I retained Dean Kantaras of Kantaras Law for a high-conflict divorce, custody, property, and domestic violence injunction matter involving my two young children. I hired the firm because Dean Kantaras is marketed as a board-certified family law attorney who understands preparation, fathers’ rights, and complex family law litigation. And insisted he would be handling my case personally. My actual experience was the opposite. Over the course of the representation, I had approximately five different attorneys and five different paralegals involved in my case over the course of approximately one year leading to trial. Communication was extremely poor and meetings cancelled last minute or just no showed and not rescheduled. I repeatedly had to chase the firm for updates, answers, strategy, filings, and basic direction. I often felt abandoned during the most important moments of my case. The firm failed to properly prepare my case for trial. Critical witnesses were not called. Critical exhibits were not admitted or used. Motions I repeatedly asked about were not timely or properly filed. I repeatedly raised issues about the domestic violence injunction, false allegations, evidence, witnesses, and trial preparation, those issues were not handled competently. The result was catastrophic. I lost all contact with my children, lost parental decision-making rights, lost educational rights, lost property, lost financial stability, and was left with a permanent domestic violence injunction that I and would have been impossible and believe should have been challenged more aggressively and timely. I have not had contact with my children 7 and 4 since October. The emotional, financial, and physical toll on me and my children has been unbearable. The billing was also shocking. The total billing and lien-related claims exceeded $900,000. Dean Kantaras pursued charging liens against me, including a stipulated charging lien for hundreds of thousands of dollars. I contend that I was pressured to sign lien-related documents on the eve of trial or Dean told me he would not be at trial, and I am now challenging those fees and liens. One disturbing parts of my experience was that my trial attorney quit at the end of trial before closing submissions were completed. Dean Kantaras did not personally try my case. I expected a prepared, coordinated trial team. Instead, I experienced confusion, lack of preparation, poor communication, and what I believe were serious failures that affected the outcome of my case. I also had concerns about confidentiality and professionalism. There were times when my case was discussed by phone in inappropriate settings, including on speaker while non-law-firm family members were present. I did not feel my case was treated with the seriousness, privacy, or urgency it deserved. This case involved my children, my home, my livelihood, my reputation, and my future. I trusted Dean and Kantaras Law at the most vulnerable time in my life. In my opinion, that trust was misplaced. I would strongly caution anyone considering this firm to carefully review all fee agreements, charging lien language, billing practices, communication expectations, trial staffing, and exactly who will appear in court before hiring them. Ask hard questions in writing. Get every promise in writing. Review every invoice. Do not assume that a board-certified attorney’s marketing or media appearances reflect the actual experience you will receive as a client. Based on my experience, I would never recommend Kantaras Law unless you want to roll the dice on losing everything and then some. I welcome anyone to look up my case or any journalist to contact me.
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