Bruning & Associates - Crystal Lake, Illinois

Patricia M. K.

I highly recommend Bruning & Associates for your legal needs. Attorney Nicole Vernagallo and the staff have been professional and sensitive to the legal needs of my Probate Case. Attorney Vernagallo layed out each of the options for my case and addressed my concerns promptly. When no other attorney in the area would take my case, Bruning & Associates stepped up and resolved my case as best possible.

Alecia N.

DO NOT HIRE THIS FIRM!
I hired this firm back in April 2024 for a relocation case. Twice they threatened to pull out even with a financial agreement with Matt. AS of today Kevin decided my case wasn't worth the firms time and wants the attorney I had to focus on " money making" cases! I understood my case was going to be lengthy cause of my ex hence why I made a financial payment plan agreement with matt. Also the payment plan was inplace cause the office was vebally over the phone taking payments and not applying them.
I did not expect the firm to back out and make me feel as my case wasn't important. I have jumped through every hoop asked. I was completely blind sided 9-5-2024 .
If you are so unlucky to hire this firm, protect yourself and get everything in writing!
DO NOT HIRE THIS FIRM

Z M.

I retained this firm 2.5 years ago, came in and paid all my bills in full everytime they used money from my retainer. There was 3 attorneies that left while I was with this firm one of which was the one who was reperesnting me.as soon as found out my attorney left the firm in went in and canceled my contract with this firm and asked for a fefund on my retainer and a portion was returned to me. After that 2 months later a received another bill saying I owed them more money. How when I canceled my contract and fired this firm from my case. Now I still receive emails saying I owe them money when there was 2500 dollars on my retainer which should be enough to file an appearance and a withdraw motion. I have all sorts of proof of this and will use it on court against this firm, I also have 4 ex employees that will gladly provide me statements and testify if needed, theres a reason why these people left this firm and i dont blame them, this firm has stole more money from me then any of the firms ive used before. Good luck Kevin, I make 600 bucks a week, isnt that alot of money to sue for? I will also have my current lawyer look into this and provide me everything I need to handle this matter legally.

Love L.

I had 3 cases with this law firm. 1 there was no payment from me to Bruning, 1 was my father’s estate and one was for creating my estate. The last case was barely started, & Bruning was paid in full. He will not return any portion of my money, which was approximately $3500. He also will not provide me with copies of ANY of my cases.
At the end of October 2022, I left a vm with Bruning’s office stating my BF will pick up my cases. When my BF got there, Mr. Bruning told him, HE LOST MOST OF HIS HELP & must do everything himself. He told my BF he would put the cases on a flash drive & contact me. When I hadn’t received anything from Bruning, I called and left another voicemail with his office. On 11/1 received a voicemail from his staff, stating Mr. Bruning told my BF I would not receive until I paid my balance, but that statement wasn’t true. That prompted another call to his office, & I spoke to a diff employee. I explained there wouldn’t be a balance if someone would review my dispute I emailed 6 weeks earlier. This employee sent an urgent email to Mr. Bruning, the office manager, and me. She also stated she was looking at my dispute while we were talking.
Bruning emailed me 11/1 with inaccuracies. Quoted from an email of his on Bruning stated “We informed you that the flash drive was available at our office for pick-up. You did not come to pick up the flash drive, but instead sent a gentleman who claimed to be your significant other. Unfortunately, you did not provide any authorization to deliver your file material to this gentleman, and I explained that fact to him when he came to the office. I also explained that I would provide the flash drive to him if he was able to bring written authorization from you. I have not heard from you or your significant other since that time.”
My BF called on 11/4/22 to confirm the files were ready, & was told he wouldn't get them because Bruning didn’t feel comfortable. My BF stated he had signed authorization from me to pick the docs up, which was requested by Bruning for him to be able to do so.
It took a week and a half for a response from Kevin Bruning after sending an email regarding my newest frustration with his company. I responded 12/4/22 with shipping information for my cases to be sent to me, but it never arrived.
As of today, 3/31/24, I still have not heard a word about my dispute. A year later, the only emails I’m receiving from this company are to have my estate plan that I barely started with them, completed with Bruning Law Firm.
I also have a dispute about the invoicing done by this firm. Previous employees at Bruning were able to assist in correcting the billing I had constant issues with, but THEY are no longer there. I started noticing, shortly after I hired Bruning’s firm, that Kevin Bruning would charge me to review my case with the attorney who was working on my case. I never agreed to pay for 2 attorneys and that charge happened every month. I also was charged with interest on my invoices while waiting to connect with my lawyer to review my charges. This lawyer would go over my billing from Bruning (after I noticed the review billing charge) each month, to ensure its accuracy, make corrections, and make sure I understood the charges.
After my attorney left Bruning, I received 2 things from Bruning & Associates. One was a hard copy letter stating they saw my estate/will was not done & provided a contact for me to talk to.
I also received an email, with a new invoice.There were charges for Bruning reviewing my father’s estate case with my original attorney’s replacement. No one from Bruning received confirmation I was continuing with them. I had completed doc for a new law firm to move forward with my case & they made Bruning aware.
When I emailed my frustration regarding the newest charges I was told to email my disputes. I did and I sent a follow up email and left several messages. No response. Bruning lost several decent, ethical, empathetic, hardworking attorneys. Please find & look to them for help.

Google A.

Initially, they seemed keen to cherry-pick through my high-value plaintiff matters. However, they soon settled these cases for a mere fraction of what I expected, significantly shortchanging me on the potential value. The situation worsened when they began unilaterally altering my fee agreement on cases they were already handling, which is both unethical and unprofessional.

The final blow came when they dropped me as a client without adequate notice. To add insult to injury, they placed a lien on the cases they abandoned, making it exceedingly difficult for me to secure new representation. This maneuver not only obstructed my pursuit of justice but also reflected a blatant disregard for their clients’ welfare.

I am prepared to collaborate with media outlets, the Attorney General, or the Illinois Department of Professional Regulations to expose these practices. I have meticulously documented evidence to support my claims and am determined to seek accountability for the firm’s actions.

Christine C.

I’ve known and liked the owner for a decade. We’re Facebook friends, and I’ve sent friends to him. I can’t believe how unprofessional he was when taking my case. He agreed to be my attorney then passed me off to a brand new attorney who was a lovely person, but made many mistakes costing me thousands. We are currently disputing the bill and considering going to the states attorney to report them after the many, many mistakes and ridiculous charges. Use someone else. Sad to say this. I liked them very much personally, but professional they charged us such ridiculous amounts that we had to stop the “bleeding” and negotiate ourselves so we could drop them. $20,000 later we still can’t get answers to our most basic questions. Sad to say this…use another firm.

Pamela L.

This post should have been done a few months ago I had received the letter from the law firm Bruning and Associates Kevin Bruning to be exact recommending that I come in and have my trust looked at (not realizing that my lawyer had moved on) I never received a letter that he moved on I initially paid $2,500 for a trust that any amendments would be taken care of no charge that was in the 2500. I received the letter from Mr Kevin Bruning regarding a review of my trust. I was charged $1,000.00 for this minor change, I was informed yesterday 2/6/23 that I am the 4th person they did this too. It is a deceptive practice and they know we had our trusts done with his firm. GREED , pure GREED. I had to borrow that money I am mad at myself for paying them. Stay away!

Tiffany M.

I cannot say enough wonderful things about Bruning & Associates. Mary Sump is second to none. She helped my family with a custody issue and was both professional and caring. She is very open and straightforward and gives great advice so you know your money is well spent doing what is necessary for results. It was so wonderful working with an attorney that you can trust and feel comfortable with. You can tell Mary truly cares and works with integrity. Additionally, Johnathan Thornton went above and beyond to fit me in for a last minute Will before I left for an international trip which put my mind at ease in case the unthinkable were to happen. I so appreciate his friendly, professional demeanor and am happy to know whatever legal issues arise I can look to Bruning & Associates for help. I highly recommend meeting with any of the attorneys at Bruning!