Law Offices of Andrea L Mersel

This law firm was a life savior! I was battling an on going year and a half divorce with a previous lawyer not part of this firm. It was going nowhere. I felt as if no one is fighting for me. My old lawyer was very nice when contacting the other party and gave them so much time. After contacts were attempted I was never told the outcome I had to do all my own follow ups to find out what was going on. Every time I spoke to my previous lawyer it seemed that it’s always make contact and meet that’s it never going anywhere.
When I decided to get a second opinion I was highly referred to Brooke Archbold. Just in the first initial meeting Brooke was already saying this should not be going on this long. She said if I were to take this we would give them till this date to comply if not we will go to court period. She was straight to the point no BS. She looked over the previous initial judgement to be agreed upon and said this is not fair. She looked over it and said let put what I think is fair. She worked with me always kept me in the know. Only called a few times to see what was going on because the other party took a long time to answer back. In all contacts Brooke was very professional and to the point. Brooke finalized my divorce in 5 months!!! And made the judgement completely fair! I wish I found her earlier!
If you’re with another lawyer or looking for one GO HERE! Thank you so much for all your hard work I won’t go anywhere else.

There are too many positive things for me to possibly say in one Unilocal review. However, I will try my best to do Andrea and her office justice in this post the best I can. If there were a 10 star option that is what I would give! This review is for Andrea Mersel, Brooke Archbold, Jackie Smith, Debora Brawley, Dustin Stokes (and anyone I may have forgotten). First of all, if you just do a little research on Andrea, she is well educated, more than most family law attorneys. She went to Berkeley Law School and attended Wharton at U of Penn– which is top in the nation. So she is smart and knows the law!
My case was not a big money case but Andrea and her team never made me feel like my case did not matter to them. It actually was the opposite. They knew they would not receive a lot from me, but fought for me and my children anyways. I truly feel they defended my case as long as they did because they felt it was the right thing to do. They do business honestly which is so rare these days with lawyers, especially divorce lawyers! They never once over-​charged me, worked with my finances, and represented me in a financially conscience way– ie they tried their hardest to settle things out of court and if we did have to go to court, then they tried to address several items at once so as not to drag things out and make their fees higher. They were always honest with me in what they felt was worth fighting and what wasn’t. Also, their communication is superb and you will never feel «left out of the loop» on your own divorce. I have heard horror stories of other attorneys over billing and taking weeks to get back to their clients. With Andrea and her team, there was rarely a time that if I emailed or called her office that I did not get a call or email back the same day.
I would say more than anything I felt RELIEF when I met Andrea and Brooke. They fought for me in ways that I could not do by myself, and also showed compassion and understanding. I have told them this and it is 110% true– they are RARE lawyers because they truly CARE. They care about their cases, no matter how big or small your case may be. They care more about what is right and fair than any money they will make from you. I mean honestly, how often can you say that about lawyers?! They saw me through the hardest storm of my life and I would not be in the place I am in now to be able move on without them. I am forever grateful for the unwavering effort they put into my case and cannot thank them enough.

Andrea is an amazing attorney that knows her business well. She always made me feel at ease, even during the stressful times we spent in court. Her staff, especially Teresa, also made me feel as if everything will be alright. They were always highly organized and thorough, a very professional group of people.

Andrea and her team has been nothing less than exceptional and professional in representing me through the toughest time of my adult life. Prior to retaining Andrea, I worked with another attorney that I didn’t feel had my best interest in mind and did not understand my situation. So when retaining another attorney, I had a lot of hesitation and very high expectations. Andrea’s office met and exceeded my expectations in every way. I was able to meet with Andrea face to face anytime I requested. We were able to go through scenarios and come up with the best approach to our case. We were also able to get on Conference calls anytime I needed (many occasions on short notice) to discuss urgent matters. She was always responsive on emails, phone calls and always had full knowledge of my case. I didn’t once feel like she was not «on-​top» of all the details-​despite knowing she probably has many other clients she’s working with at the same time.
Her staff is also very responsive, and the attention to detail, customer service and transparency with billing was nothing less than professional.
Andrea closed my case with outcomes that were legally and morally fair to both sides. I would recommend Andrea and her team to anyone without hesitation.

The experience I have had with you, Dustin and your legal team has been absolutely extraordinary. You have shown me the highest levels of professionalism, strategy and legal expertise combined with very reasonable billing and ultimately, a fair outcome. I give you my highest recommendation.

Andrea Mersel and her AMAZING staff, (Dustin and Mannish specifically) handled a VERY difficult divorce for me. They were EXTREMELY supportive, easy to get in touch with and showed great respect to me and my family. Not only was Andrea successful in the courtroom, but she was personable, humorous and genuine. I would recommend this professional office to ANYONE for ANY reason.

Andrea Mersel and her offices are incredible!!! I feel the need to address the ⁷⁄₂₀ review directly because I had the entirely opposite experience and reading that review makes me want to write paragraphs about how great these law offices are!
In an extremely emotional and sensitive matter, she represented me with ease and kindness … and gave me absolutely flawless legal advice and service. On top of her legal expertise, she held my hand through the entire process. When you are dealing with an emotional matter that has to be addressed legally (and you feel pretty badly and vulnerable already), you not only want a great attorney but a good person. That is Andrea! I could not recommend her more highly and I trust her integrity entirely. BTW, my sticky legal matter was settled out of court (in my favor) and I could not be more grateful.

Stay Away from this attorney. I retained her to represent me in a «frivolous lawsuit». The case had no merit or grounds so it should have been dismissed. Not only did she fail to work on my case but she filed for several extensions which led us up to a trial. Then she «bailed on me» just before trial because she had a bigger case come in. She filed an Ex Party hearing to be excused that I was never informed of so I couldn’t be there to tell the judge what was going on. At this hearing she lied to the judge telling him I didn’t pay her which would give her grounds to be dismissed from my case. I don’t consider $ 18,000.00 a lack of payment. I gave her a $ 5000 retainer plus I paid her $ 1500 a month and not once did I ever receive a billing even though I asked repetitively. No other attorney would substitute in or take the case over because there was too much work to do and it was too close to the trial date. In addition, she refused to hand over my files so I lost the case because I didn’t have an attorney or files to work with. The judgment against me was for $ 94,000.00. Who in the hell does that to someone. I have filed complaints against her with the Calif. Bar Association and the Attorney Generals office. I have never met a person who is so unethical and narcissistic. She has no remorse for her actions. I can only hope that our legal system will fair and unbiased and take action against her. In my opinion she should be disbarred. It this point all I can do is warn others not to work with this attorney or anyone else in her office.