IF I COULD GIVE NO STAR, I WOULD....PLEASE SAVE YOURSELF YOUR MONEY AND EMOTIONAL DISASTER BY HIRING PILAR OR (GARRET, WHOM SHE THROWS THE CASE TO WITHOUT YOUR APPROVAL). YOU WILL BE TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF AS ALL THEY CARE ABOUT IS TAKING YOUR MONEY.
As a woman who suffered DOMESTIC VIOLENCE with four children whom two are special needs at the hands of my soon to be ex-husband, I looked for an attorney who would care to fight for me and my children through out my contentious divorce case. Pilar was referred to me by someone that knew her so I contacted, consulted and hired her to represent me. Not only was she unprofessional not responding to calls/emails from me but she TURNED my case over to the worst attorney ever named GARRET JAGTIANI. As a victim of Domestic violence who was granted a 2 year protective order against my ex, I had already suffered enough trauma and to suffer even by these attorneys was one of the most horrific events I had to go through
As I mentioned, I hired PIlar to represent me after attorney Ann Thayer recommended her. After consulting with her, I hired her to represent me. She then turned my case over to Garret Jagtiani who is absolutely incompetent and did so without my permission. My Pendente Lite hearing in October 2021 was continued because he "overlooked" my case and not SERVED my soon to be ex husband.WHO FORGETS TO SERVE DIVORCE PAPERS AND REALIZES A WEEK BEFORE TRIAL??? I have contacted PIlar numerous times saying I did not want Garrett handling my case anymore after this major ball drop. Pilar continued to ignore me and allowed Garret to screw up my case. The PL hearing was rescheduled to December 3,2021 giving my ex husband more opportunity to hide assets. Once we got to DEC 3, 2021, Opposite Counsel asked for the case not to be heard because Garrett FAILED to respond to their offer with a counter offer. ANOTHER MAJOR BALL DROPPED BY GARRETT. The judge granted the request to opposite council and then, it was rescheduled to the 17th of Dec 2021. The worst part....My ex husband was not served with discovery to this point. PILAR AND GARRETT NEVER DRAFTED/SERVED HIM WITH DISCOVERY all the way through Dec 17th, 2021. IMAGINE THIS! My ex/abuser whom has a law degree took this as an opportunity to lie about losing contracts from his business and got away with lying about not having income. As a result of Garret not being prepared to court, not serving with discovery early enough, the Judge, had no choice to believe my ex didn't have money...because there was no proof from our end to support that he did...since GARRET AND PILAR FAILED. Also the judge could not grant me my attorney's fees that I asked for and all support that I asked for myself and four children...I ended up getting with below the guideline support for the kids and I since my ex "had no money." Garret filed the discovery after the PL hearing. By this time, it was little too late...especially I was depending on being awarded legal fees since I was a stay at home mom and primary care giver to my four children who couldn't pay for it.
They screw up so badly that to this day, I am suffering with my divorce case...except I FIRED them and have a wonderful/professional attorney from a new firm who's been fixing all the damages that PILAR and GARRET caused. Had Garret not missed serving him in OCT 2021 in the first place, my ex would not have had the time to get away lying to the court about his income. Also, I never wanted to work with Garret in the first place....my case was thrown to him with out my permission. I emailed PILAR many times that I did not want him on my case but she ignored me. There are google review where people have complained the same issue where Pilar turned their cases without permission to Garret. I should have taken those to account. Also during the PL hearing, I got to learn that he was NOT attentive as he misrepresented and said the wrong things to the judge despite me emailing him and correcting him. That's how bad of a lawyer he is...can't even pay attention to details.
Now that I have a new attorney from a new firm who has been doing a phenomenal job fixing the mess from Pilar and Garret, we learned that my ex was in fact hiding asset...he was purchasing brand new car in addition to what he already had around between Oct-Nov 2021....had Garret and Pilar sent out to him the discovery request for documents and interrogatories before the Pendente lite hearing, we would have learned this much sooner and my ex would not have gotten away with the "I don't have income" story and other bogus claims and lies he told the judge.
At this point, I am fighting for my kids's lives and myself by having to pay own attorney fees and not having enough money to support them.My divorce case has lingered because I am still dealing with the damages that were done by Pilar and Garret. I have spoken to a Malpractice attorney who will be helping take some severe actions against this firm SALVADO, SALVADO & SALVADO once read more