. read more

This law firm is the most organized and they are extremely knowlegable on our needs. They have a hands on approach that makes us feel like a valued client. I think they make the process very simple for us and they are always available when we need them. They have secured portals for document delivery and it makes us feel our privilaged information is safe at all times. I would highly recommend this frim to any business in need of their services. read more

Met with Sam Brotman today for a free consultation and could not be more satisfied. Sam was very knowledgable on tax law and he was very clear in explaining things to me and my business partners. He is the best Tax Atorney that I have ever met with. He is very knowledgeable on California Tax and I definitely recommend his services! read more

Brotman Law has provided us with tax services and consultation for over three years. We have income property in a different state and they have enabled us to receive maximum benefit from this property through the application of current tax laws and accounting methodologies. The firm's knowledge of our changing tax code has been outstanding, especially Sam Brotman. He is able to take complex issues and communicate them in a manner that ensures our understanding. My wife is an attorney, but we use Brotman Law for our tax services and consultations. read more

Brotman Law's team has a "you are not alone in this" approach which was important to me while defending myself in what felt unfair, scary and at times irrational. They navigate the IRS with ease. They communicated with me clearly with professionalism and respect. I felt I had hired the best possible person to take my case and highly recommend their expertise to others. read more

It was a very lucky day for me when I found Sam Brotman's firm on Yelp. My wife and I have large balances owed to the IRS and CA FTB from several prior year's returns. A different attorney was very confident that he could have all of this tax debt discharged via a Chapter 7 filing. I listened to my better judgment and paid Sam for a second opinion of my tax situation. He has a wonderful office manage named Corine who answered all of my questions and walked me through the process (and handled several follow-up questions). Sam did a very through review of our tax records and determined that our tax debt was not able to be discharged. When I challenged the other attorney's advise, he could not dispute Sam's guidance. Thank God for Sam or a failed Chapter 7 would have been a huge waste of my time and money. I'm now on a very reasonable payment plan for both debts and on my way to being free and clear in a few more years. My family is extremely grateful for this caring professional and know that our lives are in much better shape because of his extensive tax knowledge. Thank you, Sam! read more