The Reape-Rickett Law Firm - Valencia, CA

I had a horrible experience as a client (for over a year) of The Reape-Rickett Law Firm, specifically attorney Matthew Breddan, regarding a sensitive family law issue. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize how bad it was until I was forced to replace Matthew with a new attorney (I should have done a better job checking out the firm's reviews on Google and Yelp...ouch!). Here’s what I experienced (in my opinion): 1—Non communicative. Matthew refused to explain the family law process or his overall strategy for resolving matters; whenever I asked him for clarification, he took it personally, assuming I was questioning his judgment. He acted as though I was supposed to “sign over a blank check and trust him.” As the client, I ended up spending hundreds of hours doing my own legal research to understand my rights/options. 2—Unavailable and unresponsive. Matthew was often unavailable—even on time-sensitive issues—to answer questions or to respond to opposing counsel. As a result, issues that could have been resolved with a simple phone call or email took months and thousands of dollars in fees. Matthew claimed “that’s just how the process works.” 3—Passive. Although Matthew claims in marketing materials to be an aggressive advocate for his clients, he often took a passive approach to everything and retreated whenever opposing counsel pushed back. Sometimes I wondered if he was working for me or for the other side. 4—Took no responsibility. Whenever Matthew’s strategies didn’t produce his stated (likely) results, he was quick to blame the process, opposing counsel, the mediator, the forensic accountant or even ME as the client. 5—No creativity. Matthew’s solution to almost every issue was “just write them a big check and they will go away.” I originally hired him because I thought, with all his family law experience, he would have creative solutions to common family law issues. I was sorely mistaken and I often felt as though I would get better results from an online service like LegalZoom or Rocket Lawyer (for a fraction of the price). 6—Unsophisticated on financial issues. When it came to anything financial related—spousal support, child support, reading a balance sheet or a profit and loss statement), Matthew relied 100% on forensic accountants, which doubles the price of getting to a resolution. Toward the end of my representation, I asked Matthew to consider some of these points in regard to my last invoice and he categorically refused. I had to hire a new attorney and spent tens of thousands of dollars bringing that new attorney up to speed on my matter.