The Law Offices of Michael Maguire & Associates

After leaving Michael 9 months, I think I am calm enough to write a fair review for him, as he had always requested me to write a positive Unilocal review for him.
One sentence comment: If you are not a billionaire wishing to throw money away in exchange of extremely profit-​oriented law practice, you should not hire Michael.
I paid Michael more than $ 60k within 8-​months. (As a hard-​working single Mom living on salary, you know what that means). No trial date set. Michael had 0 court appearance for me. How did I spend $ 60+? And according to him I still «owe» him? It is an unfair billing system.
Every letter from Michael office costed me more than $ 1200 dollars, (they would charge 4+ attorney hours for a letter) while my other attorneys, including my current attorney do the same job for approximate $ 200 (half an hour). Yes, Michael charges at least 5 to 6 times more for the same thing, and then has a way to claim his billing system is reasonable.
The hours charged by his staff (the associates) can be surprising. I once got charged 15 attorney hours (!) on on tasks like «putting together cost&expense» of a property. They repetitively list the same action item in their bill with different names and charges hours of work on all the repeated names (and yes, they can explain that each time the work is different). But after all, the 15-​hour charged thousands of $$$ is an ugly weapon hurting people who are already in the misery of divorce. I could not see the real ethics of this law office. Yes, the staffs are friendly, but not what they do to you.
Their strategy of «negotiating» with opposing attorney is a big trap, while telling you that if you go on the court it will cost more. Michael would insist on «negotiating» with opposing attorney (many hours had been charged) and told me that if I go on the court I would need to prepare $ 25 000 to pay him for 1 court appearance. Not true, after changing attorney, my current attorney did 1 VERY effective court appearance costedme only about $ 2500. If Michael was going to charge me $ 25K for the time and his «preparation», then he is at least 10 times more expensive.
The money I paid to Michael is a huge financial loss, which I can never get it back. I would have never encountered the loss if I would have not hired Michael.
I have «experienced» 4 attorneys. NO shame on changing attorneys. The judge on the court was supportive to my situation. He knows finding a good attorney is not easy and it needs lots of luck.
so far this is how much I can think of… can come back and write more later. If this is helpful for people who are in the divorce misery not to be trapped deeper, I feel like I have done something good for the society.

Michael and his team made sanity out of a very messy divorce. He exuded common sense and was cost conscious, without sacrificing on the things that mattered most to my family. The court appearances are kept to a minimum and when he does appear, his arguments were sound and spoke well to the judge. It seems impossible but even his sense of humor eased me over some big bumps. I would recommend him highly!

Michael Maguire may well be the best divorce attorney in Beverly Hills! Mr. Maguire brings some exceptional qualities to his work that one doesn’t often find in an attorney, having previous successful careers in finance and as a Tony award winner on Broadway before his own life experience led him to help others going through divorce.
He and Deborah Tilton are both responsive and sensitive to their clients’ needs, yet skillful and highly effective as legal advocates. A dynamic communicator and someone I would trust to take good care of people close to me, I give Michael Maguire my highest recommendation.

I could not ask for a better divorce attorney than Michael for a family law case! Michael is professional, knowledgeable, punctual, and an excellent family law attorney. He is always on top of the case and always responds to e-​mail messages within hours if not minutes.
I was referred to Michael Maguire for my case after being disappointed with the lack of responsiveness of my first attorney. Watching Michael prepare for my spouse’s deposition was like watching a master general ready his troops and artillery for battle. He left no detail out and no potential threat unchecked. When I had «emergencies» after hours he always responded with a quick phone call or text message — often within minutes — instructing me as to the best course of action. In two cases the timeliness of his replies turned out to be essential to the outcome of our case!
Mr. Maguire is also a former Broadway star who performed a leading role in the original New York cast of Les Miserables; the talents of his former career are assets that translate well into the people skills needed to achieve a positive outcome in court! Finally, and perhaps most important, Mr. Maguire was always on my side financially. He always advised me about the costs and alternatives available in my case and often made suggestions on how to achieve the best outcome for the least expenditure — something surprising in an attorney working in Beverly Hills. In short: hire him.