Law Offices of Steven H. Berniker, APC

David Pfaff got the job done!

Steven is awesome gum and Tim worked hard on my SSI case they kept in contact with me informed me of all details. Even meeting with me prior to the hearing to go over last min details. I'm very pleased with his new office id recommend him to anyone seeking help.. no upfront fees they don't get paid if you don't win.. so not all cases will be expected

If I could give Steven minus five stars I would, Steven has represented me since 2/15/18. In the beginning I thought he was a pretty good attorney, but it soon became very obvious he either had drug problem or some sort of memory issues that prevented him from being able to grasp the argument he needed to make when speaking to the judge. Even when my husband and I had provided him with evidence that proved my allegations about my ex-husband, he either didn't bother to bring that evidence to court or forgot to make the argument that evidence proved, which irrevocably damaged my reputation with the court, and once that's done you will be forced to spend thousands of dollars to clear up his mistakes and rebuild your reputation with the court and by that time it will be too late and the damage will be done and you'll have lost time with your child. Steven has filed documents late and under the code of civil procedure 1005(b) if the court doesn't want to consider them they don't have to and that can ruin your entire case. He has misspelled attorneys names and the opposing parties address and when told that they were spelled wrong, he says I'll have that fixed, but he doesn't and the document goes out with the wrong names and or addresses. He could not even remember the names of my two daughters for 6 months after hiring him. He was late to court and it cost me four hours at $225 an hour and worst of all the judge took it out on me. He had a trial scheduled for a court in Woodland and had to leave early from El Dorado County court, so I had to get a continuance, and once again the judge took it out on me. When I told Steven that he had made several mistakes when drafting the both RFO's, he argued with me for ten days until he finally agreed and drafted the documents correctly but on the very last day they could be filed with the court or they would be late. My current husband filed them at the Placerville courthouse drop box 8 minutes before they emptied the box. He tried to wrap a judicial notice in an RFO, which cannot be legally done, a Judicial notice must be filed separately. I then told him it could not be done and he agreed and charged me for filing it separately, but also went ahead and wrapped it in the RFO even after acknowledging that it could not be done that way. HE DID THIS AGAIN AFTER BEING TOLD AND AGREEING THAT I WAS RIGHT. He has made so many mistakes that have cost me time with my daughter and money that I should not have had to spend, I am now having to take him to fee arbitration to be credited for much of his billing for inaccurate and incompetent work product. For 16 months he has interrupted me because he thinks he knows what I'm going to say. Every client has an absolute right to point out any mistakes their attorney makes. Steven doesn't think so and if you point out to many, he will start sending you emails saying "You have lost faith in me" please consider signing a substitution of attorney. After many months of me and my husband pointing out his mistakes and him making the process as stressful as possible, he emailed me an order shortening time and ex parte motion to be relieved as counsel today. The hearing is tomorrow in El Dorado County at 8:30 am. He is simply doing this to protect himself from further liability if he was to move forward with the case, because he knows he will make more mistakes and damage my reputation with the court even more than he already has. There is so much more I could tell you about the other mistakes he has made but there are only so many characters available. DO NOT TRUST STEVEN OR HIS ASSOCIATE MATHEW OR ANYONE IN THE LAW OFFICES OF STEVEN BERNIKER. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED !!!!