Peter Wachowski was truly professional and a gentleman. He attended to my case with dignity but…read moremost of all the care and concern he had for me made me feel comfortable and confident he would come back with a positive resolution to my case and he did. I have used Bellas and Wachowski in the past for various legal matters and Highly recommend them as the best! Dr. Angela T

FIRST he was my attorney for a short period of time and I'm so appalled that he feels he's owed…read moremoney from my settlement, wasn't working for a few weeks and soon I need hip replacement surgery and will be unable to work, I'm a single parent and I have some debts this is adding to my stress and blood pressure. He wants 1100 dollars right now I don't have it Might have to go on disability due to health issues and my roommate is disabled and trying to help him too being his caregiver soon.I feel he wasn't a good fit for me anyway and really I didn't feel he was for the client and more for the money.

Needed legal help with first time offense in charges made by police where there were no injuries or…read moreweapons involved. They were incredibly expensive and were unable to get charges dismissed/dropped. Charges were able to be reduced from felony to misdemeanor with 18 months probation. They had a good response time, but Matt seemed bothered & annoyed by our questions. He was rude and condescending many times. Catlin was professional & nice to work with, yet neglected to notice on probation documents that the prosecutor listed a 2 year term when it was supposed to be 18 months. Had I not paid attention & noticed the discrepancy my family member would be doing an extra 6 months unnecessarily. Disappointing when you're paying top dollar & under so much stress that you can't trust them to get the paperwork correct. Overall, I didn't feel that Matt had our back & was not on our team. Didn't work out well for us

I want to start out by saying Colleen LeFevour, J.D. is…read moreamazing. I reached out to multiple attorneys & she was the most confident. This made it an easy decision on choosing her. She represented me in my case & got the entire case thrown out on the first court date. Her communication was top tier. Never had to wait on her to respond. She made this process so easy & worry free. She even went far and beyond when it came to after the dismissal of my case. It's very rare and unheard of to meet an attorney as kind and compassionate as she is. I would recommend her 10 times over. I hope she sees this review. Thank You Colleen and may you continue to be a blessing to other.

Thank you very much Mark Schondorf! Mark had the very difficult task of dealing with my case that…read moreis far from usual. I have already been divorced for several years, but moved out of state for a job teaching third grade. These circumstances made Mark's job extra complicated. Not only did he need to accommodate the fact that I live so far away, but he was left dealing with the most uncooperative ex-husband that walks the earth. To make matters worse, he was also left face to face with the worst, most unprofessional judge in the history of divorce court... Judge Trew. Mark did his very best to talk me through every step of the process involved in renegotiating my divorce agreement to accommodate the fact that I now live in another state than my children. When things in court did not go the way one would expect, he reassured me every step of the way that he would get us through the process with favorable results. When I was anxious and upset, he took the time necessary to keep me calm and explain what was going on in layman's terms. He was very patient with me and went above and beyond the call of duty to show me that he cared not only about my case but about my well-being. Mark was always professional, accommodating, informative, and proactive. He spent hours trying to negotiate with my ex who continued to be unrealistic and unreasonable. There is no doubt in my mind that Mark tried his very best on his own time to find resolution to my situation...... something he most certainly did not need to do. Mark often made time for my phone calls after hours and on weekends. He took time out of his busy schedule and time with his family and children to help me in the best way he could. Mark I can't thank you and your associate Eugene Bilmes enough for everything you've done for me. I highly recommend your services to anyone who is looking for a dedicated, hard-working divorce attorney that won't settle for anything but results. Put yourself in Marks Schondorf's hands... You will not be sorry.

An honest review by a recent client, not a friend or acquaintance posing as one! Let me be clear,…read moreSTAY AWAY FROM THIS FIRM! I have never been represented by such an incompetent lawyer as with Mr. Schondorf. This attorney brings a big fat zero to the table. You will most likely lose your case and waste your hard earned dollars in the process. You will also find yourself doing most of the litigating because Mr. Schondorf really struggles to articulate any type of defense while in the Court Room. He demonstrated little to no skill-set when working on my case. I take no pleasure in writing a negative review, but with my experience I feel that others absohave the right to know when services rendered are so bad that they are simply unacceptable. I wish more people did this, and this is one thing that Social Media and reviews are actually good for. I will not judge Mr. Schondorf, and instead try to provide some details around his professional abilities, or there the lack of. Let us start with the most basic items, Mr. Schondorf has terrible organization skills, he is likely to request information from you that you have previously provided him with on a multitude of occasions, this will not only drive up cost but also play on your frustration levels. His overall Legal skills are subpar, I personally found myself challenging Mr. Schondorf on Legal Statutes to the point where I had to directly point him to it. You are likely to find yourself arguing with your own attorney because his lack of skill and performance will be very frustrating to you. You will find yourself investing a lot of time in keeping a close watch on this attorney as a result of his lack of skill-set, knowledge, accuracy, and overall ability. You will also find that his communication is not timely, and his work often contains errors. Be prepared to spend hours looking over his paperwork, and countless emails, all of which is costing you money. The details of your case are likely to be forgotten, so you'll find yourself having to remind him of them. If you decide to go ahead and proceed with hiring him as a representing attorney, be prepared for a long haul! The one thing that this attorney is good at is prolonging even the simplest matters. He is likely to hide behind "this is the process", so be ready for it. Once the case has gone for some time, he will likely try and advise you on settling. This is especially true when the dollars start to run out! This attorney performed so inadequately that it was necessary for me to file a complaint with the ARDC. In addition, I am now forced to consider Legal Malpractice charges against him as I feel I was totally misrepresented. Honestly there are probably a thousand other lawyers that would yield a much better result for you. Good luck! In addition, do not be fooled by Mr. Schondorf's desperate attempt to save his reputation by posting the below rebuttal. Feel free to read other reviews across the World Wide Web about him and you'll quickly realize that other (real) clients have posted reviews with similar issues. Ask yourself this question, how good of an attorney can Mr. Schondorf be when dealing with a case of no marriage, no shared assets, and only a child custody took him over 2 years and over $25k later with no wins. In my humble opinion, Mr. Schondorf should probably just go back to dealing with cases involving Traffic Court. You can take take your chances with him, but I highly recommend against it. Get a more knowledgeable and competent attorney that will help yield a more successful outcome. By the way, the ARDC is still looking into whether or not there's a case of misconduct with this attorney, so clearly the below response is a lie. Nevertheless, I am in the process of filing a malpractice suit against him.

Retained Marlin Law to draft estate documents for my elderly parents. Subsequent to receiving…read moredocs, and paying Matlin Law in full, I contacted the firm regarding interpretation of one paragraph. Matlin Law told me that they require a $2000 retainer to discuss a simple question that would take 2 minutes to answer. I would suggest finding alternative Counsel.

Both my wife and I have used the services of Matlin Law Group for our estate matters. Recently my…read morewife wanted to make some changes to some of the provisions of her trust. We met with Johannah Hebl. During the course of a delightful conversation, my wife spoke of the sort of the changes she wanted to make. When we received a draft from Johannah, we were both impressed by how perfectly she had captured what my wife wanted. There was no need for any back-and-forth regarding subsequent modifications. This is the sort of experience you want from any professional but sometimes seems all too rare.

I was injured in a traffic accident when a negligent driver made a left turn directly in front of…read moremy vehicle. My vehicle was a total loss plus I was out the money that I had posted to originally lease the car from the car dealer. The immediate care center that had treated me, sent my bills to a collection agency and the physical therapy group put a lien against me for payment. So I hired Gary Newland to file a lawsuit on my behalf and things really worked out well due to his professional and diligent handling of my case. The At-fault party's insurance company paid all my medical bills, and I received "Releases of Liens" for the liens that had been filed against me as well as a decent settlement for my injuries. Great attorney! This law firm has multiple office locations but I really like this Arlington Heights location, the office is always properly staffed, there are plenty of parking spots in the lot, especially handicap spots, and it's just a few minutes away from the Rolling Meadows court house.

Need to treat people with more respect! I spoke with Gary Newland and my experience was terrible…read more He was arrogant, condescending, pompous, self righteous and believes he is smarter than everyone else. Put me on hold and intentionally did not come back to me. After 12 minutes on hold I had to hang up and call back. He needs to brush up on his code of professional conduct. In my humble opinion I would be guarded about doing business with GARY NEWLAND.

Great law group quality service for getting the job done right. And great value for your money. I…read morewould recommend them.

They were able to get me the results I wanted and I am extremely pleased. Would highly recommend…read morethem to anybody in Lake County looking for a lawyer!

While an event requiring an attorney is stressful enough, add to that the grueling task of picking…read morean attorney that actually cares more about their client than their bill rate is next to near impossible. Unfortunately, life is what it is, and I found myself in a dangerous situation with a neighbor whom I had to obtain an emergency order of protection against. I met with attorney after attorney to discuss my case and all but one seemed more focused on telling me/bragging how great they were, who they knew, and how my case was so simple and would be settled quickly. Thankfully, I knew better than to believe any of what I was being told and more importantly, discovered Michael Strauss. While he too believed my case was not exactly complicated, he recognized that the situation could change in a heartbeat and instead of making me promises he would never be able to keep just to sign me on as a client, he discussed best and worst case scenarios from the start so I could adjust my expectations. And as he predicted, my case grew more complicated and eventually put my own personal safety in jeopardy. Instead of focusing on billing me for every minute that he was working my case, he paused all of this to ensure I was safe. He took on aspects that an attorney would normally not and if they did, they would charge substantially more. Not only did Mr. Strauss not charge me anything extra, when there was a time that I had nothing left in me physically, mentally, and emotionally and decided to not pursue the legal matter any further, Mr. Strauss indicated that while that was my decision, he would not stop fighting on my behalf! What attorney continues to work a case even if the client has nothing left in them to fight???? When I could not fight anymore, Mr. Strauss stepped in and fought for me. I have never met an attorney or know of one that was so passionate about their clients and really made them the priority not the retainer or additional potential billing. He was a Godsend. He is the very type of attorney I believe the job was initially created for - someone who gets into law not for the fame nor money but to actually help those who have nowhere else to turn. I cannot recommend Michael Strauss enough. He was not only my attorney, but he also in a truly unforeseen way became my guardian angel. Because of him, his dedication, and ethics, I am now safe, and it did not financially drain me. While this world does not need more attorneys, they need attorneys like Michael Strauss.

You and Gary gave my child the life he truly deserves, bless both of you. Even though it's now been…read more15 years, words cannot express my gratitude. The child's mother to this day is caught up in endless court cases in another state with multiple parents, and never once did you hound me for money even when I owed it. I know you are selective about who you take on as clients, but you may have saved my child's life. Your work showed the courts the truth and protected him from drunk stepparents, and a neglectful mother. Know you have made a difference in someone's lives in ways you will never understand.

Robert Tomei was very helpful in taking the time to discuss and explain our legal and financial…read moresituation. Our phone meeting with him has helped us make some very beneficial decisions and continue in a positive direction. Thank you Robert. Bob H.

The service provided by Michael A. Goldberg at Johnston Tomei Lenczycki & Goldberg law firm was one…read moreof the worst services I ever received. I contacted Michael A. Goldberg and our initial video conversation was brief about updating our revocable trust document. When we went to his office to drop off our original document, Michael's assistant accepted the document. I asked her if we can speak to him (since he literally was sitting across from where we were) and we were told he does not have time. Even though he saw us standing not far from his office, he did not even say hello. Once we received the updated document, we had questions. His assistant once again was the ONLY person we can speak to and we were charged for the phone conversation which did not provide satisfactory answers to our questions. In the end, we paid for incomplete, unprofessional, and rude service. We do NOT recommend Johnston Tomei Lenczycki & Goldberg law firm to anyone.