I had a very easy lease break case and it was drawn out for much longer than needed. Everything Caroline and her office did was littered with typos and incredibly unprofessional. I would trust my cat to handle any legal process over this office. Go literally anywhere else if you value your time and sanity. read more

Caroline Smith and associates is a great law firm. I trusted them to help me and my family's living ( eviction) situation and was so satisfied. Not only did they do everything to help us with the process, but they also went over and beyond to make sure that we were ok . This company really care about the clients and it's not all about the money. I'll recommend them to everyone 5 stars isn't enough!!!! read more

I am still shaking as I write this review and asking myself "what just happened?" I had scheduled an initial consultation call with this firm expecting that my case would be reviewed before being charged. I've had consultations with different lawyers and this is the first time I had talked to a lawyer that insisted I pay her $425 over the phone- BEFORE any retainer agreements or even being told that I was going to be charged. I also repeatedly asked to reschedule because I could hardly hear or understand her with all the noise in the background. She claimed she missed her train and proceeded to try to keep me on the call when I had asked to reschedule because I could not hear anything. My neck still hurts from straining to hear her! She just responded by saying that she could hear me well so and continued to give advice in public where my case was being discussed. It honestly felt like a scam, at this point. Then she sent me an email immediately after the call and stated that "I politely told you that my staff never scheduled consultations without disclosing that there was a fee. You told me to send you a proper bill. I responded by telling you Merry Xmas and that you did not have to worry about the time that I spent analyzing your matter. It was my gift. Have a very nice day and we will add you to our conflict database so that we do not represent your landlord if she calls our office." Her staff failed to inform me about the "fee" and she refused to send me an invoice. Then proceeded to send me this message. Please tell me this law firm is a victim of a scam because this was a really bizarre interaction. I have NEVER experienced anything like this before. read more

Attorney Smith's staff give excellent customer service. They are polite and helpful. Attorney Smith is great. I am super pleased with my outcome. Her prices are reasonable. read more

She really does a disservice to her clients. I trusted when the staff said she helps people in subsidized housing all the time. I let her know it was subsidized housing. She accepted to help. A landlord evicted out of a provable retaliation, and I alerted her several times about it and to help me. She refused to stop an eviction based on retaliation. Now I'm stuck with the damages and can't get help for recovery. I'm still trying to get recovery. Her work is half ass. read more

when I say RUN, RUN! I highly do NOT recommend this company. Completely unorganized, unprofessional, lack of communication etc! I will be contacting the BBB. Just do yourself a favor and go to someone else. It's not worth it! I've done everything by myself! read more

I can echo the reviews of others who had a harrowing encounter with this firm: calls went unreturned as desperation escalated and during the hearing when Ms. Smith arrived looking as if she were 30 minutes late, her advocacy was toothless at best. I have had four experiences with attorneys, two of which showcased the importance of caring, conscientious attorneys and their staffs, and two of which displayed the reasons why attorneys have such a jaundiced reputation. Caroline Smith's law firm belongs to the latter group. There was very little she did that an intelligent person could not do. There's no need to belabor the details. Others have validated my thoughts on this firm. I would urge people who need such services to look elsewhere and to disregard the universally glowing reviews on her website. read more

I sought out help with an eviction unfortunately with Caroline. I never got to personally speak to her but only her paralegals. I provided photos of all the water damage and roach infestation at the apartment that was evicting me. I was told this was to figure out the final settlement. I even was made to sign a document that told me I needed to vacate, they would seal the eviction and there would be zero back rent. Unfortunately, that wound up being a lie because now I have collections for back rent on my credit report. I would have never agreed to pay rent for the time I was living in those deplorable conditions. I had even sent the landlord a payment that they returned to me. They also never contacted me for back rent. Then out of nowhere I have collections on my report. read more

I had an excellent experience with this law firm. I obtained an excellent result. Attorney Caroline's and office staff is very helpful and delivered outstanding results. I would name each staff for their kindness and professionalism if I was good at remembering names. Wanda the paralegal is so helpful, there was a man and woman who answered my concerns via phone and emailed me, as requested. This is a great value of service and I will refer them to everyone I know. They're a busy office but they handle business. This is an office is reasonable staff. You're not just a number so I am grateful. My expectations were exceeded and I wont forget that. great value And they work with you. read more

please don't this firm to represent you, they are incompetent, unprofessional, and rude . You will not have a private attorney to handle your case, it will be any one who's available that may not know nothing about your case. They don't answer the phone, and when they do they're get rude and unprofessional the attorney Gene hung up me and so did Caroline . And they attempted to extort me out of money . Please, do not hire them they will stress you out and produce no results. not yo mention they didn't show up to court one time just sad unprofessional . Please run from them save yourself a headache and stress especially if you're already stress they want help . They add to the problem. read more

This is a Fee Collecting "firm" that screws landlords in the favor of some irresponsible lying non-paying defendants. To make it clear, I am the Plaintiff in an Eviction case (Cook County). The defendants were lying to us for many months, have gone delinquent for almost one year and when the Eviction was ordered, then they hired this cheap fee collecting lawyer 21 days after the Eviction Order was granted . This "lawyer" filed a Motion to Vacate the Eviction Order with no grounds (she even stated in her motion that you don't have to have a reason to file a motion like this in Cook County if filed within 30 days) which is absolutely ridiculous! Ok, so the Eviction was put on hold, we had the Zoom Call 3 weeks later, Caroline Smith did not even read the case prior to the call. The Judge had to retell her the whole story from the start which she had no idea about, spending 7 minutes retelling everything. Still, she was asking for a Trial with 6 people to be set two months later! Totally ridicuous (imagine going to jury duty for that!) Apparently this lawyer was simply hired to delay the Eviction as much as possible. She just defends people with no grounds for defense. Thankfully the Judge denied her stupid motion, but our Sheriff Eviction was delayed for another 2 months because of her stupid motion and then we got stuck in the moratorium time when no one gets evicted (2.5 weeks), Now it is January and who knows when these defendants will get evicted with the snow storms and stuff. The Eviction Order was effective November 3rd and was immediately filed with the Sheriff's office. They should have gotten evicted before December 18th 2023 but absolutely everything got delayed due to the zoom call being scheduled 3 weeks later and then moratorium. Meanwhile, the lying tennants have gained another two months of FREE RENT! Caroline Smith you should be ASHAMED of yourself for screwing law abiding tax paying landlords! Shame on your whole office for defending losers like yourself! read more

Called for a consultation about a procedural question and spoke with the most rude, insecure paralegal. The paralegal did not know the correct law and when I corrected her and informed her that I'm a law student, she got extremely defensive. After I corrected her and cited appeals cases, she kept responding sarcastically to anything else I said until I eventually hung up. I don't mind a paralegal not knowing an edge case of the law--nobody's perfect. However, it is extremely unprofessional to behave this way when corrected. read more

What an absolutely horrible experience dealing with this "law firm" and Caroline herself. It's all smoke and mirrors until you send the money and then expect nothing else from them. We just got tired of her attitude and lack of basic courtesy. She is condensing, she is unprofessional and she will tell you that you signed papers that you owe her more money but BEWARE, go anywhere else. read more

I hate complaining but the reason I went to this lady was because of her reviews. I don't know what is going on maybe in her personal life. . I gave this woman the last of my money to fight for me she even charged me more because trial was coming up in 2 weeks. She completely forgot about me I was calling and calling and reminding her secretaries up until 10 minutes before my trial via zoom. Needless to say the judge was so displeased with her I lost everything!!! She might have been good at one point. I definitely recommend spending your hard earned money with someone else. I hate to say it but it may be time for her to retire. Good luck read more

I received a brochure that promoted the services of her company in the mail regarding a eviction matter. After paying the retainer for the services of her company and sending photos to back up my statements, and $500 to Cook County for a jury trial, which never happened, I my personal belongings in a dumpster. This was when there was a moratorium by the state of Illinois against eviction. In my opinion, what we, my peers, would say of her: a Shyster. Hey Yelp, feel free to delete my opinion, but I will never retract it! read more

If you need an attorney to fight for your case then look no further. Caroline represented me on four evictions cases and we hit a home run on all of them. She is professional, highly responsive and very knowledgeable. She know her job and she's very bold about it in court. I screened a lot of attorneys before selecting Caroline Smith and till this day i'm very glad I did. I highly recommend her. read more

If you want an Ambulance Chasing Eviction Attorney, then Caroline J. Smith is the attorney for you. My first meeting was with the office paralegal. After that all emails and calls were not answered. Courts papers were filed late and other things that I don't have enough room to put in this review. Met with her two weeks before hearing, only after the first hearing when some other attorney had been given my file 15 minutes before the hearing started. She showed up to court late in sneakers and a wrinkle dress. She also told me to send my landlord a text about interest on my security deposit telling we would get a nice chunk of change which really made him mad, and when I mentioned it to her in court. She told me it was not worth it I would only get a few pennies per month. She also did not know my name calling me lady. The settlement that was reached with the landlord, could have been settled without her. My advise find out the tenant rights for the city you live in. And either work something out with your landlord, or get an attorney who is not just going to take your money and do nothing. read more

I have had 2 awesome experiences with this law office!!!! I would highly recommend this law office if you are facing eviction or have a slumlord for a landlord. They are on top of it and make it happen for the renter. read more

I was facing removal from my apartment home of 21 years by my landlord's refusal to repair the apartment. I contacted Caroline J. Smith and after explaining my situation, she immediately got right on the case. Attorney Smith defended my case in court with absolute precision and fought off the landlord's attempt to remove me from my apartment home and successfully convinced the judge sitting on the case to forced my reckless and uncaring landlord to totally make the necessary repair without me having to leave my apartment home. Caroline Smith is the attorney that understands your plight and stands by you to the end. Her staff in her office are highly professional. This is a reflection of who Attorney Caroline J. Smith is. I highly recommend Caroline Smith to be your FIRST CHOICE. P.S., Mrs. Smith, I want to truly say to you personally, THANK YOU . read more

This was one of the most unprofessional firms I have ever worked with. I would not recommend working with them. I was told I would receive a call back to consult with someone to see if they would be a right fit. I never received a call back. I called back to try again to get in touch with someone and he was eating during the call and was really short with me. I decided to look at other options, and if I decided to use their services I would speak with another attorney. I called back to speak with another attorney and the person that called me back (which I believe was the same person eating on the call) was again very unprofessional. I wanted to let them know what was going on and if I should move forward with hiring them to represent me. As I was explaining they rudely would interrupt me and told me that he would not be calling me back. I have talked to quit a few lawyers and none of them have spoken to me like this. I advise taking your hard earned money elsewhere. read more

Terrible unprofessional consultation about an eviction (tenant) (due to extreme hardship) case I inquired about. The man on the phone was very short with me when I asked questions regarding the case. I was then abruptly hung up on for no reason. I immediately called back called back and got even worse treatment and it was very clear the same person on the phone was extremely irritated with my questions about the law and the case. The landlord is clearly in violation of the process that eviction (among a list of other clear violations) are to be executed under Illinois law. Seems like they wanted to do as little as possible but still quoted a price of $750 which would only lead to eviction anyway. I did not speak with Caroline, but the person representing the law firm was completely unprofessional which is a direct reflection of how this law firm operates. I went to them based on a mailer I received and though I'd give them a chance since they marketed themselves as experts in defending tenants. Lesson learned. I will be using the law firm I currently work with since they are truly the opposite of this law firm. Caring about clients, going above and beyond answering any and all question, and really digging in on very specific Statutes put forth by the State of Illinois that protect the rights of tenants from over zealous /crooked landlords. In summary... Stay away from this firm. The will take your money, do the bare minimum and the result of eviction would be the same as if you didn't hire an attorney. How do you like them apples! read more

I received a flyer from Caroline j Smith's law firm my landlord is the definition of a slumlord I lost over $9,000 of property because the pipes broke in the basement with feces and toxic waste heating care I had no heat with five kids and an 83 year old and has cancer he stayed at the house was evil will Caroline took the time to call me down because I was so worried she's the greatest person H Murillo read more

Caroline Smith and her team did a great job helping my cousin with her landlord problems. It was a long process but worth every minute because CSA team won the case. Thank you for everything. read more

I needed a lawyer in an eviction case, and I was recommended Caroline J Smith and Associates. Caroline handled my case personally and made the case go away. I highly recommend Caroline J Smith. Thank you Caroline. read more

Caroline J Smith, Attorney helped me after I took bad advice from a former landlord she and her knowledgeable staff they took my case and turned a bad situation around. The fee she charged was very reasonable and now I can move forward. read more

She is a no nonsense, knows her stuff fabulous attorney whom Judges respect. She fights for the underdog and won a very complicated condo case against an unqualified attorney who was the goto guy to harass women with no constitutional basis. She was worth every penny to stop the bullying. She would be a great judge herself. The city would be a much better place if intelligent, kind people like her were in charge. read more

I feel used. Through a targeted mailer, I retained this service to support another black woman. I never met this woman. My first encounter was with a rude support/front desk and disinterested staff. I met with a black male lawyer. Once money was siphoned, he was no longer available nor accessible. My discovery was performed by another black male, all via telephone. My trial prep was conducted by an entirely different male with no previous introduction. His advice and conference informed by decision making process for trial. The day of trial, he was "sick" and I was represented by a white woman with NO PREVIOUS INTRODUCTION. She did "the best she could with what she had." Information delivered through attorney discussion and discovery was not mentioned nor raised during trial. After, I asked to discuss the outcome with her but she was "too busy/having a difficult morning" and for me to contact the office on Monday. I stopped by the office only to receive yet another shrug of indifference from the front desk. I feel scammed and do not recommend. Overall: indifferent and overworked. read more

I would not under any circumstances recommend anyone hire her. I hired her in 2021 at the height of the pandemic when I got caught in the evictions that lots of folks fell victim to. She attempted to steal $750 retainer fee from me and never showed in court. She instructed me to file my own paper work to the court. I was not familiar with filing legal documents or with what instruction the judge laid out and subsequently the judge denied the filing without the lawyer I hired being present ever having looked at the court room the filing or me for that matter. I was blatantly discriminated against by her and her partner. Due to her malicious behavior my case was won by the plaintiff and their order to evict was granted without them even having a lawful legal advantage or point. Labor day music should not be the reason for anyone to lose their housing if unless their are underlying motives. These people should not be practicing law the entire environment was wrought with incompetence and a feeble emotionally imbalanced interdependence. In such real and extreme circumstances such as a global pandemic basic needs of everyday folks should be off limits. They stooped very low with my case and will cherry pick anyone who comes into their office. Just make certain before paying any of your hard earned dollars that you of the right class, nationality, race, and color. O! and don't bring your son in office and allow him to be glued to his cellular phone like ALL the young crowd are already addicted and conditioned to, it will hurt their feelings without you knowing it and they will lose your case. very hard to tell what could trigger them it is a wild guess. Hire Professionals they are not. read more

Prayer is awesome and I thank God for connecting with me. I also thank God for connecting me to Caroline Smith and her team. They provided excellent services when I had legal issues. Caroline listened actively to the details, demonstrated professionalism and empathy towards the situation, was very candid about possible outcomes and used her incredible legal skills to synthesize the information I'd provided her to win my case. Chicago's legal system has a tendency to make citizens feel that it works against them, we all have heard the bad stories. In this case, I was sure, during my lawsuit, that favor would be shown to my opponent. Not on Attorney Smith's watch. She was always prepared and worked diligently with me to review the case, which was an inch and a half of documents and proof I'd provided. Her efforts were indefatigable for two years of service during the pandemic! She came into court for victory, not battle. I highly recommend her services. read more

I thank god for Caroline Smith without her I don't no what I would've done I'm 40 with a 9 month old so without her it would been posible to rent again so thank you y'all for y'all time and support read more