Pepping, Balk, Kincaid & Olson Ltd. - Silvis (IL)

1 /5 David Clevenger: My grandfather has used used this attorney for years. He really likes them. My experience with them was the exact opposite. He wanted to make a few changes to his will, which they had already drafted for him years ago. My grandfather fell ill and we werent sure he had much time. We called and had a meeting over the phone and explained the situation to the attorney. He asked for a week. After a week and my grandfathers condition declining, we called and asked for an update...it took another 3 weeks and one of us calling daily. Thank God my grandfather pulled through, or he would have been unable to make the changes he needed. Once in the office, they were pleasant to work with, but communication and timeliness are extremely important when dealing with legal matters. You can tell by their generic response to all the negative comments that they dont genuinely care about their customers. My advice, find a different attorney, one that values their clients time and needs and not just their money.

5 /5 Amber Page: I had one of the most amazing experiences at a lawyers. When to do a will and estate planning. Something I know nothing about.Mrs. Kincaid was very thorough. She made things easy to understand. She said no question is a dumb question. She made us feel at ease. Knowing everything is taken care of and everything we wanted was included, nothing was forgotten. I highly recommend them to anyone!

1 /5 Amanda K: If I could rate less than one, I would. I strongly caution anyone considering working with Katherine Varlas-Teel. I hired her in March 2023 to handle my divorce, and what followed was a year-long experience of neglect, dishonesty, and unprofessional conduct. Despite being hired in early 2023, she didn’t begin actively working on my case until March 2024. When I hired her, she had mentioned she was busy and wouldn’t get to my case until at latest August 2023. That should have been my first red flag. In that year, she continued attending status hearings, billing my account, and leaving me in the dark about the progress (or lack thereof) of my case. For essentially a full year, I received no invoices, despite multiple requests, which I started requesting I believe in September 2023. I later learned that her assistant, Sally, had lied about attempting to locate and serve my ex-husband before March 2024, a lie that Katherine herself confirmed. When I expressed concern over the lack of communication, missing invoices, and confusion around the handling of my case, Katherine refused to address these issues in writing and insisted on phone calls (likely to avoid a paper trail). To make matters worse, the divorce decree had to be amended two other times due to her repeated oversights, and she attempted to charge me for the time spent correcting her own mistakes (which came out to the remainder of my retainer and then some). I escalated the issue to her partner, Steven Balk, who was equally dismissive and only took my call after I followed up ten minutes past our scheduled time. This experience was stressful, disheartening, and a complete betrayal of trust during one of the most difficult times in my life. Thankfully, I later found a competent and compassionate attorney who handled my QDROs and restored my faith in the legal system. This is my personal experience, and I share it in hopes that others can make more informed decisions. Clients deserve honesty, diligence, and respect—none of which I received here.

5 /5 Jaimes Acri: Attorney Teel was fantastic! She was patient, caring and listened to our side of the situation. She then had the hole thing settled out of court and false charges against my wife and I terminated. Thank you Kate!

1 /5 AC Q: DISHONEST AND UNTRUSTWORTHY! Balk told me he would seek legal fees from the other party in my case which is typical for my situation. Then he advised me to accept a settlement without informing me my legal fees would not be included as part of the settlement. So he charged me $1000 to seek $800 in damages. I got better results from representing myself for free in subsequent filings.