After being the victim of a serious Domestic Violence situation and working with DV organisations, and the police, I was forwarded to Elnaz at Your Lawyers at Ringwood to help with a VOCAT claim. I had the worst experience ever, with Elnaz being completely incompetent at multiple steps during the VOCAT application process. I had to contact Elnaz myself on multiple occasions to determine where the application process was at. Elnaz claimed I had never sent certain supporting documents when in fact I had sent them months previously, and had reply emails from her, which I forwarded to her again. Then after believing she had all the documents she needed, I got in contact with her months later to ask how the process was going, when she stated she had never received a supporting document from one of my health professionals, and so had never put the application in. Elnaz not once contacted me to let me know this hadn’t happened! I had assumed that since she and my health professional had each other’s details, that they had ensured this document had been received, and that the application had been finalised. After these issues, and with Elnaz directly lying to me in regards to them, months worth of delays in completing the application, finally we heard back from the tribunal. Elnaz assured me once we had queried certain decisions from the tribunal, that she would accept the offer as she had verbal consent from me to do so, in September of 2020. With the COVID situation making things different, I assumed this was the correct process at the current time. I had been advised that after accepting the offer it should be between 6-8 weeks before I received the funds. Today, at the beginning of January, I sent Elnaz an email to query the significant wait time, and was told by Elnaz that she had never received the paperwork from VOCAT and hence had never even accepted the offer. I was floored! Not once had Elnaz followed up with VOCAT or myself to let me know of this critical detail, and hence again an unnecessary wait of around 3 months was needlessly added to my application. Elnaz lied to me, again, and stated she had never received the paperwork. However, a call directly to the VOCAT offices in Melbourne and Ringwood determined that this was a lie, as they had records stating they had sent the documents to her months ago. I called Yourlawyer in Ringwood to complain about the multiple issues I had suffered during this process, and was told by management that Elnaz was a senior VOCAT lawyer, and that she didn’t usually make errors like this. I stated that wasn’t good enough and I no longer wanted to speak directly with her due to her incompetence and lies, and was told that I would have to continue dealing with her directly. I was so saddened to read that Tom Russel, another Google reviewer, had had a very similar experience to mine, around a year ago. The owner stated and I quote that “This is definitely not the usual experience for our clients. We have taken steps to ensure that this will not be repeated”. Evidently not! Edited on 28/4/2021 after response from owner: You have completely ignored the crux of the issue. The response time is not the worst part of my experience. Elnaz responded to my contacting her fairly promptly, the issues include her complete lack of communication (she frequently neglected to contact me qt all) and dropping the ball multiple times which added up to 6 months of unnecessary wait time to a critical application. I would not be so quick to try to minimise my experiences and state that they are a once off, either. I contacted EACH to let them know of my experiences. They stated I was not alone in the mishandling of my case, by Yourlawyer, and specifically Elnaz. EACH has heard so many experiences similar to mine that they indeed no longer refer victims of crime to your services at all. This was a terrible response from Yourlawyer to my mistreatment at the hands of Elnaz and your management team. Do better.

Unfortunately I wouldn’t recommend Your Lawyer in any capacity regarding assistance with VOCAT matters. EACH should not be referring people to this business for Victims of crime claims. In the last almost five years it’s taken to get a result, I’ve had five separate people working on my case. When staff left the company, I was never notified of any handover and left resending over and over information they already had. It first started with Elnaz. I had to contact her on multiple occasions to determine where the application process was at. Elnaz claimed I had never sent certain supporting documents when in fact I had sent them months previously, and had reply emails from her, which I forwarded to her again. I was given deadlines from her for affidavits and rushed to complete them, upon follow up I found out they were never sent to the court for a month additional time. I had a hearing some three years after my application in October 2022 where the court admitted that they lost my application while the Magistrates court was having their carpet redone. My lawyer (who was Chloe by this time) never told me this, she never chased them. I believe that they are complacent in cases that they are not receiving copious payments for. One week after the hearing, Chloe was all of a sudden gone and I had Lena asking me what happened at trial and for documents that had already been sent to Chloe. Chloe was requested at that hearing one final medical record to be sent by December as the magistrate wanted it finalised prior to 1 January 2023 as he was retiring. It was not even requested from my doctor and I obtained this myself. It was finally sent by Lena to the court in March 2023. I appreciate that the pandemic put a lot of strain on the courts due to hearings being online but there was zero communication from YourLawyer to say “just updating you that they’re still X amount of time behind and we haven’t forgotten about you. After five years, I was awarded just $7,000 (which I haven’t even yet received) for heinous crimes against me and if I had even known from Elnaz in the very beginning the maximum was $10,000 and it would take five years to see anything I honestly don’t think I would have gone through the process. The chasing, admin and zero support through the whole thing was not worth the $1.74 per day the tribunal valued my life at. Interestingly I still haven’t received the payment but Zoe has asked for a Google review and that their involvement with my case is finished unless I wish to pursue the perpetrator for retribution but I’d need to pay them hourly for that of course.

Their website claims to be “dedicated and professional” in relation to victims of crime claims, but be aware that answering ANY questions you have will be completely ignored, and disregarded as unimportant. 3 months of emails and calls, and not ONE answer is not “dedicated” nor “professional”. It is lazy and inept. In the 3 months they had my file, my claim wasn’t even lodged at the magistrates court, (the only thing they ultimately had to do). I would honestly advise going elsewhere, as a VOCAT claim is a big step to take, and to be ignored and made to feel unimportant is how they operate- something that is gut wrenching when you are feeling vulnerable putting in a claim such as this.

Belinda Abdo who is a Senior Lawyer with YourLawer, was very easy to communicate with, she was responsive, very patient in answering my questions and providing advice in regards to my dealings with the Work Cover insurance company. She clearly explained her fees and extended offer of her expertise even beyond my direct enquiry to make sure that I was accessing all avenues possibly available to me. I have no hesitation in recommending Ms Abdo as very personable yet also very professional and thorough lawyer who clearly has her client's best interest at heart.

I would definitely recommend anyone who are looking for a lawyer with alot of emotional intelligence and professionalism. Zoe Waters was my lawyer and she really helped me with my case. From the start to the end. She helped me with my queries. Still waiting for the final pending hearing from the court. Am pretty sure, it's gonna be a positive hearing. Thanks 'YourLawyer', especially Zoe

i can not speak highly enough of jesse yip and the job she done looking after my case...we got a succesful outcome with my case and im sure we wouldnt have if it wasnt for jess.....very friendly, helpful and professional...if i ever need a lawyer in the future she will be the first person i call...thanks heaps jess

Your Lawyer has been helpful when I was going through a terrible time..I was in a vulnerable situation and the lawyer 'Tori' was understanding of my situation...I recommend Your Lawyer to anyone as they go above and beyond to help.. Thank you Tori from Your Lawyer for your help... Regards Anna

Had the pleasure of dealing with Jesse for my vocat claim, everything I needed to know and do Jesse was with me all the way and still is, made the whole process as easy as it could be under the circumstances, thanks for everything Jesse. Need help go to your lawyer, Jesse is amazing

Excellent service and guidance thru out our Visa process and application. Zoe and Daryl where both there and very helpful with any questions we had. Thank you for your assistance with our successful visa application

Your Lawyer has been thorough, kind and compassionate and responsive to my needs in traversing a difficult subject of Abusive Violence. I would recommend them highly. Thank you Lena

My mother and I were fortunate to be supported by Jesse Yip in our VOCAT application. Jesse was highly professional, totally empathetic and just lovely. Thank you Jesse

Extremely grateful understanding compassionate outstanding service

Excellent Lawyers