This review is for Paula Perez Law with offices at 11550 West Interstate 10, Suite 100 San Antonio, TX
“This website is an independent consumer review. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by Paula Perez Law.”
Update (January 2026) – Cease and Desist Letter
After publishing this website, I received a formal Cease and Desist letter dated December 15, 2025, from Paula Perez Law Firm, demanding that I remove this website and its contents. The letter alleges that this website improperly uses the firm’s name and branding and that certain statements contained herein are false and defamatory. I categorically disagree with those assertions. This website documents my personal experience as a former client and reflects my opinions and factual statements supported by emails, court filings, billing records, and contemporaneous notes. As stated throughout this site, where conversations are referenced without a recording or transcript, they are presented to the best of my recollection. I have also stated my willingness to correct or retract any factual error should evidence be provided demonstrating an inaccuracy.
This website was created to document my experience with Paula Perez Law.
Choosing the right law firm is a crucial decision, the wrong choice can lead to unnecessary costs, significant delays resolving your case, and added emotional stress. If you are considering hiring the Law Office of Paula Perez, I encourage you to review the information I share here carefully before making your decision.
Note: The information presented here is supported by emails, court documents, and billing statements. At times, I reference conversations with the firm’s staff. I do not have a record of those conversations. In those instances, I present what was communicated to the best of my ability from notes taken or memory. If the firm wishes to challenge any of the assertions I make in the body of this review, I will gladly retract said detail as long as they provide evidence of my mistake.
I strongly advise against hiring the services of Paula Perez law due to several issues (this is a broad description of the issues, and I provide detailed explanations further below):
- Lack of Communication: Messages often went unanswered, unread, and updates on case progress were inconsistent. When I tried to address the issues that I was having with the handling and billing of my case, Ms. Perez insisted that her time to listen to my concerns be billable.
- Failure to Follow Instructions: Despite clear guidance, my priorities and directions were overlooked, leading to unsatisfactory outcomes. I clearly instructed Ms. Perez to provide me with a list of the actual questions she would ask at trial, and even though she agreed to provide them, she did not produce them. I also asked Ms. Perez to provide me with a draft of the divorce decree on several occasions and even though she had agreed to provide it, I did not receive it as agreed.
- Unclear and Poor Billing Practices: Many items were not billed on the appropriate month and were left to accumulate over time, then all of the sudden were due as a condition to continue working my case. I was billed for a second trial preparation after the original trial date was rescheduled even though there were no significant changes to my case in the meantime and no explanation was provided.
- Missed Timelines: Requests for updates on when tasks or documents would be completed were frequently ignored, causing unnecessary delays.
- Lack of Preparation resulted, in my opinion, in a serious Tactical Oversight: In one instance, Ms. Perez lack of preparation resulted in a significant omission in a court order addressing the sale of the marital home contributing to a significant financial loss on my part.
Overview
I hired Paula Perez law to work my divorce case on or about 28 august 2023. Through the first 10 months all work was paid thru a funded retainer. Initially, the trial was set for 11 April 2024. As we approached the trial date, I requested the firm to provide me with an estimate amount of what it would take to close the case. I understood that trial would entail a significant number of billable hours, and I was attempting to fund my retainer properly. My financial situation was becoming strained. My ex-wife was not working, and I was legally compelled to pay for all expenses (household, bills, credit cards). By then, I had been forced to take a loan to pay for my wife’s legal fees ($22,000) and my credit was maxed out. With no point of reference, I made an additional deposit to my retainer even when I was still above the trigger amount for funding. This shows that I was trying, in good faith, to keep up with my legal expenses.
Ignored Request for Billing Estimates
My divorce trial was originally scheduled for April 11, 2024. As the date approached, I contacted the firm via email on 3 Mar 24, 26 Mar 24 and 3 Apr 24, requesting information on the status of my account and an estimate of the cost to conclude the case. Despite multiple requests, I never received this information. Although I fully understand that a precise amount could not be provided, asking for a ballpark amount was a completely sensible request. Her refusal to give me this information left me unable to properly plan for my financial responsibilities.
Unexplained Billing for Trial Preparation
The trial that was originally set for April 11, 2024 was cancelled and rescheduled for June 2024.
- Billing statement #961 shows that I was charged 8 hours of trial prep time for the April trial totaling $3,200.
- Billing statement #846 shows that I was then charged 10 hours of trial prep time for the 20 June 2024 Trial, totaling $4,000.
The main change from April to June was that opposing counsel requested some of my financial documents from institutions, and we chose to contest this since it was outside the discovery period. That contest work was billed separately and therefore not part of trial prep. Nothing else changed. It makes sense that Ms. Perez would need to review the case again after a two-month break. So, a charge of maybe 4 hours for the second trial preparation would have been reasonable due to such review. However, I don’t understand why Ms. Perez billed me even more hours (10) to review the preparation that had already been done and for which she had already billed me 8 hours. When I communicated my intent to ask for an explanation of charges, Ms. Perez stated that she would not engage with me to address my concerns.
Significant Billing Issues
After the divorce trial I was told to expect a bill for the trial as well as a bill for previously unbilled work. I was under the assumption that all work had been billed on a timely manner. However, that was not the case. Bill 00846 showed that Ms. Perez’ office had failed to bill me 23 different line items from Aug 23’ to March 24’ (8 months!). These charges totaled $11,710. That amount combined with the recent charges for the trial added to $22,453 that were now due. Remember, I had been trying to get Ms. Perez to give me an estimate of what it would take to close my case, and not only did she not provide the estimate, but they had also not billed me over 11K at the appropriate time. Incredibly, it gets worst. I communicated with Ms. Perez’ team to reach a payment agreement. The drafting of this agreement was painful as they continue to present me with drafts that did not represent the terms that had been discussed via phone call. Of course, every call and every attempt to draft an agreement were billed even though it was Ms. Perez’ paralegal who could not draft the language I understood to had been agreed. Further, the agreement was for Ms. Perez to continue working my case to a resolution while I made payments. However, my reading of billable time, shows that Ms. Perez did not work on my case until she had received full payment. This is not what was agreed. Understand that at no point my intent was not to pay, but for the firm to admit that their oversight in billing me properly had in part contributed to me been overextended and unable to come up with the funds in the short time they demanded.
This whole situation was bad enough, but it was actually worst, once I paid the $22.453, I was informed that they had conducted a second review and that there were more items that were not billed, nor on their appropriate month nor in the first review. There were now an additional 4-line items not billed totaling $6,600.
Needless to say, the billing practices, in my experience, raised serious concerns. They had failed to bill me $18,310 and they would not work my case until that balance was paid even thought there were pressing issues with the sale of the house which was costing me a significant amount of money while it remained unsolved. I address this problem further below.
Omission on House Sale Order
One of the central issues in the divorce was the sale of the marital home, the primary asset in the marriage. The opposing party used delay tactics, prompting us to petition the court to order the sale. Ms. Perez was effective in moving the case forward up to the hearing. However, in my opinion, there was a significant oversight on her part.
During the hearing, the court instructed us to draft the terms of an agreement for the property’s sale. As someone unfamiliar with this process, I relied on Ms. Perez’s experience to guide me. Unfortunately, she did not provide a checklist or outline of key provisions typically included in such agreements—something I believe should be standard practice, especially given how common real estate sales are in divorce proceedings. Moreso, that was one of the primary issues to be addressed at the hearing in the first place.
Instead, we had to come up with terms on the spot. Most of the agreement reflected my own suggestions, made in the moment. Critically, we failed to include a definition of what would constitute an acceptable offer vs. asking price—terms both parties would be required to accept. This omission proved costly. My ex-wife later refused to sell, even as the market declined, and I had no legal recourse to force her to accept an offer since the offers we were receiving were below asking price.
As a result, we had to return to court months later to establish sale criteria, incurring thousands in additional legal fees. By the time the house finally sold the market had declined and I had lost an estimated $50,000 (This figure is an estimate based on market conditions and is not presented as a precise calculation). Although, Ms. Perez was obviously not responsible for my ex-wife refusal to sell nor for market downturns, not establishing sale criteria was a serious mistake and her lack of preparation in this instance proved extremely costly to me. Again, the sale of a house is a common issue during a divorce, and a lawyer should be prepared to redact an order that covers all critical aspects, it shouldn’t be something left to a 20-minute brainstorm on the courthouse’s halls.
Failed to Provide Trial Questions as I Requested
My case involved a considerable number of financial statements and other documents. This produced a large number of exhibits that would be shown during trial. There were also key things that we wanted to establish and argue. As such, as part of trial prep, I requested Ms. Perez to provide me with a list of the questions that would be asked during examination. This was to ensure all we wanted to address would be covered and to match the appropriate exhibit to the question. Ms. Perez agreed to provide these questions to me prior to trial but she never produced them. As a result, I feel the questioning at the trial to be somewhat fumbled, and we possibly failed to drive home a few points effectively during examination.
Cancelled Meeting
I had a meeting scheduled with Ms. Perez on 26 August 24. This was to address the billing issues and lack of progress. I felt I needed a person-to-person meeting as the communication via email was getting us nowhere. Ms. Perez got tied up and could not make the meeting, which is understandable, things happen. However, the proposed fix was to reschedule the meeting for 21 days in the future which I found to be unreasonable given I hadn’t missed the meeting, Ms. Perez did.
Failed to provide me with a draft of the divorce decree
A significant point of contention was Ms. Perez’ failure to provide me with a working draft of the divorce decree. The workflow to produce the divorce decree was for Ms. Perez to draft the decree and submit it to opposing counsel for review. I instructed Ms. Perez to provide me with a draft prior to submission to opposing counsel for my review and again after it was submitted to opposing counsel. Again, at a video call meeting, I was told the draft would be provided. I did not receive it, even after several requests and assurances that it was coming my way. This was extremely frustrating as all I wanted was to ensure is that the parts that were already drafted were adequately prepared, even if there was work still to be done.
This issue came to a head when I showed to a follow up hearing. First, Ms. Perez was surprised to see me at the hearing even thought I had informed her via email that I would be in attendance, showing that my emails were not been read. When I asked her in person where was the draft for the decree I has promised, Ms. Perez stated not less than three times that she had instructed the paralegal to send it to me. She was sure of it. Yet, I had not received it. I demanded it on the spot, and she finally sent it to me stating then that she had forgotten she had told the paralegal to not send it to me. At that point I felt she didn’t have a good grasp on what was going on with my case. Her argument was that there were still items that needed clarification from the court but upon the most cursory review I came up with misspellings of names, but worst, complete sections on settlements missing and the language for the section addressing my military retirement did not comply with specific language required by the Defense Finance Accounting Service. Clearly, they had done little to no work in drafting the decree beyond the first draft.
Billed to tell paralegal that form was in inbox
Incredibly, in one instance I was billed for a phone call from the paralegal who was looking for my reply on a message. I advised the paralegal to check the inbox as I had already replied to that message the day prior. I’m not sure why I had to pay to tell the paralegal to check her inbox.
The last straw
As it was it, the drafting of the decree dragged on. The divorce trial was in June of 24 and it was now January of 25 and I still didn’t have a decree. Without it I could not take action on my retirement account which was costing me money. I made several requests inquiring about its status and an estimated date for its completion and Ms. Perez’ office refused to give me a timeline for completion. I was in limbo. In February 25, I asked for and updated invoice and was informed that there was no new invoice since December. Namely, they had done zero work on my case since then. The last time billing shows any interaction between Ms. Perez and opposing counsel was 9 September 24! As I felt the lack of progress was excessive at this point and given all the other issues I decided to terminate Ms. Perez service. Even though I knew it would take time and further expense to hire another lawyer this late in the process it was preferable to continue in a complete state of disregard. As it was, it would not be until June of 25, a year after my divorce that I finally got my decree done, albeit with another lawyer.
Last comments
These are my experiences working with Ms. Perez. I’ve listed some significant issues as well as others that could be considered minor. My purpose was to give a full picture for any prospective client considering her services. I was not expecting nor demanding perfection. Divorce cases are fluid, and the opposing party is usually not cooperating which complicates things. Admittedly, there were times, especially early on where I found Ms. Perez to be a capable counsel and I wish that had carried throughout the case. However, when there were issues, they were significant and resulted in undue loses in my finances, time, and peace of mind. I leave you with my experience for you to carefully evaluate if Ms. Perez’ services are a good fit for your circumstances.