David H.Sussman

David Susan is your stereotypical lawyer. In my opinion, he is deceiving, dishonest about billing and a hypocrite. He admitted to making several very poor decisions in his lifetime, but had the audacity to point fingers and condescend me repeatedly, his paying client. I thought I should endure his treatment however. If he was this harsh with me in his office and on the phone, he would be a «Jackie Chiles» in court right? I was wrong…
He was recommended by another attorney who described David as a bull dog. But this description failed in court where he became a sheep for the court but always guileful wolf towards me.
In court, he exchanged pleasantries with opposing counsel and to my shock, discussed how he knew opposing counsel’s client from a restaurant that he frequents. In disgust, I later found a Unilocal review written by David about this restaurant with replies from the staff of «love you.» So he obviously had an inappropriate relationship with these people and should have recused himself or at least informed me well before the court date to allow me to find another lawyer. In fact, he should have disclosed his relationship with these people before he cashed his retainer check.
About the billing… he charged me 4 hours of «research» for something I found the answer to in minutes using google. He emailed me once at 3am Sunday morning, making me wonder if he was charging me for his «work» after he had been enjoying his Saturday night. In that email, he was requesting paperwork and asking questions that were blatantly clear and obvious. He was asking questions that we had already discussed. He was asking for papers that he already had in file. Obviously his brain could not be functioning properly at 3 am Sunday morning. But even during normal, diurnal hours, David would waste my time with stories. He would tell me that he was not charging his time for these stories when in reality, the bills show that he ran the clock during his story-​telling times that had nothing to do with my case. In fact, sometimes he would REPEAT these stories, and if I tried to interrupt him he would raise his voice as if not to be interrupted. I am pretty sure he would meet criteria for narcissistic personality disorder.
When he wanted to be hired, he and his assistant claimed that they knew the judge personally and that David had helped this judge with election. They created an image that David was the one to hire because of this particular judge, and that it would be advantageous for me. Then in court, David tried to exchange pleasantries with the judge and was shut down cold. The judge did not even acknowledge his existence. It made me again question what David presented in order to be hired. Liar…
David promised to present evidence on my behalf with a strong case, but then at court, all he did was acquiesce. Then in order to get me to agree, he said that he would charge me a lot more for a trial and literally walked away from me at court saying «You don’t listen» when I was asking why he was abandoning everything we discussed in preparation.
On court day, he charged me a full extra hour more than the time we were actually in court. It seems he charged me for the time it took him to stroll from his office to court and back. In totality, he fluffed all of his billing to charge more hours. With his «experience» and «expertise», one would assume he get his work done in less time. As an educated person without a law degree, I always researched our discussions myself and found the answers quickly. His «research» should not have even amounted to one hour, but he charged more than 4! That is robbery and these lawyers need to be stopped.
He is rude to his clients from what I have read in other Unilocal reviews, talks a big game but does not deliver results and his billing practices are deplorable. He was dishonest about his relationship with the people I was going to court against. He is the most deplorable human being I have yet to encounter and I hope the money that he stole from me will be added to his sins when he stands before the greatest of all judges.
I have contacted the State Bar to complain of his deceit in not disclosing his relationship with the other party in a reasonable timeframe. It is likely that nothing will amount to that complaint because my case was so small. I am also preparing to request arbitration for his deceitful billing, and the number of hours he claims to have worked on my case. I know for a fact that he added time to his work because he charged me half hour here, half hour there more than our face to face meetings. Oh, on top of all this, he charged me to call and discuss what I would wear to court. This may seem reasonable but we had already discussed it during a face to face meeting! I hope my story is enough to create a complete picture of his character, his practice and my advice to avoid this poor excuse of legal representation.

I was referred to David Sussman by the most preeminent divorce lawyer in the valley who was not taking new clients. That lawyer referred David Sussman because he is a tough competitor in court and because of his knowledge of family law, ability to argue on behalf of his clients, and his credibility with the local judges.
Like a lot of divorced people, David was not my first lawyer. My first lawyer was a complete waste of time and unfortunately money. As I looked to replace my attorney, I interviewed three lawyers as to not repeat my initial mistake. In my interview with David he was direct and to the point. He immediately assessed that I did not have a divorce plan and I was not leveraging any experts. Both of which he would (and did) provide.
Some of the reviews will note that David is tough on his clients, he is, but do not view this as a negative. David has a long term strategy for the case and will require client input, participation and follow through. In short, you will need to put your ego aside and work through this process following David’s lead. Once I realized that, I supported David’s approach completely and the divorce got done in a timely manner with very favorable results!
Please ask yourself if you have divorce plan, if your lawyer or prospective lawyer knows relevant experts (in the end, it all comes down to the experts!) and is respected by the judges. If you can positively answer these questions, you’re in good shape. If on the other hand, you are still searching for that perfect combination of lawyer, please call David Sussman immediately (408) 298‑4000.

My experience with David and his office in handling my divorce was superb, and I shall explain. First of all, divorce is a life changing event, and one should focus appropriate attention in assembling the right team of lawyers, experts, and accountants that are not only tops in their field of expertise, but also, align well with your own personality and your own way of approaching problem solving, etc… In David I found an extremely intelligent lawyer, an articulate professional, a passionate human being, an ethical individual, and a tremendous support system through a very difficult time. I have no complaints about his employees as they were always incredibly responsive to my needs and requests. You have to face the fact that this is YOUR divorce, you, as the client, must be in control of your own process and must be organized if you want to save time and money. You are the quarterback calling the shots, and you must track your own legal process and move it forward. David will execute beautifully but you must be clear about what you want to accomplish (within the limits of the law), and he will provide all the guidance and advice that you need. When there was something difficult to litigate/​negotiate he would provide me with relevant cases that applied to my issues and I would do my homework to provide him with the right arguments to achieve my desired outcome. This is a team-​effort people, so don’t expect things to magically manifest themselves, you have to use your resources wisely. In terms of his billing, I never had any issues. And if I did have a concern, the matter would be immediately addressed and corrected. David is conscious about when he is «on the clock» and when he isn’t. I personally enjoyed the «off the clock» discussions and his personal style, he never forgot who the client was that hired him. He is an extremely competent and intelligent lawyer. Aggressive when you need him to be, and a delicate diplomat when required. David is also well-​regarded and respected by other attorneys, and he can hold his own against any expert. During the many settlement negotiation meetings, I was extremely pleased with how well he represented and «fought» for my interests. His intelligence and quick thinking can be extremely intimidating to opposing attorneys. I have recommended David to others, and will continue to do so… Frankly, David and his team were «fun/​positive» factors thru a difficult process. I came out of it very pleased with the results, and relieved that I chose him as my attorney.

David Sussman has been my attorney for over 10 years, you must really keep David in line when it comes to spending your money-​I am now in collections from money he spent without my approval. Thanks David, I wish this was not so

I have used David for both of my divorces and a child custody situation. I have known and worked with David now since 1993. I have found him to be honest and ethical with his clients, and ultimately has given me the insight into what I should ask for and what I should not. He guided me through the maze of therapists, consultants and court appointed referees. I consider him a wealth of knowledge in a very complex world of court disputed issues. I have recommended David to everyone that I know that needs a helping hand. His credibility and professionalism is of the highest standard.

David Sussman is very well respected as a family court lawyer and at times he is brilliant. However his performance outside the court room and his office’s lack of organization skills is applauding. I shouldn’t have to send them something more than once I shouldn’t have to give them my phone number or email address more than once.
Apart from his offices lack of performance and organization David comes off as being fair-​minded, however like most his true concern is his own pocket. Several times in my case we could have won my bought and put a quick end to my troubles, however David erred on the lets do what makes all parties happy side. As a result some 10s of thousands of dollars later, I am the only NOT happy; the ex is happy, her attorney is happy, David is happy, but I’m not.
David’s brilliance is over shadowed by his willingness to let you his client hang, so that he can make an extra buck; this line of thinking is short sided at best.
I fired David and I now refer all of my friends and family to my ex-​wives lawyer.