James (Jim) Cilley is one of the most professional, hard working, "tell it like it is" lawyers we've ever had the privilege of working with. Jim helped us quickly navigate an unexpected and very difficult family estate case to a successful conclusion. Jim, and his assistant Hengameh Kishani, were always ready to listen to our concerns, map out courses of action, and keep us up to date on case progress. If you're looking for absolutely the very best legal representation Northern California has to offer call Celia Beard at Temmerman, Cilley, and Kohlmann and make an appointment to discuss your case. MD & DD read more

I hired Robert Temmerman as my father's estate attorney and co-trustee's counsel, and my experience left me deeply concerned about how he handled an elderly, mentally vulnerable client. My father's mental capacity was in question at the time these agreements were signed. Temmerman was aware of this. He told my father's co-trustee that even if it were later found that my father lacked capacity, it "wouldn't be a problem" and he would "work around it." He then picked my father up and brought him to a meeting that had officially been cancelled, and asked him, out of context, in a way clearly meant to get a yes, whether he wanted to make amends with his son. Unsurprisingly, my father said yes, and that answer was used to justify decisions and agreements that I don't believe reflected his actual wishes or state of mind. I was left with roughly $100,000 in billing I considered unjustifiable. When I refused to pay, interest was allowed to accumulate and was eventually tied to an unmortgaged house, which was then liened. I believe there was a legitimate malpractice claim here, and I looked into filing one. But my strong impression, after dealing with him, was that he had deep, longstanding ties within the Bay Area legal community, the kind of old boys' network relationships that made it feel like anything brought against him would be an uphill, if not futile, fight. That perception alone was enough to make me walk away from pursuing it further. If you have an aging parent, or are a fiduciary considering hiring this attorney, I suggest you look further and find someone ethical. read more

This was one of the most frustrating and disappointing experiences I've ever had with a law firm. After paying a retainer, the attorney I hired did essentially nothing on my case. For over 40 days, I repeatedly asked for updates and received little to no communication. There was no transparency about any communication with opposing counsel, despite the time that had passed. To make matters worse, I was told by the legal assistant, Lianna Martinez, I would only receive a partial refund, even though no meaningful work had been completed. Being charged for a lack of service and zero communication is unacceptable. This experience showed a complete lack of accountability, organization, and respect for clients. I would strongly caution anyone considering this firm to think twice and look elsewhere. read more

Stay far, far, far away and then go even farther away if possible. Irresponsible, not communicative, take advantage, charge fees like crazy but when it comes to doing actual work or communicating they are extremely negligent. read more

They do not deserve one star but the system make you at least give one star. The attorney Robert Temmerman was so negligent that he let the trustee of my father's trust steal over one million dollars from my family. Also Temmerman let the trustee inflate his expenses. Since the trustee was using my father's money to pay Temmerman, the trustee also paid his kids to do work for him which is a conflict of interest. All these crooks care about is money. Stay far away from this so called law office. read more

Very thorough and organized. Excellent on complicated trusts and wills. Friendly professional staff. read more

I can't thank Shani & Alyssa enough. What would have been a very uncomfortable and sensitive experience they navigated with kindness and patience. Thank you for helping us and being so on top of things. Such a great team here! Highly recommend them to anyone who is looking for help with Estate planning. Will definitely be a repeat client! read more

i would not recommend this firm. particularly r. temmerman, who is more a figurehead rather than an interested proficient lawyer. i spent more than $200,000 and got nowhere. i actually went backwards after working with him. in fact, i believe i have a malpractice suit...for so many reasons. read more

It's unfortunate that anyone would need a lawyer. I would also like to say I take no pleasure in writing this, to the contrary I wish I didn't feel compelled to do so. My only purpose in doing so is that this will prevent someone else from having to go through what Temmerman Cilley & Kohlmann, LLP Law Firm put us through. If you do find yourself in need of legal representation, I want to caution you now to steer clear of TCK Law Firm. It appears that this firm has a turnover rate among its attorneys, which may be due to their lack of expertise and professionalism. I've had a disappointing experience with this firm myself, and I'm willing to bet that I'm not alone. The lawyers here seem to be more interested in collecting checks than actually doing the work required to achieve results. Their failure and neglect to fulfill their responsibilities to complete essential tasks is unacceptable and offensive. If you value your time and finances, I would strongly advise against entrusting TCK Law Firm with your legal matters. Their lack of competence and accountability will result in a waste of your hard-earned money, excessive frustration, and only disappointment. read more

Please do yourself a favor and DO NOT HIRE THIS FIRM! We hired them to take over a lawsuit defense and it took them over 1 year to get us to settlement costing us thousands of dollars in extra attorney's fees. They assigned ineffective and incompetent council who needed to be prodded to do their job. Still, today, after the court order was signed in January, the job is not finished and we keep getting transferred to multiple incompetent lawyers who only respond to prodding while we receive thousands in bills each month. All that is left is to transfer 3 properties/businesses out of the trust to the beneficiaries. read more

It cost me $8k to get almost nowhere with this firm. A few medical and financial subpoenas would have provided Mr. Cilley with an arsenal of information needed to pursue my case, but I was spoken down to during the very few phone conversations we had. Luckily I found new representation with a firm that asks questions and really cares. read more

Worst experience ever! I had contacted this firm for representation in the estate administration matter. I submitted all my confidential copy of documents only after preliminary steps of clearing conflicts, etc. I then was allowed to be discussed with an attorney by name Cristianna or Crisa Salarpi. After one hour of discussion of my case details with all my sensitive and confidential details of my case matter, I was told that because of conflicts, the attorney is not interested in my case. I had a doubt whether this attorney even passed a bar exam or not? She seemed so inefficient in litigation matter. Later one of my friend also regretted for taking her old dad for estate planning matter to this attorney who sounded so depressive to the old dad asking him questions rudely as if he is going die in next few days!! I felt like suing her and felt like getting her licence debarred for her unethical and non emphathical behaviour. Damn stupid attorney!! read more

Actually TERRIBLE!!! I would give them negative stars if I could. I had a EXTREMELY simple interim will, advance health care directive, and power of attorney. I paid a fortune for very simple copy and pasted documents just to hold me over until my divorce gets finalized. These copy and pasted documents also took MONTHS to get completed and only because I had to remind them several times to get it done. They also send it via USPS which they used my work address and the mail was then lost for several weeks. Needless to say their customer service is terrible. The initial consultation was setup via zoom but never confirmed. I had to keep reaching out to them to get every little bit of information I could to wrap up my case with them. If you have extra time of day to do your job and theirs, sure, sign on with them. Otherwise look elsewhere. read more

Used them for years with Barbara Beck doing the work. She was good and the pricing was fair. She retired and now when we requested some changes to our trust they claim they did not understand them correctly and "should have talked it over first" so the work was done twice and we were charged twice because the original work was incorrect. Do not use them. read more

I've used Patrick Kohlmann for years and thought he was very good and through. Now he isn't answering emails or returning calls. It's beyond frustrating. I need a few questions answered. Is it because the wills are done and there's no more money to be made? Any professional knows to have his assistant call and make up an excuse. Not returning calls or emails is just rude and bad for business. read more

We went to Patrick Kohlmann given that our friend recommended his firm for setting up a trust. I have to say that once you are able to meet with him, the interactions are quite good. HOWEVER, this process has nothing but painful - we started the process of creating a trust, and 11 months later, we still don't have an executed trust. We first contacted this office in January of 2011, got a consult appointment end of Feb, review of first draft was not until mid May. At that point, we requested modification to the document, during this time, there were turnover with the office, and modification was completed in October, received a bill in November, that's when we had to call to find out whether the document was completed. Appointment to review the document is not until December. If we had know the lack of customer service this office provided (many many calls/email to the office went unanswered), we would've gone to another firm. read more

I am so glad to have met James Cilley. He is very aggressive in getting what I want taken care of (a real property and living trust dispute), knowledgeable, and yet a warm, friendly and welcoming gentleman. Please go to him if you need an estate attorney because he is an outstanding one! His rates are very reasonable and he is truly the best! read more

After speaking with this firm several times, I would recommend them to anyone. Robert was impressive with his knowledge on all subjects discussed. I can say the same for James and Patrick as well. read more

Wow did I have a great experience with Patrick & Christine. I had a client who was dying of cancer. By the time TC&K got on the case, they only had a week to create an entire estate plan for the client. They drove up to the clients house on a Tuesday night, got the paperwork done, and 2 days later the client died. Had they not worked around the clock due to the urgency of this case, it would never have happened. Later when a Community Foundation refused to honor this clients wishes, TC&K went WAY BEYOND the call of duty and found a way to write this Community Foundation out of the case and have the funds go elsewhere.....just to make sure that the clients wishes were followed. In my opinion, most law firms would have just capitulated and let it go. But Christine & Patrick basically "swam against the current" and did everything in their power to ensure that THE CLIENT'S WISHES WERE FOLLOWED. Can you ask for anything more out of someone? I don't think so. By the way.....how did I find TC&K? I got a referral from an Regional Insurance rep who has literally met hundreds of estate attorneys in his professional travels through Northern California, and he was the one who said that TC&K is the best of them all. Pretty high praise, and they lived up to the billing. I would personally say to anyone.....you are dealing with the best that there is with TC&K. read more

This firm completely over charges and prefers expensive litigation to negotiated settlement. All they care about are fees, and prefer to submit bills to Court in order to extract their fees. read more

Robert Temmerman and his firm not only accomplished absolutely NOTHING for my ailing 86 year old mom, they made the situation worse. The attorney was inexperienced and never even attempted to do what we contracted the firm to do, instead choosing to work on ideas she thought were right, but with no direction, answers or solutions. After 6 months and over $25,000.00, we were told to hire a different law firm. Mr. Temmerman himself told us " we did not hire the right person". Their work proved extremely stressful for my mom as she constantly felt overwhelmed and taken advantage of with their constant refusal to do what she had contracted them to do. Temmerman, Cilley & Kohlmann, with their gross negligence pertaining to my mom's case should be penalized but I have learned nothing can be done. Most likely, this is not the first elder case they have taken advantage of. Mom passed away several months after her relationship with Temmerman, Cilley & Kohlmann. Her case is still not resolved. read more

We were extremely fortunate to have been guided by Mason Brawley and Patrick Kohlmann during our family's estate settlement process. Mason was assigned as our primary attorney and worked very closely with us, so I can particularly attest to his impressive abilities. I found him to be extremely professional and knowledgeable. Mason is very concerned for his clients' welfare and works to design mutually beneficial options for family member clients. His combined tax and legal expertise was essential for our family's complex property settlement situation, and he tenaciously researched property transfer options which avoided Prop 13 property tax reassessments. He communicated complex, technical matters in understandable terms, and was very responsive to our numerous questions as he patiently guided us through every step. I would unequivocally recommend Mason Brawley and Patrick Kohlmann to anyone needing estate planning, trust administration, and estate settlement assistance. read more