YIKES! What more can I say!

Mr. Kilpatrick is rude and confrontational, as well as unprofessional with opposing parties. I can't speak as to how he treats his own clients, but I can speak about my own observations relative to his representation of the other party. Record evidence from his former paralegal states that if you're not his favorite client, then your case doesn't get top priority. Clearly my ex isn't his favorite client, yet he keeps taking his money! Record evidence will show that they all lay in the same bed downtown (figure of speech) when paralegals and other office staff attend functions together off hours, like swanky baby showers, and chat about cases over tea and mint juleps! I call this a borderline breach of confidentiality! Record evidence will show that his office staff admitted that they couldn't get their own client to cooperate which stalls the case unnecessarily, yet they keep taking his money despite the fact that any retainer agreement allows for an attorney to withdraw from service when a client isn't cooperating! Observing him as the attorney of record for the opposing party, I've witnessed his lack of preparation or knowledge of case specifics! Even his former paralegal stated that he rarely prepares for cases until the morning of on his way inside the courtroom (I know this is considered hearsay), but I can verify this to be true because when he showed up to court on January 16, he claimed he hadn't seen a document that was clearly filed with the courts on January 10th and available for him to review! I certainly had my copy of said document! I've observed how he routinely seeks or is granted continuances either because his client hasn't cooperated or because he has a dentist appointment or because he hadn't had an opportunity to review documents which delays proceedings and ultimately drums up more lawyer fees and court costs. His services were retained by my ex on or about September 2017 for an initial $5,000 retainer! 2.4 years later, I'll bet that bill is nearing $15,000 for my ex who never stood a chance at having his request for order granted in the first place, yet Kilpatrick is still milking the cow for his services by taking money away from the minor children because the ex clearly must be paying Kilpatrick for his services because I'm sure he's not working for free, yet his client doesn't voluntarily pay his child support claiming he's not working! I'm confused how the ex can afford one of Bakersfield's most expensive family law attorneys, but can't pay his child support. Shame on Kilpatrick for taking this money from the children! I'd love to be a fly on the wall to find out what legal advice he's given to this client to make him spend so much money on a losing battle! Just do a public records search of the Kern County Superior Court, paying special attention to the criminal division, and see what other dirty deeds he's been accused of, along with a public records search of the California State Bar. You'll quickly learn that Michael Kilpatrick's shenanigans and scrapes with the law have been tolerated or excused within the justice system for whatever reason! When I went to law school, I was told lawyers and judges were held to a higher standard. If Michael Kilpatrick is an example of that higher standard, God help us all!

terrifying experience. many times they were unprofessional. i lost alot to this let alone the time with my boys. this guy did very little to try to help me. i cant believe this system and the people who work for it

Michael is the best in the business! His service is outstanding and worth every penny! He helped me get sole legal and physical custody of my two little ones. Don't go at it alone, get a lawyer, and not any lawyer go with the best! Go with Michael Kilpatrick.

This attorney and his office are terrible. They were retained four years ago for what was supposed to be a simple divorce. After months turning into years of calls not being returned, ball being dropped (on their end), we found out they had fired their paralegal and lost our paperwork so we had to start over. Now that we have re-done everything, they are still dragging their feet and not returning calls, causing us to go down there in person to get anything done (along with dealing with their office and their poor attitudes). It was a waste of money. If we would have filed for our divorce ourself, we would be divorced already instead of still dealing with this four years later and dealing with an office that never returns calls or follows through with anything.

Was subpoenaed at my work to be a witness for Mr. Kilpatrick's client.... Have absolutely NO idea who this person, people, or situation is. I call the office and explain to them that this must be a mistake I don't have a clue what this could be about or who their client is. Told they had to speak to the client and would get back to me. That never happened and it took 3 more phone calls, staff telling me that their client would contact me. When I asked how when they don't know me? I was told they gave my number to said client! If I'm a witness for your client and you're telling me this person gave you my information why would you need to give them my number? The whole situation was absurd. I was finally told I don't need to be in court which is TOMORROW morning and sorry for the mix up. Wow real winners there.

I can't believe he still has a business. I understand when your fighting for someone you interrogate the other party, but this man was very rude claiming my mother wasn't a good mother that she enabled her child and was just spitting out very rude comments. Honestly would never recommend someone like this. It's your job to fight for someone not harass the party.

If I could give zero stars, I would. Don’t walk, RUN from this law office (Michael Kilpatrick in particular). I hired this man for a simple family court matter in 2015. He confidently told me it would take no more than 90 days start to finish. It took 2 and 1/2 YEARS and almost double his original retainer (which I was told would be more than enough to satisfy this case). Incompetence at its finest. I wasn’t even going to leave this review because I prefer to never have to think about this experience but it seems like every time he hires a new book keeper I get a new notice that I have a past due balance (which I don’t!). And I have to go out of my way to make sure I’m not sent to collections for ERRONEOUS BILLING!! How many other people is he just randomly sending bills to and they pay them without a second glance??? Do not hire this firm. You will regret it.

I walked into his office a scared woman that just left an abusive relationship. My ex was trying to take my baby from me. He believed me from day one and did everything he possibly could to help. I’ve read bad reviews but honestly would recommend him. I did my job in providing everything he needed to win my case and we won. People don’t understand that just cause you pay attorneys a lot of money that they do everything. NO. You have to do the work as well. I spent weeks gathering as much evidence to build my case and he did all the fighting. Such a sweet professional man. Total bulldog in the courtroom.

Michael got me custody of my kid, as a man in California this is next to impossible, anyone going through a divorce needs to go see him. Tells it like it is and won't waste your time or money

The only reason this gets one star is because you can't post without giving one.
I ardently caution anyone against using Michael Kilpatrick in any legal capacity. Through a long and protracted divorce proceeding, Mr. Kilpatrick had me sign a support stipulation which he evidently didn’t review very well. Then, after realizing he hadn’t filed said stipulation, he drafted one for filing that ultimately cost me $25,000 from funds that were inherited by me. These funds should have been excluded from support calculations. Due to his negligence and inability to review documents in a timely manner, the property and asset settlement reached that finalized the divorce proceeding was almost retracted. Further, his actions just prior to the hearing came very close to having the same effect. Not knowing there was a settlement agreement between my ex-wife an me, Mr. Kilpatrick wandered down the hall uttering profanities at her. This man is lazy, he lies, he is profane, negligent and cavalier about executing anything in a timely manner. I have recently been apprised of a case where Mr. Kilpatrick failed to prevail in securing a fair support order for one of his clients against someone who was self-represented (No attorney!). Look elsewhere for family law representation. You WILL NOT get it from Michael Kilpatrick.

Here’s a warning I never got !Stay as far away from Michael Kilpatrick and Assoc as possible . 5 years and $12000 dollars later I fired him . Hired a real lawyer and was divorced in 3 months

He is the worst of the worst. He retained 5k from me. I met him outside my court hearing & he prayed upon me knowing I needed help with the corrupt system as a single father all odds against me. I did better representing myself. After the 5k was up he did not tell me & I didnt know because nothing happened except he kept letting the other attorney extend each hearing while my son was in danger of his drug addict mom. My 2 year old had meth in his system and he didnt not care. All he cared about was extending more hearings so he could charge me more. He literally is a crook in every form. I ended up hiring a new attorney who got me full custody within two months. While Kilpatrick did nothing in a year. Then he sent me to collections bringing down my credit score significantly because he charged me another 6k without telling me for nothing.

Horrible attorney. We hired him for a retainer fee of $5,000 2 years ago and he's already billed for another $2,000 and we are in no better situation than when we were the day we hired him. Where has the money gone? Huh? I would run so fast from hiring this crook.

After first meeting felt real confident then he tells me we got this and how he doesnt like the other partys attorney.{P.E.B.}..and she doesnt have a leg to stand on that its a cut and dry case.....then after almost a year of going to court once a month and him telling me the other party postponed and him flirting with the other attorney and asking her where they were going to lunch after he would tell me his office will call with the next date I was starting to lose hope and then I talked to the other party and she asked why I havent been showing up? Come to find out her attorney and mine where stringing us along for over a year draining us dry...So from my easy cut and dry case he says we should just drop it because its gone on to long ...He said there was nothing he could do and proceeded to go to lunch again with the other partys attorney{P.E.B.} that dressed like she should be working on UNION AVE.....and yes her attorney {P.E.B.} is the one who got caught shoplifting at LASSENS stealing a bunch of vitamins..And the same one that has her boyfriend who is married BTW post on her google reviews...So after I was strung around to top it all off I get a $7000.00 bill to finish it all off...

Top notch attorney truly gets the job done the right way hands down

I strongly recommend not using Mr. Kilpatrick for your child. He was extremely confident in our first consultation which led to me hiring him. The first court visit he was in and out of the room where they had to prolong my court time. When it was time he didn’t fight for my interests at all. He just agreed with what the judge was saying which was very disappointing. After that the mother again was leaving out of state and I wanted to get something to make sure she could not take my child. I visited Mr. Kilpatrick’s staff (which was frequently changing) who represented him. I met with three different lawyers representing him which when I put the deposit down I was expecting him to represent me or at least a stable lawyer he employed. When me and the other party agreed on terms for our child it took them a month just to get back to me so I could stop by and speak with someone to get the papers drawn up. I called multiple times and they would state after this wait that they didn’t know what I was talking about and they would get back to me. I would never hear from them. I could go on and on about the bad customer service and the bad representation I had. But, I’ll leave it there. This has been going on with him for over a year so it’s not an emotional rant. I have regretted using Mr. Kilpatrick and I hope this helps someone else to avoid using him because I’ve most definitely regretted it. As soon as my deposit is used I’ll be finding another lawyer ASAP.

I have retained Mr. Kilpatrick since 2012 and he has always gotten me exactly what I have asked for in court.

Mr. Kilpatrick comes off very confident and leads you to believe he is the best attorney out there in his field. However, I disagree. He could care less about any of our concerns, told us everything we wanted to hear. Told us how he was gonna go after the other party.... please he was to busy trying to flirt with the other parties attorney. Took our money and did nothing, still continued to bill us.. sorry attorney don't fall for it. There's got to be someone better!!!!!

Says he Will take care of you but he is Not honest. Just cares about your money. Will drag the case for as long as possible.

Best and fastest attorney in Kern County got me everything I wanted plus more than expected and continues providing great service when I need him.... Definitely a bulldog and will fight for you

Sucks they only take advantage of your needs and do not do anything to help you. They prolonged the process so they can get more and more of your hard earned cash. They suck.