Pacific Law Center Closing its Doors

It was announced yesterday that the Pacific Law Center is no longer taking new clients, and will be closing its doors. The heavy-advertising law firm with a checkered past has concluded that the business model of taking cases on payment plans is just not working in today’s economic times. The 107 employees were apparently informed yesterday.

Most people know the firm from its heavy advertising, particularly during Padres games. It was a firm with a questionable reputation until Kerry Steigerwalt, a highly regarded criminal defense attorney, took over the firm in 2008. It was renamed Kerry Steigerwalt’s Pacific Law Center, and focused on criminal, personal injury, bankruptcy, and, as of late, loan-modification cases.

“Our model is predicated on people making payments,” Steigerwalt told the San Diego Union Tribune. “Fewer and fewer people have money to hire us, and those that do are not paying. It just became a managerial nightmare.”

Steigerwalt emphasized that the firm is not going out of business, and all current cases will be seen through to resolution. He said simply wants to “begin winding down” the law firm.

It is well known that the Pacific Law Center has had its share of detractors. A simple search on the San Diego Superior Court database will reveal a stunning number of malpractice lawsuits. And by all accounts Steigerwalt did his best to improve the level of service provided by the firm, but at the end of the day, with a faulty business model and a poor economy, it appears that he could not rehabilitate the firm’s poor reputation Source: San Diego Union Tribune