Witanen, E John, ATY

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My experience echoes those of the negative reviews here. There are common themes: disorganized; late; unresponsive; solely focused on keeping his billing current; and - worst of all - completely (and unnecessarily) steamrolled by his opponent. In reading all of the reviews I think there is little mystery that the "stunned" 2 most recent reviews were written by John and probably his wife - solely because he is unable to remove negative reviews from Dex as he has done with reviews on other sites.

I agreed with EVERYTHING you said... I was stunned, too, and then I thought, "These bad reviews must either be from his competition or someone that he beat in court.". I have never known him to be late; he's always prepared; his fees are very reasonable; but best of all - he knows THE LAW. I've lost count of the times I have recommended him over the years - every person came back with positive reviews. Just meet with him - you'll see...

I was stunned to read some of the bad reviews and laughed out loud at the guy who was on the receiving end of his acumen - he really does take a bite out of his opponents! LOL I am not surprised that there were people, who, after seeing him in action wanted his card. He was always prepared and on time - he kept me up to date - and this his very important - HE NEVER WASTED MY TIME OR MY MONEY! My ex was a real jerk and kept us in court forever and John took that into account and never charged me for frivolous things - as a matter of fact, HE STARTED CHARGING MY HUSBAND FOR WASTING OUR TIME! LOL Now THAT'S service! He also has a very reasonable payment plan and he'll work with you. I thought that he was great and I have recommended him at least ten times over the years and have never gotten one complaint or bad review. Everyone has always been quite impressed with him.I think maybe on further examination, the people who are probably writing these bad reviews may turn out to be opponents that he slam-dunked --- because they definitely AREN'T clients !!

1 Star only because it won't let me rate "0 Stars." There are many, many, many Divorce / Family Law attorneys in Chicago. Please call any one of them instead of Witanen! His unprofessionalism is unparallelled. Throughout my case, there was not a single appointment or Court appearance where he was not AT LEAST 20 minutes late. And, do not ever expect accesibility or professional consultation because you can never get a hold of him!! There was not a single occasion where I called him, (in a few instances when there was an emergency), and he actually ever answered his phone. In fact, it usually took at least 3 or 4 messages to even prompt a return call. Completely unacceptable. But, that's only the least of his failings. I am amazed this guy ever even passed the Bar Exam. Because of his incompetence, I am saddled with Decree obligations that no competent attorney would have ever agreed to. But, I shouldn't be surprised as his only focus throughout the relationship was keeping his billing current! Both myself and opposing counsel had to point out to him on numerous occasions key items that were missed or work-product that was sloppy and needed correction. It was so pathetic - I should have been sending HIM a bill!! This guy only cared his billings and never once put a single ounce of effort or thought into the case itself. Because of his bumbling incompetence, I have financial obligations that are beyond punitive - to the point where even the Judge questioned them. Stay away from Witanen!!! I wouldn't trust him to serve fries with my burger!

I was not surprised to read thereview by the person who said John missed appointments. He was chronically late, up to over an hour, broke his word about some aspects of representation, charged huge fees, and we were beaten todeath in court by the other attorney. Don't use this attorney EVER

You are not going to find a more honest, hard working attorney than this. He does what he says he is going to do and is a no nonsense attorney. He cares about children and has a heart. Hard to find nowadays. Would definitely recommend this attorney to any of my friends, family etc.

I really came off wrong in what I said above, I was being sarcastic, but its not like you guys are my friends & know this. The knee cap thing, ya theirs times I hate him that much. But thats his job, if I liked him it would meen he sucked. He would slap my Atty all over court, & hes defending 1 of the worst non physically abusive mothers on the planet. He had a girl fly after him into the hall asking for his card after seeing what he did to my lawyer. That was such a kick in the you know what...So again that was simply me blowing off steam with some sarcasm, & the steam is mostly towards the beast he defends. Im not defending him to any accusations, I simply dont know him in that way. But im telling you now, on his feet in court, hes good enough to get his knees cracked ;)

He does not now how to use a calender he missed several appointments which ended up taking my divorce a lot longer than it should of. He also did things that I told him not to and still charged me for it anyway. He found exactly what I told him he would find. The court date he missed was for my child support. The judge said he had been in her court 2 hours ago. Of course nobody even the judge could reach him by cell phone.

HOnestly this guy is a real ass, but im on the other side of court. If you go into court, and you want to win. Hes worth hiring, im saying this as im going against him. But ya, hes a real dick, and id break his knee caps if had the chance;)

Legal things take a while. Continuances and bills are part of the biz. Are you mad at your attorney or your ex and his/her attorney? EX(s) always try to undermine what you do. My experience:Status Updates: Not so good. Emergency Availability: Very good. He even gave me his cell# and I respected the word "Emergency".Billing: Very Fair and flexible. The retainer was $2500. Payment plans, etc are available.Aggressiveness: He’s an aggressive attorney. He’ll get the information if the other side provides it or not.Small firm, BIG caseload. You'll get info as needed. Just because you're not getting an update doesn't mean he's not working on it. Keeping you in the loop costs you MONEY. Don't blow his phone up; nobody likes a nag.Regarding the tax trouble, I would like to know how that information was obtained and question if it's true. Regardless, lots of S/E people have tax issues. It's part of running a business. I trust John and he's done a great job for me.

Legal things take a while. Continuances and bills are part of the biz. Are you mad at your attorney or your ex and his/her attorney? EX(s) always try to undermine what you do. My experience:Status Updates: Not so good. Emergency Availability: Very good. He even gave me his cell# and I respected the word "Emergency".Billing: Very Fair and flexible. The retainer was $2500. Payment plans, etc are available.Aggressiveness: He’s an aggressive attorney. He’ll get the information if the other side provides it or not.Small firm, BIG caseload. You'll get info as needed. Just because you're not getting an update doesn't mean he's not working on it. Keeping you in the loop costs you MONEY. Don't blow his phone up; nobody likes a nag.Regarding the tax trouble, I would like to know how that information was obtained and question if it's true. Regardless, lots of S/E people have tax issues. It's part of running a business. I trust John and he's done a great job for me.

THIS LAWYER IS COMPLETE FRAUD .... HE IS JUST OUT TO GET YOUR MONEY. NOT ONLY IS HE IN TAX TROUBLE BUT HE HAS COMPLETELY SCREWED UP AND TAKEN PEOPLE FOR ADVANTAGE. BEST ADVICE DO NOT GO WITH THIS LAWYER! HE IS HORRIBLE!! WHAT A SAD EXCUSE FOR A LAWYER... PLUS HE IS LEAVING TO REPRESENT MYSELF IN COURT!

Hi My Name is MS. Kaegebein.I Have called 2 times. I would like to know if there has Or NOT any payment to me.What can I do to get my ex to pay?? We have talk of pulling a lean on his car.But he can be driving some one elses too. I just want is coming to my children.Thank you Ms Dawn Kaegebein