Brian is very likeable, has a good sense of humor, and I'm eternally grateful for all his hard work…read morein resolving my case.

Brian Ito, I am extremely grateful for all of your help and for taking the time to help me with the…read moreforms and the advice you gave for my case. I truly appreciate that you took the time to talk to me, again thank you and God Bless you!!

I did not have a good experience with this law firm. My partner and I originally went in to make…read moresome changes with my trust regarding my my property. I wanted to double check with my children to make sure that I was making the right decision. In the meantime, my partner died. I left my trust with the law firm because we were going to go back at a later time. When I went to pick up the trust today, they could not find it and presumed that I did not leave it there. We waited 20 minutes while they looked for it and finally found it.Needless to say I was not happy. The original attorney that we dealt with would not even speak to me. Offer me condolences that my partner had died just completely ignored me thank God I didn't finish doing business with this company.

Left them a very polite message last week, and left my phone number 2x in the voice message and…read morethey haven't bothered to call back. Unbelievably disappointed in the local legal community for the lack of follow up and lack of professionalism. Even if an organization is short staffed (which may or may not be the case here), the owners should always take care to ensure a caller feels valued and respected and at least call them back. Stay late if you have to just call folks back! I was polite and clear about what I wanted. My time is valuable and legal matters can be very stressful - please find a way to get the call backs completed. Should really be a top priority! Don't recommend. :/

DeCarli Law office, excellent service, full understanding of my needs and/or concerns. Preparing…read moreyour will/trust can be a bit stressful and overwhelming, Debra makes you feel at home and comfortable as you go through the process. Debra answered all my questions and concerns. Extremely thorough and now that I have my will/trust completed I can sleep at nights knowing that all my affairs are in order and a big thank you to Debra DeCarli and their office manager Claire!!!!! Best decision I made!!!!! Dee

We pinched pennies with our first Trust, and it was not great…read more We brought it to LifePlan and worked with Pete. He reviewed the whole thing, told us some points of concern, and wrote a new Trust. Over two video calls, he discussed out needs and ironed out details. He explained every bit of it, answered questions, did the legwork to put our home in the Trust, and detailed our follow up actions. Stellar experience, I would recommend without hesitation.

Jay has a calm, professional demeanor and was able to walk us through making our trust and wills…read morefor our blended family. He clearly explained each part of the process and answered all of our questions. We now have all the information in a neat binder and on a thumb drive. It's such a relief knowing that our adult children will be able to easily handle our assets when we are either incapacitated or dead according to our wishes. They have thanked us repeatedly for doing this as they are watching how friends/family are struggling after a parent died without one. I highly recommend Jay and have referred several friends and family members to him.

When my father passed in December of 2019, I had no clue of all the work that goes into probate…read more When my cousin suggested I get an attorney, I honestly thought to myself, "why? I have a paralegal degree." I had no idea where to start. My friend suggested the Law Offices of James J. Phillips, as one of her friends was able to get her Living Trust done in a hurry. Upon meeting Jim at his office in Castro Valley, I felt very comfortable and felt as though him and his team were very trustworthy. As we began to open probate, everything got pushed back because of the Court closures due to Covid-19. Jim and his daughter Katelyn did a terrific job in staying in contact via email, phone and Zoom meetings. They made the process so easy in a situation that was one of the most difficult in my life. They listened to my endless stories and made an effort to know me on an interpersonal level at a time when human contact was minimal. As a result of going through the hardship of probate (and at Jim's suggestion), I choose to complete a Living Trust, Last Will and Testament, and Advance Health Care Directive. Going through that process was easier than I thought it was going to be. I answered a questionnaire that Katelyn and I went over via zoom to be able to draft the documents. I then reviewed the documents, had another zoom meeting with her for corrections and additions and before I knew it, we were having them notarized. I can't thank Jim, Katelyn and their team enough. They got me through a very difficult process and I can't even put into words how much I would recommend their services.

First class all the way!!! Unlike several local Legal Document Assistants and several other law…read morefirms, this offices secretary actually called me back the very next morning and then I also spoke with the attorney the very next day! Very positive communication, honesty and transparency. What a welcome relief to be treated with decency and respect! It is shocking how many businesses do not have the professionalism to at least give a timely call back and even a small follow up. Mr. Phillips business doesn't fall into that category, thank goodness! They know their stuff and get it done!!!! Highly recommend!!! :)

I hired Alvin Lee expecting consistent communication, transparency, and professional guidance…read morethroughout my case. Unfortunately, that was not my experience. From the beginning, I specifically requested weekly updates and regular billing so I could stay informed and understand where things stood financially. Over time, those updates became inconsistent--sometimes every two to three weeks--and billing was not clearly or regularly provided. This made it very difficult to track what I owed or understand how fees were accumulating. The biggest issue came at the settlement stage. Going into the mandatory settlement conference, I had a completely different understanding of what the financial outcome would be. I expected that after settlement, I would receive a portion of the funds. Instead, I was informed afterward that the entire settlement amount went toward legal fees, which was never clearly communicated to me in advance. There was a clear lack of transparency regarding total costs and what I would net from a potential settlement. These are critical details that any client should be made fully aware of before making major legal decisions. Overall, this experience left me feeling blindsided and uninformed. I strongly recommend that anyone considering working with Alvin ensure they receive frequent, detailed billing statements and a clear understanding of total legal costs throughout the process--not just at the end.

Starts out fantastic. First meeting is great. Says all the right things and eventually gets the…read morejob done and done as requested. The problems unfortunately begins when something comes up later and you need to get back in touch with him. This will be tedious and take a LOT of your time and patience to continually try to get ahold of him. I literally have to send 10, sometimes 20 emails to get something done. Usually he has an excuse like he was out of the office (for a month and didn't use a OOO auto response??? Yea that's probably not really what happened). Now he at least says he's slammed and apologizes for the weeks of requests. I have needed just a few small tweaks done to a trust and it's taken nearly 6 months. And this isn't a one time thing. This has happened for many years. Here is an idea. STOP taking on new clients if you cannot do the work to support them after the first consultation.

I'm going to update my trust and take my son. No charge! This office is very professional and…read moresupports its clients.

Review is for estate planning, ah the joys of adulting and parenting. You know the drill - a…read morelifetime spent working for money (or better, money working for you) and buying things. You can't take any of this with you when the time comes, so the question is really to whom you want to transfer these assets to and how. The answer is normally your children if you have them but beneficiaries can be anyone: a charity, friend, other family member, your favorite Yelper, etc. I had a free initial ZOOM consultation with David Bromley, as he was one of the local estate attorneys on the referral list from my company. I was lucky to get discounted will and living trust services. David gave clear explanations of the differences between wills and trusts and how one actually manages a trust while living and how it functions when we pass. Note. will costs hundreds of dollars while a trust cost several thousand to prepare. We decided to go for the complete package including a living family trust and pour over will. Also, a medical power of attorney in case we lose our marbles. David was able to set all this up remotely using ZOOM and the process was smooth. We did had to come in person to sign and notarize. The process takes a few months due to COVID19 and the fact that David's office is super busy. David was able to move our home into the trust, but it'll be up to me to manually transfer bank and brokerage accounts going forward. The nice thing about the Living Trust is that it is active and managed while we are living, so assets can continue to be added and terms can still be changed anytime. You don't get this flexibility with a Will and having to avoid the probate cost and time seems like a good benefit for your beneficiaries.

My son and I are so grateful to Thomas Sokat! He was truly a joy to work with and we would not have…read morereceived the settlement we did, without his help. To be honest, I might have ended up owing money for medical bills. That is a fact. I had tried to be reasonable with the insurance company, prior to calling Thomas Sokat, and I got nowhere for my efforts. On top of that, with his professional approach, he was able to negotiate with the insurance company to increase our settlement amount and to decrease a ridiculously high medical lien amount. This ensured that my son received a settlement we were very satisfied with. Thomas Sokat personally responded to every correspondence from me, in my son's case. Last but not least, Thomas Sokat's rates are incredibly fair and actually the lowest I have ever seen for our type of case. Thomas Sokat is an excellent attorney, and I highly recommend him!

Great lawyer, Tom Sokat knows his stuff, worked hard for me, and got a great out come. AAA +++++…read moreservice, will be using him again