The Rosen Law Firm

Rosen is a flat-fee divorce firm. You make one payment, usually between $6K and $10K and they promise to cover all legal issues concerning the divorce. In my case I was charged the upper fee, and they showed me a nice-looking brochure with a list of all the work they'd be doing. I was in such an emotional state that I didn't realize their fee was sliding based on how much they thought I was worth. Still, I thought it would be worth it if they would indeed handle all of the costs of the divorce like they promised. What actually happened was after I paid, though, was nothing. It took them weeks to just to scan my documents. But once you paid you're locked in and forced to wait since they've got your $10K and they're not giving it back. When I asked how they were going to negotiate the division of property I was told I'd need to hire another lawyer for that. In a formal letter, they explained that while they did show me a brochure describing the work they'd be doing, because none of those details were in the actual contract they weren't legally required to do them. You see, the less work they do, the more they make, so there's really no incentive for them to do more than the legal minimum. In my opinion negotiating how you split assets is the major thing you do in a divorce, so by taking that off the table there's not a heck of a lot left besides child custody. Out of desperation I hired a second lawyer to do the property division, and I personally negotiated with my ex to keep down costs since Rosen said that was also outside the scope of what they agreed to do. Since I was out $10K at this point I had little money left to pay another lawyer but had no other choice. With the cost of maintaining two households quickly depleting what was left of our savings, and Rosen refusing to do anything, my ex and I were desperate enough to ask divorced friends with kids to see if we can just copy their custody plans. It was really, really, tough to do this by ourselves, but we worked out our own agreement which I took to Rosen to write up since I at least wanted to get something for the $10K. If a divorce lawyer normally bills $250/hour, I don't think Rosen did more than $1,000 of actual work, but unlike a regular lawyer, Rosen doesn't report how much work they actually do so its impossible to say. After the separation agreement was signed there have been continual issues where I needed a divorce lawyer, and Rosen's policy is you're on your own after that, so I'm still having to pay another lawyer to handle the ongoing divorce issues. Unfortunately, it was only after I signed with Rosen that I checked with the NC Bar Association and discovered that the firm has been censured for deceptive practices, which is the strongest action they can take against a lawyer before complete disbarment. So, do yourself a favor and get a traditional lawyer. They have a slick sales team and will promise you the moon, and then have clever contracts so they don't actually have to do much. Their profit margin must be enormous, which they pump back into advertising and marketing. Think about it: how could any law firm stay in business doing $20K of legal work for $10K? The answer is they do the absolutely minimum to keep their costs down. One more thing: Rosen pumps a lot of money into advertising and search engine optimization, so when you see a glowing review that was just added, and the person has no other reviews this is most likely a fake review. Do you really think a law firm would have all 5 star reviews?

Kept me in the loop during the whole process and always answered emails promptly. I would definitely recommend their services to anyone in need of legal assistance.

Used their collaborative process to work out my separation agreement. They were patient and thorough and covered all the bases, very satisfied with my representation. The only thing to be aware of with the collaborative process is that it takes a long time... several months minimum, mainly because you're coordinating the schedules of five people (you, your spouse, the two lawyers, and the financial planner). However it was worth the effort if you can spend the necessary time to do it collaboratively.

Top notch law firm. Highly recommended and worth the cost.

Very Positive experience with Rosen from the minute I walked in the door. The lawyers and staff do everything possible to answer all your questions from beginning to end. I liked the fee schedule as well as the constant access and communication I had with my attorney assigned to my case. They try to take the stress out of an already stressful process. They are very organized and detail oriented which suited my personality as well as kept us one step ahead of the other parties. I would definitely recommend Rosen.