Unless you have a simple marriage or divorce issue they are not interested. Anything complicated…read moreseems to throw them. I would avoid

Though most people don't ever hope for a divorce, those who go through them hope for a good one…read more And one way to have a good one is of course to have a great lawyer, but perhaps also to think about the process as a way to come to mutual agreements about moving forward, as opposed to a battle of separate interests. For those who lean toward the former approach, Adrienne Keith is a fantastic resource, not only as a lawyer but as a calm, steady person. She works in Collaborative Law as well as mediation, and is active not only in volunteering but also in writing an insightful, funny, sensitive blog about divorce and family law-related topics (http://splitsvillenews.com/). While I didn't technically utilize Collaborative Law (she provides legal divorce services other than just that process), Adrienne was so helpful in carefully walking me through each step of the process, always calm, professional yet warm, and perfectly prepared. I truly appreciated her attitude of non-combativeness and of working to find mutual solutions to sticky issues. Should you find yourself or know someone who's in the situation of needing representation through a divorce or family law issue, do yourself a favor and get in touch with her. Plus, on the way out of the courthouse she handed me a really thick envelope....When I got home, I opened it. A lovely bar, of bittersweet chocolate. What more can a girl want when she gets her old name back?

Kathleen Royer has mediated family law cases for me on three occassions. I recommend her without…read morereservation! Ms. Royer is knowledgable, has a keen understanding of child development, and is a well respected attorney and former Pro Tem Judge. She is able to clear a path toward resolution in high conflict cases and moves toward an efficient and fair settlement. Ms. Royer brings a wealth of experience in family law and is one of our respected leaders in the area. Consider using Kathleen Royer as your mediator, you won't regret it.

Kathleen helped my husband and I work towards and amicable divorce. We wanted to come to the…read moreeasiest dissolution of our marriage, however we have kids and a house and needed guidance getting through this process. Kathleen simplified the paperwork and was able to meet us where we were at for our specific process. Time and money well spent!!

Mr. Benjamin has been the absolute best with my very complicated case! With his long experience in…read morefamily law, he demonstrated great knowledge, confidence, and most importantly, compassion.

Nicholas and the rest of the staff were great. They were quick to respond and very helpful with the…read moredivorce process.

I really really needed help, but did not get it here. Although it is a Highly recommended firm,…read morethey have ignored my phone calls. Not responsive. Probably due to some corporate changes. Who knows?

I worked with Rich in 2016 when I went through a divorce, and I would highly recommend him. He was…read moreattentive to my case when it needed to be prioritized, and he was knowledgeable throughout the process. While we only made it to mediation, I would have been confident working with Rich had we gone to trial.

I wish to extend my sincere gratitude to Garrett, Stephanie and everyone at Elise Buie who…read moresupported me through this process. It takes hardly any skill to be an attorney to represent someone to go against men in a system stacked against them. You don't need to have rational arguments, scientifically verified evidence or ethics to get orders on men. You can even have a successful career as an attorney, charge exorbitant rates and still be considered a social justice warrior. Law is reason free from passion; it takes real skill as a legal professional and courage to represent men despite how family courts need to be cautious and favor women. I want to thank you for representing me and showing empathy throughout the process. I felt protected throughout the journey with Elise Buie standing behind me. Thank you!

I don't usually write negative reviews, but I feel obligated to share my experience with Elise Buie…read moreFamily Law so others can make an informed decision before hiring them. I paid a $10,000 retainer to begin working with the firm. During the first couple of weeks, they repeatedly misspelled my name and there seemed to be confusion internally about who was responsible for different parts of my case. I had to follow up multiple times just to get basic things moving. Communication throughout the process was frustrating. Different members of the team appeared to have different understandings of what was happening in my case, and I often felt like I had to repeat information several times. I kept extremely organized documentation and provided everything they asked for, but progress still felt slow and disorganized. Another issue was how communication was handled from a billing standpoint. Many emails came back filled with legal jargon that was difficult to understand, which meant I had to reply asking for clarification. Each of those back-and-forth responses was billed time. When we eventually went to court, I was disappointed with how the hearing went and how unprepared my attorney appeared. Afterward I was told the outcome wasn't what they expected. That particular process alone cost around $6,000. By the time everything was finished, about $20,000 had been billed and my situation was actually worse than when I started. My advice to anyone considering this firm would be to ask very detailed questions about communication, preparation, and expected costs before signing a retainer.

I first met Esquire Shana Thompson in 2011 when I was looking for an attorney to represent me in my…read moredivorce and child custody case. I was immediately impressed with her professionalism. She is honest and thorough in her assessment and approach. I left the court room overjoyed, a father with custody of his two sons. They were 3 and 5 at that time and many people said that could never happen (guess they didn't have the right attorney). She has since helped me with modifications of custody and child support with successful outcomes every time. My sons are now 12 and 14, and I couldn't be prouder of who they are. I have Shana to thank for her crucial part in making that happen. I can not imagine that anyone could have done a better job of representing me.

I was very impressed at my first meeting with Shana Thompson. To be honest she is very experienced…read moreand competent as a divorce attorney. Going through divorce is kinda not easy at all specially if there's a 18 month old baby involved. Having that in mind I had already made my mind to try to resolve my divorce through mediation. And honestly Shana seemed to be very much geared towards mediation too. I switched from another attorney to Shana through a very good reference. The first red flag was when my previous attorney sent a release form and it took Shana and her team a few days to figure out that it was buried in their spam. It started little difficult to get through to Shana. I ended up responded by her other partners Kim and Donald. Again they are both amazing people and very competent. But the problem I have is that I was very clear and upfront with Shana at our first meeting that I wanted Shana to deal with my case even after she quoted me her rates nearly double of her other partners. And she said okay. After a few more phone calls I was stuck with an issue the my wife had switched my daughter's day care. And I had no idea where she was taking my daughter to. I asked Shana if she could check with wife's attorney about the contact info of my daughter's new day care and some tax docs that she had provide. During these discussions I also mentioned to Shana that if I could ask for interrogatories if wife too as her attorney has requested. Shana asked me if it's retaliatory then DON'T DO IT. Her advice really made sense. And she confirmed that she would email my wife's attorney regarding my concerns. We waited for my wife's attorney and when I did not get any response. I reached out to Shana again. This time I was responded by Kim and that was on March 18th, 2019. She did send an email to my wife's attorney on the same day regarding my concerns. No reply at all regarding this. I had called Shana again to help me fill out the interrogatories and I had an appointment with Donald to help me complete the interrogatories. Thanks for helping me out Donald, he really did a great job. During this 3-4 hour session with Donald I met Kim and I asked her if she has heard back from my wife's attorney? She said no and proposed that I should ask for interrogatories too and they will have to respond with in 30 days. Here's the problem when you are dealing with 2 or three partners and at the same time going through divorce dilemma. I was kinda getting conflicting advice from two partners of the same firm. On March 27th, 2019 I tried reaching out Shana and I was told that she's on a phone call. I was waiting for her call and received a call from Donald returning on Shana's behalf. I asked about any reply from my wife's attorney regarding my daughter's day care and my tax docs. I was told that there has been no response. So I asked Donald to please kindly ask Shana to give me a call. Didn't receive any call from her at all. But in fact I received an email from Donald confirming that my wife's attorney had responded to Kim's email on March 19th, 2019 with my tax docs and the day care contact information. And Donald claimed that Kim was busy and he was busy etc etc. now from March 01st till yesterday I was under the impression that my wife was deliberately holding on to my tax docs and my daughter's day care info to kinda frustrate me. I really got sold on the idea of asking her for interrogatories. I noticed that the email was Shana and Kim both. No one bothered forwarding it to me for literally 10 days. I haven't met my daughter since March 01st, so every single day matters. My personal tax return filling has been on hold for this doc which has been sitting in Shana's email just because she's busy. I would never recommend Shana or her firm under any circumstances to any one, not because they incompetent but they definitely are negligent.

Mr Hogan, recently Represented my Ex. Wife and I in a noncontested divorce. I was very impressed…read morewith the quality of service that we received , at a reasonable price. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend him to anybody that needs a top Notch Attorney.

I cannot say enough good things about Mr. Hogan. From start to finish he guided me on the process…read moreso that it was seamless. Answered all my questions thoroughly and promptly. I highly recommend his services!! Divorce is always a painful and stressful time even when uncontested. He made the process a lot less stressful.

We are contemplating a move back to Washington state where we lived for many years. Without proper…read moreestate planning we would potentially be subject to the Washington estate tax. n our initial contacts with the firm, we clearly identified that we were residents in another state. We were instructed to provide our detailed financial picture as well as our current estate planning documents which we provided promptly and told that our information would be forwarded to the attorneys for evaluation. The following is the email response. "Thank you for filling out and returning your Questionnaire. I will forward your information to our attorneys for review. Once they have completed their review, I will be back in touch with you regarding a quote for services and the next steps for scheduling." Well over a month went by with no word back from STIB. I finally contacted them by email requesting a status update. Within minutes, I received the following reply. "Thank you very much for contacting our firm. Unfortunately, we are not able to take on your case. Our firm does not advise out-of-state residents on tax issues. Our focus is estate planning and long term care planning." The STIB website clearly tax issues as part of estate planning. I also found no restrictions on attorneys in Washington state providing consultation to out-of-state residents considering residency in Washington. Needless to say, I was astounded by what I consider to extremely poor communication and timely follow-up. If it is indeed not their policy to advise out-of-state residents on tax issues, I would have expected to have been informed of that policy up front thus saving us the time of compiling and sending detailed and confidential financial and estate planning information. In my opinion, this represents incompetent and totally unprofessional behavior.

Barbara Isenhour helped answer some legal questions for me, courteously and efficiently. She asked…read moreme the questions that matter most upfront, and helped me figure out the best course of action to take.