Complaint Review: Preston Rezaee

Preston Rezaee is a divorce attorney in Las Vegas who works at a place called "The Firm" on Charleston Blvd. I went to Mr. Rezaee when I was served with divorce papers. I met with Jacqueline Martinez his secretary, but everyone made it seem like she was the actual attorney. The Firm advertises "flat fees" on all their services but then they tack on extra charges. Even on his Facebook he talks about how he has a flat fee bankruptcy but leaves out the part about how there is an extra $300 in filing fees and more if you are married and even more if you have a business. So his "flat fee" is a bunch of crap. 

So anyway I hired him to handle my divorce for $1999. The secretary told me there would be no additional charges unless there was a motion filed. She said that was "highly unlikely". Well guess what? A motion was filed and they wanted $3500 to respond to it because it would take SO MUCH EXTRA TIME. I paid them all I had $1000 and agreed to double my monthly payments. Jacqueline the secretary said we HAD to respond immediately to the motion. When I got it in the mail it said I had 10 days to respond.

I paid the money and she said someone would call me to set up an appointment so we could draft a response. The accusations made by my ex were terrible. He is trying to take custody and make me pay child support even though I was a stay at home mom and make $11/hour and he provides no support for me. He didn't even get our daughters birthday correct on the motion since he is such a stellar parent. It should have been easy to debunk his lame motion.

I called The Firm every week after I gave them all of my savings trying to get an appointment to respond to this motion. I told the secretary that I was afraid the 10 days would pass. She told me that when Preston Rezaee was ready for me, he would call me to draft the response. The 10 days passed and Jacqueline Martinez told me that they already notified the court that they were going to respond so everything was ok. She still wanted me to wait for Preston Rezaee's phone call 3 days before the hearing. The call never came.

The day before the trial I called The Firm all upset and she told me that they already filed my response. I asked what they put in it since they didn't even TALK to me or have me approve it and she said they "just denied everything". So I asked how this lawyer was going to represent me when he had never even met me. She said he would meet me 15 minutes prior to the hearing. ANOTHER LIE.

15 minutes before the hearing comes and goes and no Preston Rezaee. I didn't know what his name was or what he looked like. It was so humiliating sitting in the hallway with my ex staring at me waiting for him to arrive. When he finally did arrive because the bailiff called him, he was an hour late. He didn't say anything to me before we entered the courtroom. He didn't have a case file or anything, just a blank legal pad.

 My ex husbands lawyer started calling me an unsavory person and an unfit parent and lied about me to the court saying that I never tried to see my child. Preston Rezaee had no response to anything this guy said because he didn't know ANYTHING about the case! Everything Preston Rezaee said in court that day I either passed to him in a note or he was BS-ing. Afterwards he told me that this hearing wasn't a big deal and it didn't even really matter. Which was a lie.

After my humiliating court experience I emailed Jacqueline Martinez at the Firm and asked her to provide me copies of what they filed and give me an invoice because I didn't want to give more money to them after I got so hosed. She never responded to my email. After 3 weeks of the runaround I contacted another attorney.

The other attorney told me that Preston Rezaee never filed anything in response to the motion. (No wonder they couldn't provide copies of it!) They also improperly filed my financial disclosure causing and when the judge scolded me about it Preston Rezaee asked that financial judgements be deferred. He requested that without my consent. I had told Jacqueline Martinez a bunch of times that I NEEDED financial support from my ex because he made money and I could barely eat. Add to that the fact that Preston Rezaee stole all of my saving and I was flat broke. Defer financial decisions? WTF?

So Preston Rezaee improperly filed the routine paperwork required by Nevada state law. Then he made sure I didn't even get 50/50 custody of my daughter which is ALL I was asking for. Then he literally asked the judge not to consider awarding me any kind of financial support. Then he never spoke to me again.

I literally met Preston Rezaee for the first time on the day of my hearing and never heard from him again. The other attorney told me that the hearing he messed up was the most important hearing in the case because that judge usually sticks with his first ruling. Now i have to file another motion to try and undo the damage Preston Rezaee did to my case.
 
You know you are a terrible lawyer when another attorney advises your client to file a complaint with the Nevada State Bar. I was nice, I did not file a complaint, I sent not one but TWO letters to Preston Rezaee asking him to refund my money since he never filed the response to the motion that I paid for him to draft and file. Even if he had filed it, what would it have said? He didn't even know me. Good thing he had his trusty secretary Jacqueline Martinez to do all of his lying for him and take all the heat. Anyway despite the fact that he did nothing for the money I paid him which was $1500 total, he didn't even RESPOND to my letters asking for a refund and telling him I did not want to go to the bar.

After I scraped together enough cash to hire a new attorney to clean up his mess, I sent another email asking him to withdraw from my case. He didn't respond to the email, but he did withdraw. When he withdrew he accused me in the motion of not meeting my financial obligations to him and saying that representing me would be a "financial burden" for him. Oh boo-boo. I quit paying him because he couldn't even respond to a simple request for an invoice or provide me with copies of the paperwork he said he filed for me. 

I am filing an ethics complaint and a fee dispute with the bar and I am disputing the charges with my bank and credit card trying to get my money back. Meanwhile I am scraping together every penny I have and living a miserable existence trying to pay the new attorney to do what I already paid Preston Rezaee to do. 

Look, I was a stay at home mom and married for 11 years. I don't do drugs or drink. I have a job and work as hard as I can for my money. But Preston Rezaee couldn't even get me a few dollars a month in financial support from my deadbeat ex who has given me NOTHING for a year while we have been separated. He couldn't get me 50/50 custody of my baby that I RAISED. There are literally crack heads living with convicted sex offenders that get to see their children more often than I do because Preston Rezaee is the worst divorce attorney ever.

This guy is irresponsible and he ruined my life. Do yourself a favor and pay a few extra dollars for a reputable attorney. Otherwise you'll just end up paying twice, lose your savings, your child and end up wondering why a person like Preston Rezaee is allowed to practice law and steal money from his victims. He is a criminal. The state of Nevada must have some pretty low standards. Even on his Facebook this guy is smoking a hookah and partying in all his photos. (But I'm an unfit parent, right?) 

What a joke. You do not want this guy representing you. Stay away from Preston Rezaee and The Firm or you will be just as sorry as I am.