Payed $5,000 retainer for a probate case. Stephen McPherson was not responsive and the firm apparently closed. He will not respond to emails or phone calls. Yes the worste and most expensive experience. read more

Our experience with Clearwater Law Group was devastating. Despite providing our attorney with extensive documentation and information about our case, he missed a critical deadline to file a response brief and was not responding to telephone calls or email. In addition to the missed deadline, we were represented in court by a substitute attorney, Mr. Hoxie, the owner, who appeared to have little or no familiarity with our case. He did not take the time to prepare, failed to inform the court that we were seeking a continuance, and his conduct during the hearing was reprimanded by the judge. Unfortunately, our next hearing with our assigned attorney was no better. He appeared unprepared, lacked a clear understanding of the facts of our case, and failed to provide accurate information to the court. These failures had serious consequences for our case and ultimately contributed to a $6,000 judgment against us. Following these events, we filed a grievance with the WA State Bar. The matter resulted in a deferral that required the attorney to complete additional legal education. To date, despite our requests, Clearwater Law Group has also refused to provide us with its professional liability insurance information. We hired Clearwater Law Group expecting competent legal representation. Instead, we experienced missed deadlines, inadequate preparation, inaccurate statements to the court, and an outcome that cost us thousands of dollars. Based on our experience, I believe I could have represented myself more effectively in Superior Court. read more

If I could go back in time, hiring Clearwater Law Group is one decision I would absolutely undo. I retained Clearwater Law Group to represent me in a custody matter involving my daughter. I trusted them with one of the most important legal issues of my life. In return, I received months of delay, poor communication, billing surprises, misplaced documents, and a complete lack of urgency. After a protection order against me was dismissed, months passed with no filings on my behalf. Not minimal filings. No filings. While my relationship with my daughter hung in the balance, my case appeared to sit idle. Communication was consistently poor. Getting updates often felt like pulling teeth. They frequently reassured me how "hard they were working" while producing nothing. I routinely found myself chasing information instead of receiving proactive communication from the firm I was paying to represent me. The billing issues were a nightmare. I provided a $5,000 trust deposit and was never received an explanation regarding how those funds were used. The firm failed to properly communicate amounts allegedly owed until payment suddenly became an emergency for them. There was no sense of transparency or accountability. It felt like I was expected to simply trust the process while being kept in the dark. The handling of my legal insurance benefits was equally unacceptable. I retained Clearwater in part because of my legal insurance coverage, yet the process was mishandled and became another source of frustration. At one point, I personally delivered filings and court documents from the opposing party to the firm, only to later learn they had apparently lost them. In a custody case where deadlines, documentation, and preparation matter, that level of disorganization is inexcusable. My interactions with Lori Mendoza frequently left me feeling as though I was an annoyance rather than a client. When concerns were raised, I was often met with a bad attitude & excuses instead of solutions. Professionalism, accountability, and customer service appeared to be non-existent. What stands out most is the firm's refusal to take responsibility. Problems were routinely explained away, blamed on someone else, or minimized. I never saw meaningful ownership of mistakes. I never received the impression that anyone was willing to simply say, "We dropped the ball, and we're going to fix it." The most valuable thing a parent has in a custody case is time with their child. Clearwater Law Group wasted mine. After changing attorneys, the difference was immediate. My new counsel was responsive, organized, strategic, and actively moving the case forward. The contrast made it painfully obvious how badly my case had been handled. I spent thousands of dollars with Clearwater Law Group and walked away feeling that my case was neglected, my concerns were dismissed, and my trust was misplaced. All of their filings had to be struck due to how poorly they were written, so essentially, 5 months and thousands of dollars were thrown in the trash. Based on my experience, I would never hire Clearwater Law Group again, nor would I recommend them to anyone facing a serious family law matter. read more

absolutely the worst law firm to go to in the Tri cities. do not waste your time. I have Christopher Hoxie as my legal aid appointed attorney and he did not help me hardly at all. his legal team changed all the time without ever telling me. he was very slow on what he did. He never did anything he said he was going to and my case has taken so much longer than it needed to because he did not care about my case at all. why even take on a legal aid case if he wasn't going to actually work on it?? absolutely ridiculous and do not waste your time. read more

Beware, was charged 5000.00 for a retainer, lawyer did not file paperwork nor did he follow through by "for the record in court" let it be noted the situation, his answer was he knows what the judge is going to say and how is going to rule? He has only been in law for 6 months at this time. Very unprofessional law office. Would not recommend. You could represent yourself with the same action. read more

They "forget" to file paperwork. They are disorganized and do not take responsibility for their mistakes. They don't show up for court dates. They nickel and dime their clients even when the fault is their own. I was in the car with my friend when they called to say that my friend may have lost custody of her kids because they forgot about her court date so no one showed up. Completely incompetent. Additionally, most of their reviews on Google, Yelp, and Facebook are from employees, past employees, friends, and family members. Instead of focusing on being better and actually helping the clients that are PAYING them, they take the money and run. Liars and thieves. DO NOT hire these people. read more

well if i were you i would not schedule an appointment with these ppl....i did schedule one and they would not refund my money when i had to cancel...they say u have to give 48 hour notice... but will schedule you the day before your appointment and charge you the money and when you try to cancel they will just keep your money... they will not tell you at the time you schedule anything about if you have to cancel that it has to be 48 hr notice...or no refund....i have had to report them to the attorney general and the bar association.... read more

We would NOT recommend using this law firm for any legal work. We hired attorney Mr. Hoxie to help with a family land easement issue. We had to constantly follow up with him to get things moving. He cancelled phone calls three or four times at the last minute and there was little to no communications. We gave him a retainer payment on August 30 and he did no billable work until the end of the year. It took months before any work was started. When the demand letter was finally drafted for our review, it was filled with mistakes - even lot numbers were incorrect. We wasted our time and money (over $1,600) for nothing. Two months ago we hired a new attorney and are very pleased with his work. There was absolutely nothing positive from this experience. Stay away from this law firm!! read more

Paid them $2,000 retainer. Six months later they finally started working on my case and ask for another $2,000. I was disgusted with their level of service and droped them, you should too! It's been weeks and I still haven't seen a refund of what's left of my original retainer per our contract. Not holding my breath. read more

I love the way Lori Mendoza had all my questions answered very helpful and polite will definitely contact them again for my legal needs, thank you Clearwater law firm read more

I am a Legal Shield member and had this Law Group referred to me in this area for a simple eviction. I had a "consultation" on a Monday at 10am, after setting that up on the previous Thursday, to go over the logistics of the case, pretty open and shut, for a tenant that hasn't paid rent in 2 months and were already served a "pay or vacate" letter. She then proceeded to tell me I needed to do an "ejection" and then a "small claims lawsuit". (that part was weird to me, because I thought those were done together, which I found out later from another firm that they are done together.) I sent a follow up email that day with the lease agreement and a total of the monies owed. In her response, she mentioned it could take a few days to complete the file the paperwork, which was disheartening because at this point time is money. But I had already spent this much time getting this started with them, so I then followed up Tuesday morning to pay my retainer, as she directed me in her email, in which the lady couldn't take payment over the phone for some reason and that I would receive a follow up call before the EOD, however I never received that call. I then called Wed at 9am, when they opened and was told that they wouldn't be taking the case, and that they would send an email explaining why. Immediately following that conversation, I called another law firm, in which a paralegal took down the details of the case and let me know a lawyer would be in contact with me before the end of the day. Further she let me know that they could have the paperwork out the following they day, knowing that time is money with cases like these. I received a call back that day and moving forward with them representing me. The letter a received from Clearwater Law Group didn't explain any reason as to why they wouldn't take the case, even after I followed up asking. I wouldn't recommend this group to anyone... especially if you have time sensitive issues. read more

Today I met with an attorney about a family matter. The young,blond female antterny was so nice and helpful,she really knew her stuff. I really feel very secure in my case and I feel so comfortable with her advice. She walked me through the whole process step by step and answered all my questions. I would recommend this Attorney to anyone who needs help with a family law case. Exelent job!!!! Thank you so much for your attention to detail and help. read more

This is by far the worst law firm if you can even call them that. That I have encountered. I hired them back in January of 2023 and they have only taken my money and done absolutely nothing they are so unprofessional everyone at that office beginning with the so be called Chris Hoxy and Lorena Mendoza the worst people you will ever encounter in your life. They are so shady and they provide no help. They have made my case even worse than it was and I also had to encounter an embarrassing moment with the judge, he was upset and yelling at Hoxy since he didn't file any of the paperwork he had to do. Besides that he is not even well represented in the court he smells horrible and his clothes look like they've never even been washed. You can never get through them via phone. These people are thieves stay away from them they will just take your money and forget about you. My case has now worsen because of these people and I regret hiring them with a passion. All they will do is infuriate you and make you sick to your stomach. Worst joke firm in the Tri-Cities area!! I repeat for your own sanity stay away from them they are not even attorneys to begin with!! I can go on and on about how bad they are!! read more

On 07/09/2021 I hired this firm to send a termination letter to a contractor who breached a contract for work on our home. During the interview I could see that the notes being taken by the attorney (Mr. Austin) were inaccurate and I voiced detailed corrections, which he appeared to understand. He said he was busy and it would take 2 weeks to draft the letter which was a concern as the contractor had entered our property illegally and removed items which we had paid for and were in fear he would do so again. I reluctantly agreed to this timeframe and gave him a $2,000.00 deposit. After 3+ weeks and multiple unreturned (promised) phone calls checking on the progress of the letter, I felt it necessary to demand a meeting to terminate the contract in anticipation of hiring another firm. When I requested a refund from their Business Manager, she informed that the letter had now been drafted and was available for my review. In reviewing the letter it was obvious the letter had been written while I was waiting. It was filled with all the inaccuracies which I believed the attorney had corrected during our interview and was completely nonsensical with it's incoherent ramblings. In the presence of the business manager and the attorney, I edited and rewrote the letter to reflect the actual sequence of events and corrected facts of the case. After I rewrote the letter, the attorney produced a revised draft which I approved and demanded a mailing that day... which they did. I asked the attorney how much time he had dedicated to the project and he replied an 'hour to an hour and a half' which at $220/hr. should have been no more than $220-$330. I told both of them that I wanted to terminate the remainder of the contract and asked that my refund be applied to the credit card which I had used to make the initial $2,000.00 deposit. On 10/12/2021 I called to redemand my refund and was told they now had to mail a check which would take another 10 business days. It has been 3+ weeks since that phone call and they have not yet processed the refund check and won't return my calls. In the 5 months I have done business with these people, I have never received a statement or a billing of any kind and am forced to file complaints with the BBB and Attorney General in an attempt to correct their behavior. read more

Worst experience ever. Could not have imagined the lack of professionalism I experienced with these people. Their lack of attention to evidence gathered for them and missing the discovery deadline directly caused me to not be allowed to show any evidence or call any witnesses and ultimately lose my case. I had to forego my retirement and go back to work and will never be able to retire again. I'll have to work the rest of my life because of their carelessness on a case that was in their own words a no brainer and a slam dunk. Then to add insult to injury sent me a bill for the remaining $3000 I had left of the upfront money I had to give when I hired them saying it was spent on their work on discovery. We gave them exhibits A thru I and an extensive witness list when I hired them. Discovery was already done for them. Then when they realize they missed discovery tried to cover it up by demanding $15,000 more so that they could say I didn't pay them the money they would need to go to trial and withdraw from the case just before trial date. read more

I came here to get rid of a ticket, the first attorney left so they gave me another one. He was great but he left before my last court date and gave me ANOTHER new attorney. My new one didn't listen to what I was saying, made me admit to something I didn't actually do, my previous lawyer told me I'd only have to pay 250$. My new attorney made my final agreement to pay 550$, what I'm most mad about is my 2nd lawyer talked to the cop who gave me a ticket and admitted that his report was false. In my understanding if a report was false then my case should've been dismissed, it wasn't. My opinion is this firm doesn't try and get what the best deal is and just takes your money. If you have attorneys leaving within 1-2 months of each other then something is definitely wrong. Don't recommend read more

I hired an attorney here for my custody case. She wanted a month of my time. Straight lied to me about details when I asked why the timeline was way off track, then kept $500 of mine for doing absolutely nothing. read more

Very unpleasant experience. I hired Clearwater last year for a family case. Be aware they will quote you a price they don't plan to honor, once they have your retainer they will look for all possible ways to make additional money. Today I called them to request email copies of documents after been transferred a few times the lady that answered the phone was super rude. For some reason, she was very bothered by my simple request. She said she couldn't find the documents I was requesting and that she would have to look for them and she would charge me off all the time it took her to find them. She even suggested that it would be best for me calling the courts to get my copies. Not sure how is it possible they lost my documents. read more

Wouldn't recommend this law firm at all I went thru 4 different lawyers in 5 months .. every time I would call yo get a update or any info it was call next week , next week .. the girl on the phone was very rude and treated and talked to me like I was trash ! . Never even got even one update on my case in 5 months no copies of court documents .. they said they sent me mail never got anything at all .. I had made a appointment to talk to my lawyer on phone had to make it two weeks in advance then said I never had a appointment twice .. I had to finish my case by myself .. the rude receptionist who thinks she is better then everyone else ! Kept telling me we just waiting for the company to send us your check any day now it was all a lie the company would have never sent them a check for me .... I had to do all research and do a lot of paperwork myself or I would have been waiting at least a couple more months if not more . I don't think a real lawyer was ever on my case it's just a bunch of bratty rude snatches pretending and giving me the run around . read more

I was very impressed with my "total experience" with the Clearwater Law Group. They have awesome staff and I had exceptional and fast results. I highly recommend this law firm. The attorneys are delightful and personable. read more