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11/16/20 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
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You be the judge... Tino was my mother's power of attorney for the past 10 years. She passed away January 31st 2020 and to date, she remains in Tino's vault on Fort Street. My mother's final wishes were to be buried with her spouse of of 67 years (my Dad). I have repeatedly asked Tino to hand over my mother's remains but he has simply ignored all requests. Due to his lack of professionalism and possible undue influence towards my mother... he is now under investigation by the Law Society (again).
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"Di Bella suspended from Law Practice" - https://www.lawsociety.bc.ca/about-us...
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SYSTEM: 2 negative duplicate or disallowed ratings automatically removed |
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10/24/17 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
We retained the services of Mr Di Bella to handle our mother's estate. From the very beginning he was rude, arrogant, condescending. The process was drawn out SUBSTANTIALLY longer than it needed to be and the bill reflected it. He was incredibly difficult to deal with and I wouldn't EVER recommend him to anyone in the future. I wish I had seen this rating page before contacting him. Judging by the majority of the NEGATIVE reviews, they all had similar experiences with him.
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9/7/17 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
Tino called me to assist in memorializing one of his clients who had obviously become one of his friends. He shared with me some of the clients background and some of the emotional, and some of the legal entanglements and personality issues surrounding the death of his client. I fully appreciated his openness in this matter. I would not hesitate to assist Tino in meeting one of his clients final wishes should he ask.
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9/6/17 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
I read some of the comments about Mr. Di Bella and this cannot be the man I know. He is understanding, considerate, extremely knowledgeable and the only lawyer I would trust to put my interests above all else. Who are these people that have put down these negative comments? I cannot believe what they says is true!
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9/6/17 |
5 |
4 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
Tino knows his stuff. He always has his clients best interests at heart. My family has been working with Tino for years and I couldn't imagine not having him taking care of our family. Everything from our wills, to purchasing a house and in between, he is thorough and demands that other professionals be at his same level. If you want someone to advocate for you, he is it.
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9/6/17 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
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I have known/used Tino multiple times over the last 15 years or so after being put on to him by a friend of mine. Tino is extremely knowledgeable in all areas of the law put in front of him. He put wills together for my wife and I after the birth of our daughter and talked us through stuff that we never would have thought of. When we bought our first home, I told the mortgage broker that Tino would be handling the legal end of the transaction and it put me at even more ease when the broker stated "he is the most brilliant real estate attorney I have ever come in to contact with". He then went on to tell me a story about how Tino helped another client of his after a realtor lead him astray. Tino is to the point that is for sure, but I would not want anything less in an attorney. If you want someone who will tell you the blunt truth, whether you want to hear it or not, he is your guy. He does not down play anything and this is the reason I will continue to use Tino always.
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9/6/17 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
I have known and used Tino as my lawyer for over 35 years. Lawyers don't come any better. He is a brilliant advocate. His knowledge and skills with the legal system are a credit to him, his family, and his profession. Other lawyers seek his advice. He eats and breathes probate, wills and estates. Combined with an expertise in Residential Tenancy and Strata law, makes him the real deal.
Tino has received numerous awards from the legal community in B.C. and Canada. I would invite some of the negative respondents on this site to actually hire Mr. Di Bella to act on their behalf. I suspect they would have a very different view of his skills and abilities.
The fact that people who do not know him or worked with him seem to have a negative view perhaps better describes their own lack of objectivity when evaluating professionals. One must ask why there appears to be a hateful grudge against one of the best legal men in town.
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"The last day: Sharing the journey to the end of the road" - http://www.timescolonist.com/life/isl... |
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7/30/17 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
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A fellow member, called L. of a local choir used Mr. Di Bella to be his representative for health matters and end of life plans as he had no close relatives in Canada. When this friend died,I attended his memorial as arranged by Mr. Di Bella. L.'s care home had another gathering later the same day which was more in keeping with who L. was. L. would have been quite upset with the way Mr. Di Bella arranged things and handled communications with L.’s friends and caregivers. Mr. Di Bella has now used his experience with L.'s end of life to write a full page article in the Times-Colonist which sure comes across as an advertisement for his services and if anyone asked me to recommend a lawyer for these services, I would not give this lawyer’s name. The article has been added to this rating for review.
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7/16/17 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
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Tino DiBella was recommended to us by a very well known and highly respected professional in Victoria. I then of course read the reviews on this website. Most not so good. So I searched further and discovered that Tino Di Bella is extremely highly regarded and praised by his peers and the legal society of British Columbia. Mr Di Bella is extremely well versed in the law and has been involved in the actual writing of many of the laws that he represents.If you are looking for the most brutally honest, no nonsense, straight shooting, tell it like it really is lawyer, then you should hire Tino Di Bella. If you are looking for a lawyer that will coddle you and tell you only what you want to hear, then go some where else. If you want the best representation possible, then hire Tino DiBella.
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6/28/17 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
Tino is an unprofessional bully who has no concept of time or respect for other professionals. As a lawyer one would think he knows how long the estate and legal system takes to review and settle anything yet he demands results within hours or days of releasing basic (incomplete) information. When calling to set a meeting to finalize the settlement he proceeds to yell, demand and refuse standard protocols for processing. When trying to calmly explain timelines and others professionals' schedules he continues to yell at an increased volume and proceeds to threaten higher costs for the same results and then hangs up. This man is the dictionary definition of unprofessional, rude, contemptible, arrogant, condescending, inconsiderate and argumentative. Yes he is all those things and more. You'd be better off using a back alley lawyer who printed his degree on toilet paper.
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6/6/17 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
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Terribly rude and unprofessional. Talked over us at every opportunity and when my partner raised his voice to be heard, he got defensive and threatening. Very odd, unprofessional,rude, awful man.
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6/29/16 |
1 |
1 |
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In our property purchase he represented the strata. He was highly unresponsive (caused significant delays and related costs in getting our permit), highly unprofessional (rude, arrogant and hiding behind a VISA machine that had to be fed before he would release the strata approval letter when I was in his office), not apparently knowledgeable (in light of the unnecessary steps he took us through with the strata), expensive (considering much less could have done and charged for to address the strata's needs), and always armed with excuses for not getting things done. The strata is now seeking to replace him and he has been equally unresponsive when requested to hand over the files.
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3/13/15 |
1 |
1 |
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Told us that we should expect the process to take 2-3 months, then dragged it out to nearly 6 months at which time nothing had happened and we fired him. He was awful at returning calls and emails, frequently said he would call on a specific date and time and then never would and would never even apologize for it or explain why. Overall he could not care less about helping anyone all he cares about is money. He enjoys making you feel stupid and calling you names and basically making your life miserable when you are just trying to grieve your loved one and get things sorted. He should be disbarred and should be ashamed of how he treats other people. Do not use this man unless you want to have your time and money wasted.
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2/18/15 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
Mr. Di Bella cashed my retainer cheque and I never heard from him again. I hope to resolve this through a formal complaint with the Law Society.
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1/21/15 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
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1/21/15 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
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This lawyer should be disbarred. I can't believe he has any clients. The only time I was treated with respect was at the funeral and initial consultation.
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11/29/14 |
3 |
1 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
In 1983 my mother paid Tino Di Bella $60,000 which seems to have enabled her to embezzle her own children's Trust funds left to us by our father . . With the Law Society and Lawyer's insurance fund backing him up, Tino De Bella refuses to release his file which tells "how" hundreds of thousand of dollars, to be held in trust, with my mother and Supreme Court Judge, John Robert Caldwell as the Trustees, was stolen . . I am not impressed with this lawyer!
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9/28/13 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
Tino came over and got my information in February and I never heard from him again. My friend used Tino as well in January 2013 and is still waiting for call back - September 28, 2013. Went elsewhere and had work done in 3 days.
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7/4/12 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
Very poor - ignored emails, phone calls, has dragged out our estate for well over a year for no reason.
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10/10/10 |
5 |
4 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
I don't understand why anyone would complain about this excellent lawyer. If he made anyone feel stupid, it is probably because he is a law professor and likes to explain every part of the case in detail. If people don't understand his advice,then maybe they should grow a brain.
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8/12/10 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
Tino helped me with a complex estate. He knows his stuff and got the job done.
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6/17/10 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
He made me feel stupid, was late, and got on the phone twice while I meet with him. He made me feel as small as a pea. I felt my time was wasted and I never want to talk to him again. Thanks for reading.
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2/13/10 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
Tino was supposed to help us stop our 2 sisters who were fiancially and emotionally abusing our parents. He has been ignoring our emails and has been screening our phone calls. Shame on him for contributing to elderly abuse!!!
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