Law Offices of Carol Sternberg review: fraud 11

I am a current victim of the said practice and Carol Sternberg. Where do I find help?

I hired a divorce lawyer (in Los Angeles) to do my uncontested divorce. We both signed all the papers and did everything she said for us to do. When it came time to send them, she said I have to pay in full the amount of $2, 000 for all the fees and only then will she file the divorce. So I did and she said that it could take several months to go through depending on the judge and how busy he is.

So it's been almost 3 months now and she's giving me the runaround. Not answering my calls, hanging up on me when I call IF she DOES answer, won't see me in person, avoids me at all costs. She obviously took my money and has done absolutely nothing!

I'm so mad and I feel so stupid. What can I do? :*( Please no smart remarks, I feel horrible as it is!

People suggested I file a complaint to the bar/grievance committee. I checked it out and apparently you can only file a written complaint and send it in to them with a fee. I've lost money as it is, is it really worth it. Has anyone ever gotten their money back? Lawyers are such crooks! I doubt any of these claims are even handled. I've lost so much money, I can't bear to lose more. I'm broke as it is! And if I get another lawyer, I'm afraid I'll get screwed again.

It is true that Carol is a sneaky and manipulative money grabbing attorney. She didn't take my case seriously and she hardly did anything but ran $15, 000 in three months. Besides, she was rather representing the other party teaming up with the the opposing counsel. She tricked me into paying her money and she didn't deliver promises she made. And many other unprofessional misconduct as if she was about to retire and she didn't give a crap except for collecting as much money.

please remove this is wrong!

The State Bar of California suspended the license of Caroline Sue Sternberg from the practice of law effective July 30, 2009. The sispension is two years, stayed for all but a month, with probation for the two year period.

The offense at issue was a mishandling of a Client Trust Account. The entire document can be read here.

Ms. Sternberg is one of the attorneys in what many litigants find to be a group of favored attorneys who seem to get preferential treatment by Commissioner Alan H. Friedenthal of Los Angeles Superior Court.

On www.courthouseforum.com one anonymous writer posted "If you are in Commissioner Friedenthal (sic) courtroom and an attorney Carol Sternberg is setting across from you be sure that Commssioner Friendenthal discloses their relationship as he was told by the Judical Ethics Committee he must advised (sic) the other side that he gave a personnel (sic) reference for her on her Bar Association hearing for her misconduct and more. If you want to see what he said about her, go to the ca bar assoc web and type in her name and scrol (sic) to the bottom for actions taken against her. In the transcripts you can read what he said about her and what your (sic) up against as he never rules against her. BEWARE YOU LOSE EVERYTIME AGAINST HER! even if she is wrong.

"If he does not advised (sic) you I would let his Supervising Judge know as she is aware that he is suppose to disclose the information as well. "
Shes a fraud, a thief and a liar. She just bills and never return your calls. Carol Sternberg needs to be in jail.

I truly doubt the veracity of this last poster - if Carol was that wonderful, then why hide your name? Carol's disgraceful conduct in the courtrooms (and out of them) led to her suspension from the State Bar - and the number of complaints about her to the State Bar are ridiculous.

My experience with Carol was vastly different. Carol was my attorney through a seriously horrible child custody case. My case was not about how much money I would get or about dividing up property. It was about protecting my children. My kids were truly in peril. At the time I was a graduate student with little money to spare. We were in and out of court for about 5 years (1998 to 2003). My children's father received all kinds of slack from the court and social services despite proof that he was an unfit parent. Eventually Carol got his custody was vacated. My kids, now much older, are happy, healthy and never have to deal with that suffering again. I don't know what I would have done without Carol's help. She worked very hard for me. She charged me very reasonable prices and really went to bat for me. Family law is often not a happy line of work. People are pissed off at each other and want to get jabs in. So it does not surprise me that some clients would be unhappy. In my case she saved my children. I would highly recommend her.

As one of the "litigants in a group" that complained about Carol Sternberg's relationship with Commissioner Alan Friedenthal, I would encourage you to review his recent "Severe Public Admonishment" that the Commission on Judicial Performance issued in April, 2012. It discuses that the relationship between Carol Sternberg and Commissioner Friedenthal required disclosure and recusal - something neither of them did. These two are unethical and dishonest in my opinion. Carol Sternberg even blamed her deceased husband for the mishandling of her Client Trust Account. Give me a break! Her income was the only income for this family - does anyone truly believe that she "had no clue" what was going on? That is the coldest, most heartless thing she could have ever done - hopefully he will forgive her for her actions.

This lady Carol is a fraud. It's typical for a person to give someone the benefit of the doubt but do not trust this person at all. I am speaking from experience. When I received my first statement my mouth dropped to the floor. I was in disbelief for a good 5 minutes. She made up charges and charged me for every single call and e-mail which were not even case related. But here is the bizarre part, she charged me an hour worth of phone time when we weren't even on the phone for 2 minutes! I am stuck with her unfortunately. What can I do? If anyone out there have any suggestions please let me know by posting a comment.

Unfortunately I already hired this attorney and was told by many to just stick with what in the meantime. We'll see what happens. I wish though I would of done thorough research before I hired her. Embarass to say my sister found the negative reviews. I was shocked to find these reviews about her but at the same time everything made sense. She is a poor communicator. I write this review to support all the people who had the misfortune of hiring her. There are some great attorneys out there. Definitely do get a referral or do some kind of research first. Wish me luck people.

wow what a monster this Carol Sternberg is...