I worked with Stacey Poole during my unexpected divorce. She made this difficult time in my life so much easier to process and resolve. Stacey is very knowledgeable, dedicated and very responsive. From our first meeting, she explained everything to me in terms I could easily understand and was always very responsive when I had questions outside of our meetings. I would recommend Stacey to anyone who is looking for a knowledgeable and results driven lawyer. read more

I did not a have a good experience with this firm. Stacey Poole was representing me for a child support dispute. For the sake of brevity, I won't go into all the details, but suffice it to say that we were going back and forth with my ex and his attorney for months before we decided to resort to a mediator. They sent a deal prior to mediation, which Stacey recommended we hold off on. She felt we were close, she said, but that it wasn't quite good enough. I was leery, mainly because my ex was wealthy, I'm not, and paying for a full day of lawyer's fees for mediation seemed like a risk. Plus, I'd read about the mediator that my ex and his lawyer had proposed, and the general consensus seemed to be that she tended to favor the men in mediation. Not to worry, Stacey said. She'd worked with this mediator and felt that even though we hadn't chosen her, she'd be fair. And she would ask for my ex to cover an additional 5k of legal expenses, so I wouldn't be on the hook. Well. I flew up for the mediation since it was happening in San Francisco, where my child and I no longer live. So that was already an expense, even though I stayed with friends. From there on out, things only went downhill. Stacey had agreed to meet in the opposing attorneys law office, where they stuck us in a tiny room that was chilled to approximately the temperature of an icebox. For lunch we were provided with mealy sandwiches (all classic psychological warfare techniques). And the mediator was every bit as awful as the reviews had said. She was clearly on the side of my ex, despite the fact that he had literally not visited or called his child in over a year, hadn't sent a birthday or Christmas present, had said in emails that he was cutting him out of his will and no longer acknowledged him as his child...and yet I was treated like the bad parent. It was an unbelievably sexist experience, and one of the worst days of my life. Several times over the course of the day, I told Stacey I wanted to leave. She persuaded me to stay, saying that we were almost done, it would all be for the best. After a grueling, nine-hour day, by the end I was barely aware of what I was signing. I did notice that there didn't seem to be an inclusion of the extra 5k in legal fees; Stacey kind of shrugged and said she hadn't asked for it. It wasn't until I got home that I realized the deal I had signed was actually WORSE than the one we'd been offered a few weeks prior to mediation. So if I'd just signed then, my child and I would have been better off. The icing on the cake was the thousands of dollars in additional fees that Stacey and her firm charged me for basically getting screwed over. So, yeah, STRONGLY not recommended. read more

Stacey and her team were very knowledgeable, supportive, thoughtful and level headed throughout a difficult and complicated separation and divorce including young children, while OPC had a scorch the earth approach that was needless and costly--to the point he did not want to go back to court. read more

Stacey Poole has represented me since 2009. Its been 10 very difficult and tumultuous years with my ex and his narcissistic wife. There are a few words that I would use to describe Stacey's representation - professional, empathetic, careful, detail oriented, honest and true. Dealing with narcissism, I dealt with many unjust and unnecessary situations - my name was taken out of my son's school registration, my son's green card application was cancelled without notice, permission for my son's passport was refused - you name it, Stacey and I had to deal with it! Through all these, Stacey was rock solid as well as supportive and empathetic. She always returned calls and emails, she was never late and never missed a deadline. Her recommendations on what to do were well researched and always proved correct. We had to deal with a dishonest party who kept changing details, over litigated everything and did everything they could to make things complicated - including refusal to provide contact details and then turning around to claim that a motion should be quashed because it was not served to them in person. Stacey was both politely aggressive and carefully conservative where needed. It showed how well she knew her work, her accurate judgement and her ability to see through all the complicated and highly charged situations I had to go through. Despite all this, her bills were conservative and never over the top. Not only is Stacey a top notch attorney, she also has a heart. She has listened and provided emotional support in the 10 years. I always felt good that I had her on my side. I have recommended Stacey to another friend of mine and she too had a very positive experience. I highly recommend Stacey to anyone who needs a divorce attorney. read more

Still can't get out of the mess she put me in years later. If you start with Stacey, expect years of litigation to ensue trying to undo the terrible job she did. Also very unresponsive even if she were to charge you, she couldn't because she was never around. read more

CAUTION: HORRIBLE LAWYER! If there were an option to give Esther Lerner ZERO stars, I would. Therefore, she got one. I have only recently found out about yelp ... and I plan to make sure everyone I know reads these reviews and knows this great service exists. I'm tired of people getting away with bad service and empty promises. Save your money, hire someone else. This woman was ZERO help to me. From day one, she claimed to be "smart, Jewish and very aggressive." Well, I'm pretty sure she is Jewish, I'm not convinced how "smart" she is .... and her aggressive nature was not directed at my ex. Esther used forms that seemed to be from her prior client (for example, had the wrong vehicle listed, wrong city, etc). Thankfully, I was always proofreading and catching her mistakes. The first day we went to court, the judge made it clear that she was not prepared and that it was going to hurt ME. It was embarassing and I should have understood from that moment - she was NOT the attorney she claimed to be. Esther was rarely prepared. Often scattered and late, she never impressed me. The day we had depositions with my ex, she asked the most ridiculous questions and never got any real answers. She was weak and she never got us anywhere. It was another day of charges, but no results. As a matter of fact, at one time my ex continued to make fun of her and told me that he'd help me with a case against her because she was such a screw up. How pathetic is that?!? When it came to the settlement with a mediator, she was a poor negotiator and wrote up an agreement that had "no teeth" in it. I had to fire her - I only wish I had never hired her!! On top of all this, the only thing she was EVER worried about was getting her retainers (over and over again). HER money was all that mattered, not my financial well being or securing the money that she was supposed to be trying to collect for me! To this day, I have not received the payments from my ex (which were a fraction of what he owed me), and she would not/will not assist whatsoever. As a matter of fact, her only concern was HER bill and the final $15,000 from me. Save yourself MONEY and TIME...hire another attorney. read more

I know that there are always two sides to every argument and I have the opposite opinion of the previous poster..... I hired Ms. Lerner and her amazing team in 2006 and could not have been happier with their service and the outcome of my divorce settlement. Esther was always timely, paid great attention to details. and kept me aware of all upcoming court dates and correspondence. Her partner, Stacey Poole, has a masters in tax which proved invaluable to me and poor Bonnie, her paralegal, was a soft shoulder to me on more than one occasion. I cannot say enough about these three woman and how they help me get through one of the most difficult times of my life. In addition to the legal part of my divorce, Esther helped me in finding a financial consultant and a career counselor-definately not part of her job description! Ms. Lerner and her team are good at their jobs and I have recommended them in the past and will continue to do so. That being said, I also tell woman who ask me questions----educate yourself!!!!! Read every document and ask questions until you have a full understanding of what these documents are and what will and will not do for you. Don't agree to, or sign anything you haven't read or don't understand. Know what you and your spouse own and what you owe! Read your tax returns, open the bills, pay attention to retirement accounts and 401k's...Collect data, ask questions of other woman and write them down. Being prepared BEFORE you need an attorney will save you time and money. As I said, the previous poster is entitled to her opinion and I have mine----I give Lerner, Poole Family Law 5 stars. read more

Stacey is a very thoughtful, creative attorney who can see the forest through the trees in very emotional and complex divorce situations. I would recommend her to anyone. If you want an attorney who has your best interest at heart, will make every attempt to settle the issue thereby save the client money, but is not afraid to fight for you in the event negotiations don't work, Stacey is the attorney for you. read more

I interviewed many different attorney's to get the best representation possible. Not only is Esther and her firm one of the most experienced family law practitioners in San Francisco, she also has expertise in psychology. She clearly understands the process from start to finish and knows how to get the best results for her clients. Esther did an excellent job! read more

It has been nearly two years ago that I first met with Esther Learner in her office regarding my very high conflict divorce and child custody case. I was the victim of domestic violence, and had been displaced due to that circumstance and torn apart from my son. My ex-husband, who held the purse strings, hired a high powered attorney, and I was the left trying to battle his attorney myself in court. Needless to say, I was losing the battle, and feeling overwhelmed by the experience. Through a referral by legal aid, I was connected to Esther Learner's law firm, and after hearing my situation, she agreed to allow one of her attorneys to represent me. After countless court battles, verbal threats made by my ex-husband to Ms. Learner's office, in which the judge had to sanction my ex-husband. I am now divorced, and have my child back in my life. It has been a long hard road, and most lawyers would have abandoned a legal-aid client, who was utilizing massive time and resources, especially at the point where their own safety was being challenged by their client's ex-husband. Not only did they not abandon me, they triumphed. I am so grateful to Esther Learner; I don't know how I can ever repay her. Ms. Learner, and her team are the best family lawyers in San Francisco and I say this enthusiastically, without reservation. Christina Passmore Christinapassmore@ymail.com read more