2 /5 Larry Cardenas: 2 out of 5 stars at best!
I’m extremely disappointed with the recent experience I’ve had with California Consumer Attorneys (Los Angeles, CA). This is the second case I’ve had with them. The first time around, they handled a lemon law claim for a Bronco I owned—and I was blown away by their performance. Michael and his team were professional, clear, responsive, and genuinely seemed to care. I gave them a 5-star review back then, and it was well-earned.
Fast forward to today—and it’s like dealing with an entirely different firm.
This current team? Not even a fifth of the caliber. The case was bounced around to different attorneys like a hot potato until it landed with Mitch. From there, communication broke down completely. Mitch was unclear in his explanations, and his team (Cindy and Stephanie) rarely responded to emails or provided meaningful updates. When they did respond, it was vague or contradictory. I was told my settlement was for $62,000, and that I’d only be splitting a portion of that with the firm—about $10,000, I was told.
Reality? I’m getting just over $30,000. That’s less than half. After putting $20,000 down, and making over $15,000 in payments, I didn’t even break even. In fact, I ended up upside down on a lemon law buyback—something that should never happen if a case is handled properly.
When I raised my concerns, I received generic responses from management. No accountability, just excuses: “We didn’t explain that well,” or “Sorry about the delay in response.” I gave them multiple opportunities to clarify. What I got instead was the sense that they just wanted to get paid—not that they were fighting for the best result for me.
From a business kind of guy standpoint, this was unethical. If you’re not working with someone like Michael, who actually knows what he’s doing, I strongly urge you to look elsewhere. I regret trusting them with a second case. You only get one shot to do this right—and sadly, they blew it. Now, they will most likely retaliate against me by holding my settlement check longer for being honest and letting the consumers know the truth. Be careful everyone!
