When I dealt with the dubious restraining order from the racist, repulsive head librarian Natalie Lum, I attempted an attorney search via Legal Match. (note: being that restraining orders are civil cases, defendants in those cases are not eligible for assistance from the public defender office) I wrote a brief outline for my case, and Steve Cedillos contacted me. Being that I was desperate for help with a dubious case with a court case coming up in such a short time, I accepted Cedillos's help. I regret not doing my due diligence before signing with him.
Anyways, here' what I wrote on my Yelp Review
https://www.yelp.com/biz/law-offices-of-steve-cedillos-honolulu
When I had a TRO case in which the petitioner wanted me to censor a blog post about her racist comments, I needed serious, aggressive representation. Instead, this lawyer pressured me to compromise and wanted me to agree to a non-disclosure in exchange for the TRO petitioner to drop charges. I wish I had a lawyer that would've challenged my opponent more aggressively as well as more aggressively defended my right to keep my blog post up. He claimed it would be too hard to overcome the long list of exaggerations in the TRO petition. He claimed that I was making it harder for myself by standing my ground. He doesn't want to do the hard aggressive representation at the risk of possible loss. He doesn't understand that hard-fought representation (even at a risk of possible loss) is more preserving of his client's dignity than a non-disclosure agreement. He doesn't understand the psychological boost of the spirit of "when you go down, you go down fighting!" He doesn't understand how psychologically harmful non-disclosure agreements are to people who have been victimized by false charges. He doesn't understand how psychologically harmful it is to be silenced! He is a waste of $1500 for which I am still in debt for!
information about the incident at https://pwegesen.wixsite.com/kalakaua-ms-library/the-negative-experiences
and https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2020/08/restrain-this.html
This lawyer wanted me to submit to non-disclosure about a public school employee who was racist towards Micronesians because he doesn't take the issue of racism seriously! In court, he also asked me to remove my mask at a time before the covid vaccine shot was available! This lawyer is 100% pure slime and deserves eternal hatred!
1/5/2021Got me a deal in court but very unprofessional and lazy compared to how much I paid him. $1500 couldn't convince him to give me the time of day. He spent probably 3 hours on my case maximum and I'm still ironing out the issues by myself because he doesn't wanna do any of the work. Too bad I signed a contract before he showed me that side of him so it was already too late
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3/7/2019To be honest I really don't know where to begin. When I hired Steve, I found him through the some internet choices and decided to go with him which I totally REGRET.
My case: my visitations with my 8 year old daughter from our divorce decree was Mondays, Wednesdays and one overnight on the weekend. My ex has been refusing to drop off my daughter to me on Mondays so I took to court since she was already not following their order. It was her decision not because I'm a horrible guy. abuse or neglect or on drugs just a dad wanting to spend lots of time with his daughter.
I hired steve to help rectify the situation open the courts eyes, slap her on the wrist and have her follow the court order.
Well, instead I got a very unmotivated and someone who took a Mickey Mouse approach to the legal system. (Sorry Mickey I'm sure you would've done a much better job)
I informed him of my situation and intentions. During the first court hearing he was asking my questions that he should have know had he read the divorce decree I gave him. On another court date both my ex and I had to take the stand. Her attorney did what she had to do and when it got time to cross examine my ex he looks at me like if to say...ok now what! I felt horrible as I could not just tell him what to say as that's what I was paying him for to represent me in which he absolutely failed at.
He had nothing to say or add would just say I having nothing more...hahaha I got crossed examined for 20 minutes or more hers lasted maybe four minutes...what a joke
The judge needed time to make his decision and when it came down on Feb 12. my ex got it from her attorney right away and refuse to share with me. So I contacted steve for my copy in which I've yet to receive a hard copy. What he sent me was a forwarded email from my ex's attorney on February 26...WOW
Do to his lack of becoming an attorney and providing me the outcome ASAP. I missed an important outing with my daughter...her birthday which the court granted me the visitation on Federal Holidays but since I didn't have the order but my ex did and she knew I didn't have it nor did i know what was on it. I also lost my Monday go figure....
I rated one star because no other option but if I could rate no starts I would.
My advise to you...RUN!
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11/23/2013First to ReviewWARNING: Hawaii Attorney Steve Cedillos is a crook, he has been public reprimanded by the Hawaii Disciplinary Board for legal misconduct on Multiple Occasions.
See links: odchawaii.com/uploads/Or…
archives.starbulletin.co…
This "attorney" if I can still call him that is a crook that will take your money and leave you hanging. I hired this guy to represent me on a family court matter back in 2000, he collected a flat fee and did nothing with my case. I ended up writing my own motions, he did not write a single document, or letter on my behalf. In addition, he was late to court, on a few occasions he did not even show up at all, and I was forced to represent myself. Because of his negligence, my case had disastrous results. So, in desperation, I hired another attorney to represent me, and when I tried to retrieve my legal files which I worked on myself, he tried to extort money from me: He refused to return my files to me until I handed him an additional $500 in cash.
I was so desperate to retrieve my files to hand over to my new attorney, I did as I was told and gave him the $500 even though I had already paid him the entire flat fee in advance. When I'm telling you this guy did not lift a single finger to assist me on my case...It's the God Honest TRUTH. I handed my files over to my new attorney and when I told him what Steve Cedillos did, my attorney explained that withholding files from client was illegal.
DO NOT HIRE THIS CONMAN, May be hard to believe but there are other attorneys that actually possess integrity, this guy is completely devoid of it. It took years of pro bono work by my new attorneys to undo the catastrophic damage he created.
STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM HIM AND TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY IF YOU WANT TO AVOID TROUBLE AND HEARTACHE.
HE CANNOT BE TRUSTED.
and from the article cited in the review
http://archives.starbulletin.com/2002/07/03/business/bizbriefs.html
Attorney reprimanded for shoddy work
A Honolulu attorney was reprimanded by the Hawaii Supreme Court's disciplinary board yesterday for poorly representing two of his clients.
The board imposed a public reprimand against attorney Steve Cedillos for "failing to act with reasonable diligence in representing two clients."
Cedillos, 51, twice failed to appear as scheduled in District Court on behalf of a client who retained Cedillos to contest a speeding ticket. As a result a default judgment was entered against the client, the disciplinary board said.
In the second case, Cedillos showed up late for a trail in a paternity case and the client had to represent himself, officials said.
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JUNE 2021 UPDATE: here's my email to Steve Cedillos
The blog & website about Miss Lum has been up again for 6 months (much longer than it was up originally before the court appearance), and I compiled the videos I originally posted about Lum into 1 half-hour video. It's been up for 3 months (also a longer period than was before the court appearance). Yet Miss Lum is still alive & well, I even saw on Instagram earlier this month, a photo appearance of her in front of the school's campus while they had a drive-by graduation event! SO much for her "being afraid" of people knowing she's a racist!
I also wanted to add that I hired you for the specific purpose of fighting against Lum's attempt at censoring my blogs & videos about her. That was the only reason why I hired you. If the TRO only said "stay away from me, don't contact me", I would've went to court solo and say "I agree to stay away and not contact". I wanted a lawyer ready for a fight against a government employee (Lum) who wanted to censor my grievances towards government. I mentioned that as an idea in 50+page document that I sent to you! You should've used that as inspiration for a legal battle!You claimed I was "making it hard for yourself" by refusing to give in to her censorship demands. Excuse me, "hard for myself"? You claimed it would be too hard to challenge Lum's TRO petition. Excuse me, too hard? Hello, I hired you to do hard stuff! That's the whole point of hiring you! I should've fired you on the spot when you suggested that I give in! You took advantage of my unearned loyalty, you are laughing in luxury while I'm still in debt paying off your $1578. If you had any decency, you will give me a refund and make your check payable to "Pablo Wegesend" and send it to (item redacted). After all, you helped my opponent more than you helped me.Lum's TRO had NOTHING to do with her safety, it was all about censorship! You helped her with that goal instead of going to battle on my behalf. What you did is nearly unforgiveable.Lum's attempt at censorship was all about inflicting psychological torture. The same is true with dictators who censor opposition. It is all about psychological torture. Yet, you helped Lum commit psychological torture me by suggesting I censor my blogs and videos.Look, if I wanted to psychologically torture someone, I wouldn't bother with insults like "you sh**-eating f***a" or "you ugly whore" because they don't cause 1% of the psychological torture that a non-disclosure agreement causes. Miss Lum knows that, that's the whole point of the TRO!You claim that I'm making it hard for myself by refusing to censor my blogs and videos. But in the long run, I really made it hard for myself by giving in to your demands to agree to censor my blogs and videos! I made it hard for myself by not firing you on the spot!You said by refusing to censor myself, I'm making it hard to find another job. I say "F--- a Job!"But you know what? I'm ready for Round 2 with Miss Lum! I demand a Round 2! The world needs a Round 2! Racial Justice needs a Round 2! Anti-censorship demands a Round 2! Government Transparency demands a Round 2!I give you 100% permission to tell Lum's lawyer that I have put the blogs and videos back up! This time, I will be much more assertive in screening out attorneys who lack a passion for a tough fight against tough opponents. I will be much more assertive in screening out attorneys who lack a bloodlust (metaphorically of course) and a killer instinctYou suggested that I write a positive Yelp Review. But when I looked at Yelp, I noticed your former clients faced the same problem I did with you: your unwillingness to be prepared for battle. Some even found lawyers that did pro bono work for them to undo the damage you done with your lackluster representation. I really wished I looked at Yelp before hiring you!Also disturbing is that while in court, while I was asking you a question, you responded by telling me to take my mask off. Remember, we were in a pandemic and vaccines weren't yet available. Were you trying to get me killed?So right now, I am permanently withdrawing all expressions of gratitude that I expressed towards you!And unless you respond, this will be my last message to you! You won't need to file a restraining order, since I'm declaring that I'm staying at least 6 feet away from you and I will only contact you if you reply to this message.Sincerely,Pablo Wegesend
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JUNE 2022 UPDATE: (addition to my Yelp Review)
Today, I found out what a SLAPP suit is - SLAPP = Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation. These are lawsuits meant to silence whistleblowers. A former supervisor put a TRO against me to silence me because I pointed out that co-worker (Natalie Lum) was making racist remarks about Micronesians. In other words, it was a SLAPP suit. I wanted a lawyer who would AGGRESSIVELY DEFEND my right to keep my blog post up!
Steve Cedillos said that it was unlikely the judge wouldn't grant my opponent's request to take my blog post down. However, Steve Cedillos did a total 180 on me on the court date, pressuring me to agree to take the blog post and video down. THAT IS NOT WHAT I HIRED AN ATTORNEY FOR. I HIRED SOMEONE TO AGGRESSIVELY DEFEND MY RIGHT TO BE A WHISTLEBLOWER! Steve Cedillos did a bait & switch, promise to fight for me, yet on court date, pressure me to surrender! What he should've told me that Lum's TRO was a SLAPP and that he would FIGHT AGAINST GREAT ODDS to preserve my right to keep my blog post up! I WANTED AN ATTORNEY THAT LOVES TOUGH FIGHTS AGAINST TOUGH OPPONENTS! Steve Cedillos advertises himself to be that, but on court dates, he pressured me to surrender! I SHOULD'VE FIRED HIM ON THE SPOT! I regret not doing that! He took advantage of my excessive generosity and my reluctance to make quick decisions on the spot! HE should now do the honorable thing and give me a refund. Give me back my $1578 for which I'm still on debt for!
And don't give me this "you need psychological help", because it is sleazy attorneys like Steve Cedillos that need psychological help.
And also this, I sent him a 50+ page PDF response to my opponent, he probably didn't even read, he could've used some ideas (like my mentioning I had the right to express grievance towards government (which my opponent worked for) to launch an aggressive defense. But judging from other people's Yelp Reviews (which I wish I was aware of before hiring him), I now figure he didn't read my 50+ page PDF response to my opponent because he's lazy like the other Yelp reviewers said.
At this point, I hate this attorney more than the former co-worker who launched a SLAPP suit on me!
To learn more about what a SLAPP is
anti-slapp.org/what-is-a…
PS: before picking this lawyer (who made the initial contact via Legal Match), I just assumed all lawyers are ready to launch aggressive attacks on opponents like how Camille Vasquez aggressively questioned Amber Heard. Sadly, Steve Cedillos is nothing like that! He's a surrender pansy! From now on, I will demand that any attorney I hire will be in the mold of Camille Vasquez instead of surrender pansies like Steve Cedillos!
On the court date, he said that my keeping my blog post up is "making it hard for yourself", DAMMIT, I HIRED YOU TO DO HARD STUFF! What's the point of charging $1578 if you don't want to do hard stuff? If you can't be like Camille Vasquez and embrace the tough fights, then quit being an attorney! You're supposed to boost your client's energy for the tough fights, not ask them to surrender! Otherwise, you are more deadly to your client's mental health than your client's initial opponent!
