I thought very hard about writing this review, but I do feel other people ought to be warned. I am…read morea trans woman, and I wanted to hire a lawyer to do my name / gender change forms. I googled and found that Levine Family Law advertises this service. They charged, as I recollect, $3500. The forms went in fine, but then I waited for months for the court order to be entered. At first they said six weeks, but the timeline kept slipping. I started having calls with Levine asking what was happening--they said the SF court was backed up and that it would take time. But it became clear that they did not have a direct line to the courthouse and had a very difficult time getting hold of human beings over there: they were essentially blind.
I asked for a call with my lawyer, Stan, but was informed he had left the practice (nobody had told me). I had a call with the office manager Katie, and she basically told me I'd just have to wait. It was very nice and all, but she said I just needed to wait.
I live about 20 min drive from the courthouse, so after that call I got so frustrated I got in my car, and I went to the courthouse. There was no line at the records office. They pulled my application, and the clerk said he'd put it on the top of the stack on Monday. By Tuesday, my name/change order was granted, and I had my certified copies.
What makes me angry is that I was repeatedly told that the courthouse was busy and, essentially, incompetent, but actually every interaction I've had with them, whether for this or for other records requests, has been prompt and efficient. There is almost never a line; they are very helpful in answering questions. It has become clear to me that Levine Family Law merely scapegoats the courthouse, and that the true issue is their inability to get anyone there on the phone.
In the USA, we don't hire lawyers merely to fill out forms--we hire them to shepherd us through the legal process. Levine family law certainly would never be as cavalier about the fate of a child custody or divorce decree--it is only their trans clients that they leave to fend for themselves, twisting in the wind for months. It is unconscionable to charge people $3500 and then be unwilling to take twenty minutes to, say, show up at the courthouse and make sure the decree actually gets entered. If you're not willing to do what it takes to get the decree granted, please don't offer it as a service.
As it is, I have no doubt that if I'd filled out the forms myself and gone to the courthouse on my own, I'd have gotten everything done much quicker and more cheaply. I want to reiterate that the forms they filed were apparently fine, but they had absolutely no orientation to actually following up with the court. No doubt they will respond to say that they did their job when they filed the forms. But I was advised by Stan specifically that he was going to be in my corner, following up on these forms. When a firm charges for this service, they are charging for peace of mind--the idea that they will handle everything.
If all you want is someone to file forms, maybe this law office is fine, but if you want someone who will make sure the decree actually gets granted, you shouldn't go with them.
