I am absolutely disgusted with Judge Thomas A. Smith and the Courthouse in Placerville. Within the…read moreFamily Law division, if you are not represented, you are pushed to the side without the ability to speak or practice any of the rules that our amended rights and Constitution upholds. Judge Thomas does not follow the rules of the courtroom and is the definition of what poor civil rights consists of when given the power to discriminate and hold power against those who are unrepresented. Within the beginning of my trial, Judge Smith first declined my right to obtain Discovery from my ex and his attorney. My ex and his attorney declined to answer Discovery even though I previously had a court order that they must provide me with the documents. I asked Judge Smith for a continuance but it was declined. He could care less if I had any evidence or exhibits. His mind was already made up before the the trial began. When the trial began, I proceeded to make my opening statement. Judge Smith did not allow me to make my opening statement. Judge Smith automatically and immediately let the Respondent's witnesses testify over and over without ever letting me explain afterwards the issues at hand. I wanted to bring my witnesses to the stand but was unable to do so. None of my witnesses testified. Then at the end of the day, Judge Smith told my exes attorney to go print up a new DissoMaster (my ex and I already had our own DissoMasters in place); whatever my ex and his attorney thought was reasonable; then he stated that whatever he brings back to him, he will sign as a permanent ruling. Therefore my exes attorney brought up the lowest amount he could get away with and Judge Smith signed it. Judge Smith would not let me explain how much my ex was receiving in pay ( in which I did not have to since it was stated right on his paycheck). Judge Smith just took whatever word was from my exes attorney (which was $3500 lower each month). I now will have to appeal my case. The worst part about this entire incident is that Judge Smith had a Public Admonishment a few years back due to unlawfully handling private, official documents from the Department of Motor Vehicles. Judge Smith knows that my ex has been related and close to the boss of the Department of Motor Vehicles for the whole State of California who happened to be directly under and reported consistently to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Secondly, Judge Smith also knows that I had filed a 170.1 on another judge in the Placerville Courthouse for not being able to talk or express my testimony due to being unrepresented, as well as numerous other conditions, such as making my son wait for almost a month to get emergency surgery in which he had to be on hard painkillers for the entire time. I tried to expedite with an Ex Parte and the Judge refused. I had also tried to get an order for my ex to pay for representation for me and the prior judge declined that as well. I have been raising our kids 100% of the time. My ex does not want to have anything to do with our kids. He has been violently abusive and I have lots of evidence to prove it, although Judge Thomas did not want to hear anything about it. Judge Thomas A. Smith in the El Dorado County area should not be practicing as a judge due to several incompetencies through the years, but also not following civil procedure. He has violated Canon 2A and Canon 2B as well as a strew of others. This man's ego is completely overblown and he is most definitely using his power for his own concerns. I will be petitioning and protesting these issues as well as reporting this to the Council of Judicial Performance once my trial is completely over. Not all judges, but some are extremely bias against the party without an attorney because they think they can get away from it. I will fight this to the end; not for myself, but for those poor women and men that are unable to collect enough money for representation, in which some of them have small children and work that they must make those issues their main concern. I am willing to be an advocate for these people and not let this form of moral and ethical manner take over our judicial system. A court is where one should go to get fair and equal treatment; a fair and just trial. If we have judges that come in and make up their own rules as they go, we will never uphold the standards that were brought forth in the Declaration of Independence or our United States Constitution. We must all stick together because one day it may be your brother, friend, mother, child or someone who is cared about deeply. We need to stop this now before it becomes a controlled dictatorship. I know that sounds a tad bit strong but times are changing fast and we need to prepare for our children, grandchildren and their future!

Came in, did what I needed to do and got out. Only positive experience was due to the gal Rheeah…read moreYoo the Family Law Facilitator. She was extremely efficient & friendly. The people upstairs were not as friendly, seemed a bit fed up with their job or something. It would be nice to have a welcoming disposition about them especially when they deal with the public. The public who are dealing with their own unfortunate issues. It's not exactly always a positive reason to go into that building.

Judge Leanne K. Mayberry: Legal Errors and an Unverified Cherokee Claim…read more Judge Leanne K. Mayberry sits on the El Dorado County Superior Court. Her official biography claims Cherokee citizenship. The only public evidence is that her grandmother attended Chilocco Indian Agricultural School in Oklahoma. The Cherokee Phoenix republished a Tahoe Tribune article calling her a Cherokee citizen. The Cherokee Nation has not provided the documentation its enrollment standards require: documented lineal descent from the Dawes Rolls. Boarding school attendance is not accepted as proof. DNA tests and family lore are also rejected. Court records show a pattern of fundamental legal errors. The Safe Harbor Violation: CCP § 128.7(c)(1) requires a 21-day wait after serving a sanctions motion before filing. A motion was filed the same day it was served. Judge Mayberry granted it. Mutually Exclusive Statutes: CCP §§ 128.5 and 128.7 cannot be combined. A motion sought sanctions under both. Judge Mayberry granted it. Defective Proof of Service: Valid service requires the correct address and consent for email. Judge Mayberry accepted service with the wrong address and an unconsented email, despite the correct address being on file. Silencing a Litigant: At a hearing, a litigant was prohibited from speaking while opposing counsel spoke freely. No accommodation was offered. Defective Sanctions Order: Judge Mayberry signed a $20K sanctions order against a low-income disabled litigant. The order misspelled the litigant's name. It contained no evidence, no itemization, and no finding on ability to pay. Peremptory Challenge: CCP §170.6 gives litigants the right to disqualify one judge per case. After a litigant filed such a challenge, Judge Mayberry did not recuse. Court clerks now reject every filing from that litigant. No motions. No oppositions. No appeals. No new cases. The kangaroo courthouse door is locked. Questions for Institutions: Cherokee Nation: Is Judge Mayberry an enrolled citizen? What is her documented Dawes Roll ancestry? CJP: Has the Commission reviewed these legal errors? Governor's Office: Was her legal knowledge tested? Was her citizenship claim verified? A judge who does not know basic civil procedure, who silences litigants, who accepts defective service, and who retaliates against those who exercise their statutory rights should not be on the bench. The Commission should investigate. The public should pay attention. Based on public court records, judicial biographies, Cherokee Nation statements, and California statutes.

I have never been spoken to so disrespectfully over the phone. The person I spoke with was…read moredismissive and provided no help when I was only calling to ask a simple question. I strongly recommend better training for employees so they can treat people with respect and provide proper assistance.

Mandy is amazing , She gets it done and even with difficult people. I had a tight dead line and my…read moreattorney forgot some paperwork, needless to say I had to serve again she did that too. I'd highly recommend A Better Process and I'm not her brother either a real paying customer.

I've used and recommend this company several times since Mandi took over the business…read more They are Always friendly and professional. . We hired Mandi to serve a law firm who tried to lie to us. Mandi had all the documentation ready to prove otherwise! She had our back. I definitely recommend a better process!

I have worked with Sandy for over a year now. She helped my ex spouse and I complete the paperwork…read morefor divorce. While she is very friendly and a "nice" person, she is not professional and often has periods of time where you can't reach her, even for months. It really causes problems when you need legal work done and she is completely non-responsive. Don't believe me? Read other reviews. Or try calling her, 90% of the time her voicemail is full and she doesn't bother returning phone calls for days or even weeks. Often sending a quick text "I'll call you back" only to never call back at all. Most recently I hired her to do some adjustments to our divorce agreement and she took the money, had me sign an agreement, lied about the cost of the filing fee (it is $60), but she charged me $90. The court used to charge $90 last year, but due to procedural changes around court recorders stopped charing $90 and went to $60 over a year ago. She often takes advantage of things like this - it's dishonest. She took $600 up front on my credit card. She immediately became non-responsive and even to date, today which is December 3rd, 2024, she was paid the beginning of September, she has not provided a billing statement (requested many many times), never sent me paperwork she filed so I had no idea something was being done at all (even to date, I have not received it) - I had to hire another paralegal Robin Lowe to dig it up so I knew what court date it was. I'm done. It's exhausting when someone who takes your money and promises to do work is so unprofessional and completely disrespectful of other's time and any sense of urgency whatsoever.

Can't get ahold of her ever,phone, text, email nothing. Left me hanging when I needed help the…read moremost. Do not use this person. How dare you not follow up with your clients, you should be ashamed of your professional actions

Fantastic Service. What a helpful and great value. Fair prices and excellent execution. Had him…read moreserve some court papers it was fast and easy. Highly recommend!

They did great! They were communicative and very efficient. Pricing was fair. I highly recommend…read morethem!

Rob Hessee is an easy person to talk to, i had questions and he got back to me right away. He made…read moreme feel at ease about the process of finding a loved one. Explained how to go about tracking a person. Gave me great advice and was totally fair about costs. In fact he did not even charge me ! I will definitely be a customer in the future. I strongly recommend this business, thank you again, Tracy

Fantastic investigator. Very discreet and knowledgeable about the legal justice system. If you…read moreever need help with a criminal case, divorce, cheating spouse, etc. give this guy a call.

Wonderful service. Fast and professional and knowledgeable. 100% recommend. anyone that has any…read morelegal concerns or questions should contact this company.

Listen, if I could check no stars, I would. DON'T USE THIS COMPANY! Prepared Legal charged me $180…read moreup front for two attempted services at CSC, the big agent for service of process in Sacramento, but failed by going to the wrong place and then refused to take responsibility, insisting on another $180 to correct its mistake. So entirely unprofessional. Things were filed late as a result. Try River City Process. They do what they say they'll do on time and for about the same money and are helpful, not insistent or demanding. Don't bite on Prepared Legal's advertised $50 per-service rate. Can hardly wait to see how the staff-sargeant woman at Prepared Legal justifies how she mistreated me. This is a money-first outfit.

I can't say enough about how helpful and responsive Melanie was in completing my divorce paperwork…read more She reached out very quickly and the price really cannot be beat. I've spent almost 3 years trying to do all the paperwork on my own, and for one reason or another, struggled to get anything finalized. Within a week, Melanie had put together all my necessary paperwork and went in person to the courthouse. Thank you, Mel & Mo's for making something so stressful so simple.

I would definitely recommend Mel and Mo's!! Very fast turnaround, kind, professional and went above…read moreand beyond to help me. Thank you for everything!