Moksha Smith is one of the most genuine and compassionate attorneys I know, yet she is equally fierce in determination. She is thoughtful and warm, and truly takes the time to listen. She is also incredibly driven and proactive, will stand her ground, and lead with heart, integrity and strength. I highly recommend Moksha. read more

I honestly can't believe I wasted so much time and money on this group. STAY AWAY. Seriously. They are fundamentally incompetent. My case was a total mess by the time I finally fired them. They kept telling me exactly what I wanted to hear--painting these beautiful pictures of getting significant support from my ex-spouse. It was all a complete fantasy. The whole time, it felt like they were just trying to keep the clock running and keep the invoices coming. I was constantly being billed heavily, and when I looked at the actual results? Zero progress. I paid them tens of thousands of dollars for absolutely nothing but delays and bad advice. It genuinely felt like they were milking me dry. It was only when I finally wised up, cut my losses, and switched to a genuinely competent lawyer that things moved. My new attorney settled the entire thing--including fixing all the previous firm's mistakes--in about four months. Do yourself a huge favor and find someone else. This firm only knows how to run up a massive bill. read more

Magdalena , Moksha and all of the crew from the front desk and behind the scenes, I thank you from the bottom of my heart, I know my children will thank you in the future as well. Women, who stand for truth, and got me my kids back. It's a process but there pursuit for the truth and helping fathers with difficult coparents is a thing of beauty. My last lawyer didn't have the grit and passion like Magdalena, Moksha and the staff. Absolutely recommend from a father who's trying to lead his children on the right path. -Javier C. read more

I had an excellent experience with Megan at Magdalena Law Group, I would highly recommend their services.

Not at all reliable Wish I had -12 Negative stars to give Magdalena Law group driven by Magdalena Chattopadhya and team DOES NOT even RESPOND to the new clients email response. THEY JUST KEEP QUIET, MUTED. Extremely Unprofessional and Highly Not trustworthy to take the legal cases. Strongly NOT RECOMMENDED ! STAY AWAY AND WALK IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION should you even come across this law firm read more

Best experience I could have wished for after 6 years of trying to obtain a divorce through the SCC system. After 6 years and countless visits to the SCC in person, I was gratefully put in touch with Magdalena Chattopadhya to finish the final process of my divorce and help with the missing items needed to finalize all filing and ultimately get our divorce. Magdalena was so helpful, knowledgable, compassionate, respectful, motivated attorney we could have asked for. We first met with Magdalena in March 2023 and our divorce was finalized in May 2023. I have been wanting to write a review since May, but I have delayed because I could not (and still have not) found enough words to adequately express my gratitude towards Magdalena and the entire experience from start to finish in those two months. After 6 years of a lot of struggle with the SCC system, she came in and fixed everything and we were done in under 2 months. It was an amazing experience during a difficult time. Thank you so much Magdalena! I cannot express a high enough recommendation for Magdalena. She is the best! read more

TYPICAL LAWYER - ITS ALL ABOUT GREED No integrity unless on retainer - First let me say i was not looking for a cheap lawyer when I contacted these folks, i did my free consult and the retainer was $5k plus additional fees. I was told that while they were too rich for my blood, that they could provide me with referrals. They never came, I emailed the assistant and asked just in case. Silence....for 2 days. I sent an email expressing my disappointment in their failure to follow through on those referrals and again silence. May be better to keep looking. There are plenty with the same cost I have learned read more

I called to talk to someone about getting help with a domestic violence case I have going on (I am literally being abused) and the lady who answered the phone call told me it would be $450 for the consultation (which online said free) but not only that, it would be a $10,000 dollar retainer that I would have to pay up front to get the process started.... way to take advantage of young women who are being beaten and make a buck. You people are disgusting and should really consider rethinking how your pricing might have been the reason a young girl couldn't get help in time and ended up dead. Try doing some charity work cause you people need all the good karma you can get before you all go straight to hell. read more

Where do I start with this... Magdalena and her team have been truly amazing throughout this painful divorce process. She is extremely sharp, very experienced, and I can always rely on her for advice in complicated situations. Her team is exceptional and made the entire process much easier than I expected, and always attentive to my needs. Magdalena was worth every penny! read more

I am grateful to Magdalena Law Group beyond words. I worked closely with Moksha Smith as my attorney and found her extremely knowledgeable and understanding legal counsel I could 100% rely on. During my times of distress, confusion and ignorance - she listened to me patiently every single time and provided me the absolute appropriate advice. I had interviewed several law groups and no one gave me as much confidence and education about my rights as Magdalena Law Group did. The whole team including Magdalena, Claire, Jasmine and Rutika worked diligently on my case guiding me through each step and answering every question I had along the way. Where I felt weak, they were there to stand by me and guide me. I would highly recommend them as a strong legal guide to anyone looking to getting out of a difficult situation. read more

Moksha Smith is an incredible attorney with a strong record of fighting for her clients and for always doing what's right. She is not only competent, but she is also highly ethical and attentive towards her clients' needs. As a former deputy district attorney, Moksha's litigation skills are top notch. She is calm, collected, and professional in the courtroom and she can effectively advocate in both written and oral form. As a former family attorney myself, I would not hesitate to contact Moksha to handle my legal needs. read more

I really am very happy with my lawyer. my lawyer was very efficient she guided me to make right choices for my life including my kid and his counseling for my job counseling I feel safe and protected with her being my lawyer she is a mountain mover an gets impossible possible I would highly recommend her she helped me when everything was falling apart for me she was an awesome support and did her best to help me save money in attorney fees also so I am very very lucky I feel to have her as my lawyer. I would recommend her in a heartbeat. u need to look no further for a lawyer. read more

Moksha Smith of the Magdalena Law Group is an experienced criminal law attorney. Having worked for the District Attorney's office as a prosecutor, Moksha knows the ins and outs of criminal law and procedure. She also has extensive trial experience, which means that she thinks 10 steps ahead and knows how to prepare a multi-faceted case strategy. She is not only a smart and assertive attorney, but a zealous advocate who cares for her clients. read more

Stay far away from this law firm. Moshka Smith- Being an expensive attorney, doesn't make you a good one. Late or doesn't respond at all. She will drag everything out and litigate for her own benefit. It's only a matter of time until enough people reach out to the Bar to have this firm investigated for being unethical. Which, I had a judge/mediator tell me to do, because of her own experience and observations working with Magdalena Law. They will try to win at all costs which includes their go to move- file baseless restraining orders to get upper hand in custody. "Silver bullet method". She doesn't care about the children. She doesn't care about the family aspect of what happens after court. This law firm is ALL about money, greed, and manipulation. There are far more ethical attorneys out there that will actually keep YOU and YOUR family best interest in mind, unlike Moshka Smith. Keep looking! read more

I contacted Magdalena Chattopadhya of Magdalena Law Group three years ago as I went about interviewing (5) separate law firms in the San Jose area. My effort was to replace my attorneys at the time related to my family law case that had been in effect for over 10 years. My case was related to a divorce in 2008 where my ex moved to CA and took our two boys with her. The divorce matter was resolved but the custody disputes were ongoing and intense. We never went more than a year without being in the courtroom, where my ex-wife attempted over and over again to reduce my parenting time. When my boys wanted to come and live with me, it hit the fan and an Emergency Screening was ordered. Then, a Parenting Coordinator was assigned. Apparently, a Parenting Coordinator should generally work to reduce issues, but our assigned coordinator did not work fairly. I didn't know what to do and my current attorneys didn't have much to offer. I wanted someone to fiercely represent me and pursue what I knew was right! Magdalena jumped in and had to review over a decade of material and circumstances. I was constantly surprised by how much information she digested and knew without being prompted. Not only did she keep us out of the courtroom for the remainder of time left until my youngest turned 18, but she silenced the efforts of my ex-wife and her attorney and also silenced the Parenting Coordinator who, in my opinion, poorly handled the case and should not serve as such in good faith. Magdalena herself helped me to do exactly what was needed in order to prevail. Even when I would be exasperated over the ridiculousness and contentiousness of the PC, OP, and my ex-wife, she assured me that if I followed her counsel, we would prevail - and we did! Had I remained with my former counsel or selected anyone else, I could not imagine having survived the legal attacks as I did. If you're looking for someone who won't "blow sunshine" and instead, give it to you straight and compel you to understand, Magdalena Law Group is THE choice. As an aside, everything with her office is smooth. Payments, documentation support, meetings, etc., - the team at Magdalena Law Group is smart, quick to act, and at your service, as they were at mine. I am beyond grateful for the services rendered and recommend Magdalena Law Group as they were the best family law representation I had - totaling 5 other firms! read more

Magdalena has my hightest recommendation and not just as an amazing attorney but as someone that personally cares about her clients! We have been through it all for 2+ years she stood by me and fought for me through every part of my VERY nasty custody battle and never giving me one reason that I made a wrong decision hiring her. She is a strong woman and a quick thinker that has faced head on one of the nastiest opposing lawyers! trust me she is the best and I'm so glad I had the best :) As of today my custody and divorce are final and I'm 100% sure in my heart if I didn't have Magdalena represent me I would be without my kids and without my house, but Thanks to her I have 50% custody with everything I wanted and enjoying my kids in my beautiful home. read more

If you're in need of legal representation I highly suggest giving Magdalena and her team a call. These women are very knowledgable, understanding, and will fight for you. Unfortunately, life throws us curve balls and we have to go through tough situations, but knowing you have a team behind you that will support you 100% lifts a huge weight off of your shoulders. Moksha is definitely someone you want on your side, putting my trust in her through this process was one of the best decisions Ive made. Claire and Jasmine were always there to answer any questions I had. Thank you Magdalena Law Group! read more

This Yelp review is long, long overdue. I cannot even begin to tell folks how incredible the Magdalena Law Group is. Moksha Smith, Magdalena Chattopadhya - they literally saved my life, my job, helped me get my children back and assisted me in absolving unwarranted and fabricated allegations towards me from my ex-spouse. It took a lot of hard work, communication, late nights and within a year, cleared me of everything including Domestic Violence Charges, Restraining Orders, No Contact Orders, etc. etc. Bad things do happen to good people. Unfortunately, there are people in this world that want to cause harm and hurt without merit and simply for motives unknown. They can, at the drop of the dime accuse someone of alleged wrong doings and because of the way the system is set up, many times the legal system has to side with the accuser until it is proven they have committed false allegations. Again, you are "guilty" until proven "innocent", but that effort to prove your innocence takes time, anxiety, feelings of uncertainty, doubt, thus with that, you need help and a support team. I was truly blessed I had Moksha Smith and Magdalena Chattopadhya on my team. Thank you for giving my life back to me! Rob S. read more

I'm fortunate to have picked Magdalena Law Group to help me get through a very difficult and emotional divorce. Magdalena and team told me just what I needed to know and do at the right time so that I could make steady forward progress in what otherwise can be overwhelming. So many times my emotions took over and I found if I just followed her lead then things got done. Magdalena is extremely efficient with her time and won't waste your time with any extra small talk. She's specific about what you need to do each step of the way; just do that and you'll be pleased with the end result. She has many clients, so you'll need to understand that she can be very busy and sometimes hard to reach, but that she and her staff are always talking and strategizing what and by when things should get done for each client. They're always on top of it and have your back. read more

I've worked mostly with Magdalena and Chelsea Pagan and I'm very satisfied with the work that they did for me. In these types of cases it's very important that your attorney not only finds the easiest path for you but also makes sure that you don't create legal trouble for yourself. Magdalena thoroughly researched my specific case type and looked into the cultural issues that happened to be significant factors. She gave me sound advice during certain crucial moments so that I didn't ruin my case or experience more grief going forward. She's adept in regards to intelligently negotiating with the other side, which is important because your ex may want more than they deserve. Her office is generally quite responsive so I was able to get answers within a short time frame. In addition, I would get monthly updates regarding how much of my retainer would be used up and the charges were always specific and reasonable. I definitely recommend the services provided by this law office. read more

Please, do not waste your money and time. They have done terrible preparation for the hearing, forced me to come to their office several times, asking the same questions and each time charging money for that, and anyway it was a very poor representation in the Court. read more

I hired Magdalena because I was in need of a lawyer quickly since I had been served with papers in early 2015. I regret not taking more time to interview more lawyers. Magdalena is an aggressive lawyer who loves to take everything to trial. She enjoys the fight (which I'm sure all lawyers do to some extent) but overtime I saw she fights just to fight and this cost me thousands. We took my ex to trial countless times and lost most of the time every time. Family court is a really LONG process, unless your a multi millionaire you can't afford going to trial on a monthly basis. I was under bad counsel. I have two young kids and will have to co-parent with my ex. Magdalena is adversarial to a fault and took a rocky relationship and turned it into a hate filled one. I took my ex to court so often about minor details. This ultimately cost me time, money, and damaged my relationship with my kids. From the start of my case she was confident I could get more, more everything: more overnights/weekends, $$, home value, stock, etc. However, she wasn't out for my best interest just billable hours. She wanted to fight my ex spouse on every item the court proposed-even rulings from the judge. I repeat - she loves trials-the longer your case goes the more money she makes. Every time negiotations and mediations were under way she pushed me to not settle and take my ex back to court. Another hearing! More trials! At first I believed her and we took the take no prisoners approach. Although I agreed at the time, hindsight is everything. I should have stayed focus on big picture, divorce is a long process and neither spouse is going get 100% of what they want all the time. if I could do it all over again I would change so much! I urge you to consider outside sources and do your own research. Magdalena constantly wants to go to trial. At the end of my case, I owed her more than $70k and the judge pretty much followed the letter of the law - what a waste. read more

I'm so thankful for Magdalena's and Moksha's guidance through such a delicate process. It was because of their help I had the strength to get through such a difficult time and come out just fine. Thank you for making the process much easier and less painful! read more

I had the pleasure in working together with Attorney Moksha Smith. She was very personable and really got to know her clientele and their needs. She is a professional that goes above and beyond for her client. I would highly recommend her expertise! read more

I worked with Moksha Smith during her years as a prosecutor at the District Attorney's office. She has extensive knowledge and experience in handling criminal cases. I was impressed by Moksha's sincerity, passion for her work, and professionalism. She is a skilled attorney whom I am confident will always advocate for her clients. It was a pleasure working with her. read more

They unquestionably have a great staff of lawyers. The process was made much easier with the assistance of their receptionist Jasmine. I would definitely recommend their law group. read more

While I have nothing but great things to say about everyone I've interacted with at this firm, this review is specifically centered around my attorney, Chelsea Pagan. Ms. Pagan came into my case 3.5 years after it had started, and I'd been struggling that whole time with my former counsel who was often not at all on top of what was going on. Ms. Pagan caught up to speed on my case very quickly and with great aplomb. The safety and well-being of everyone involved, especially that of the minor child involved in my case, is of paramount importance to her, and she conducts her business with every bit of the professional integrity one could ever ask for. Her astute attention to detail is critical, as she is able to see through diversionary tactics of the opposing parties, and handles them with the grace and confidence that get fair and just results. My divorce has been one which I could only describe as nightmarish. Before hiring Ms. Pagan, I constantly felt lost, overwhelmed, and like nobody had my back. Since hiring her, my confidence that my case is getting handled fairly, and with everyone's (especially my child's) best interests in mind has taken a 180 degree turn. She *really* listens, and understands that you are going through really emotionally and financially difficult times, and gives you all the care and understanding that you could ever ask for. She does everything she can to help you in the most effective way possible without financially draining you in the process. Her communication is clear, prompt, and professional, which I've come to learn is a rarity in this industry. The entire firm she works within is also fantastic! Every paralegal and assistant I've dealt with has been kind, helpful, and very informative. I would never choose anybody but Ms. Pagan and her firm again. Hiring her as my counsel was the best choice I've made in a long, long time, and I only wish I'd made the switch sooner. I'd give them 10 stars if I could. read more

my best referral for a family attorney! she is shark and aggressive, and she can beat your opposing counsel. when i switched to magdalena, it was more like changing the laws of legal system. read more

Magdalena is a very reputable family law attorney that i would recommend to all my clients. She is professional and responsive when dealing with you and will help you feel comfortable navigating through the complex world of family law. I was initially introduced to her through the referral of a close friend and ever since I have used her for many different matters that involve family law. read more

Everyone in the office very nice, however if you need a aggressive lawyer look elsewhere. Everything was good until I asked for a second opinion. Then she created an outrageous bill and that was the last straw. SAVE YOUR MONEY. read more

I highly recommend Magdalena and will forever be grateful to her and her team for taking such good care of me throughout my very long and difficult 4 year divorce. She is very professional, knowledgeable, understanding, and easy to talk to. Magdalena is the best and I know that I made the right choice picking her to represent me. read more

My case was a complex divorce case involving a spouse with unreported multiple marriages, fraud and bogus claims on my separate property. A short marriage with divorce proceedings that lasted almost twice the duration of the marriage itself. I hired Magdalena law group to manage this contentious litigation. Opposing party had several attorney substitutions to prolong the case. There have been deposition, ex parte petition responses, multiple attorney fee hearings in court etc.,. This law firm did not yield to any of those claims and responded to each situation in court effectively on time. I received the right kind of legal advice and strategies to keep the opposing party away from gaming the legal system. I credit excellent attorneys and support staff in Magdalena law group for ending the case with a reasonable settlement. I felt supported throughout the legal process. I highly recommend engaging this law firm regardless of the complexity of your case. read more

Hours of "work" charged on my billing but when representation was needed in court she was disorganized and relied on me to provide her the answers. Made changes in my case not approved by me and when I questioned her methods she became angry and defensive. I had to correct her documents every time a motion was filed or docs were to be sent out to opposing counsel, several grammatical errors and incorrect information presented. Did not protect or defend me or my children, against OC's irrational demands. Major setback in my case. I do not recommend. read more

I have worked with Magdalena and her team and I couldn't have been happier. We collaborated on a few cases and she was always on top of her game and ready to go. Magdalena is extremely knowledgeable and very well respected in the community. Her team is always professional, they keep up with the latest developments in the law and courtroom technology. She is truly an attorney that always tirelessly advocates for her clients. She is very smart and always finds the best strategies in the cases she handles. read more

Having worked with Magdalena years ago when she was mediating civil and family law matters in So CA, I knew immediately to contact her when I needed consult on complex family law matters involving difficult child custody issues. Magdalena is a skilled, knowledgeable and experienced family law attorney, who is a fierce, strong but compassionate advocate for her clients. She well understands and is effectively able to navigate the nuanced complexities of family law, including child custody issues while always remaining sensitive to and keeping her clients' best interests at the forefront. She provides sound, solid legal counsel to difficult questions/situations all the while never once forgetting that the cost is high and the stakes are real: real people with real emotions, facing challenges in a time of doubt and increasing uncertainty.... If you are looking for a skilled legal advocate who is also compassionate to your situation, to help guide you through the often murky, treacherous and emotional waters of family law - whether dissolution of marriage, child custody or both - Magdalena Law should be your first call. Magdalena was instrumental in helping me work through difficult issues and I will be forever grateful. read more