Hartley Maxwell & Castellano

Ms. Lamas and the staff are by far the best law firm out of the many attorneys I unfortunately had contend with to defend myself and my granddaughter. Ms. Lamas and her staff are comprehensive, strategic, one step ahead, and a powerful team! They won every battle! Ms. Lamas is a consummate professionals and VERY respected in the court and amongst other attorneys. She took on an ongoing case and worked this complex case tirelessly to make sure that the truth was told and presented it perfectly. She and her team stood by every one of my requests and guided me through the entire lengthy process. Though there were challenges, Ms. Lamas and her staff strategically and diligently with compassion met them head on and never faltered. I am proud to be a client and will continue to retain Ms Lamas for all legal matters that may arise as I know I am in the best hands.

Where do i begin.. For starters, Carla and her staff over at Hartley Lamas Et Al are so amazing. They truly care about you and always listen to your wants/needs. I have been in my step daughters life ever since she was 3 months old. In our case, my step daughter's biological father was not in her life whatsoever. My wife and i wanted to adopt my step daughter but did not know where to begin in something that required so much work. We came across Hartley Lamas and never turned back. They were so kind and helpful throughout the whole process. Although the process took over a year to complete, Carla and staff never failed us. They ensured to keep us in the loop with constant updates and going through every process that came our way thoroughly. Carla and Charis are true professionals at their line of work, We were impressed! Thanks to Carla & Staff we were able to legally adopt our daughter and change her last name as well. We will always have a spot in our hearts for everyone at Hartley Lamas as they were able to make our family complete. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND Hartley Lamas to be by your side with any family law case you might have.

I SHOULD'VE READ THE REVIEWS FIRST! I retained this law firm for a divorce back in 2021, after almost 2 years, over hundred thousand dollars, I am no closer to finishing my divorce and had to retain another attorney. The negative reviews I read were all true. After a year, it got to the point that I couldn't afford to pay my attorney in full, I paid a partial payment, within weeks a got a nasty letter that from Hartley threatening to drop me. I pulled out a hundred thousand dollars out of my 401K in March of 2023, then paid my attorney and overdue bills. Within a few weeks, I received another letter and a Subpoena that I was being dropped for taking out the money. I retained another attorney, then received a final bill from Hartley for $25K dollars. Within ten days of that bill, she had already put a lien on my home. it was paid on the next day. During my experience with the Hartley Law Firm, I never received updates on my case, was asked for the same items more that once in several occasion, they rarely ever returned my emails or phone calls. Just awful! people. But the worse things that happened is that during some of the discovery requests, my attorney failed to respond in the timeframe due to him being out on maternity leave. Sanctions were filed from my wife, and the court awarded her 17K dollars in which I will have to pay. Never have I ever failed to supply my attorney with information requested by the other party. Sad, that the worse person in a divorce is your own attorney. DO NOT RECOMMEND!

I spent a lot of time researching attorneys in Ventura County who could best support me with family law matters. I needed an attorney to continue to help me navigate through the Ventura Superior Court system, and someone who can strategize through ongoing legal issues. During my research, I came across Carla Hartley. After meeting with Carla for a consultation, I felt confident she was the right attorney to retain. Carla’ law expertise has exceeded my expectations, and since retaining her, she has provided me with sound legal advice, and has successfully litigated a case for me. I cannot say enough good things about how supported I feel by Carla and her team throughout! Through all our meetings and In court, I found Carla to be well prepared. She is concise, well spoken, and is prepared to fight and advocate for her client. I feel Carla’s expertise had a tremendous positive impact on the outcome of my case.

Carla and her staff have been an impeccable team for my legal issues and incredibly empathetic to my situation. She is extremely efficient and very knowledgeable in all of the follow-through efforts as well. Even over a decade later, Carla took the time to express her interest in my current situation and provided me with all of the answers I required. I am indebted to her for all of the extra care and her listening ear.